Residential Addiction Treatment for Women in L.A.

At Friendly House, we've created more than just a residential treatment center. We've built a home where women find the courage to heal. Since 1951, our residential program has offered women a refuge where they can lay down their burdens and begin the transformative work of recovery.

Located in the heart of Los Angeles, our historic house welcomes women from across the country who share one common goal: to find their way back to themselves. Here, in a community of understanding, women discover that recovery isn't a journey they have to walk alone.

What Makes Our Residential Treatment Program Different

In our residential addiction treatment center, you won’t find stark white walls and clipboards. You’ll find a warm, welcoming, genuine home environment where real healing can take place. The moment you step through our doors, you'll notice the difference: It’s in the inclusive common spaces, the nourishing shared meals, and most importantly, in the authentic connections formed between women supporting each other through recovery.

Many of our staff members began their own recovery journeys right here at Friendly House—including our CEO, Christina Simos. They sat in the same living room, shared meals at the same table, and faced the same fears our clients experience. They don't just understand recovery theoretically. They've lived it. This creates a level of trust and understanding that makes deeper healing possible.

Individual Therapy

One to two weekly sessions with therapists who specialize in women's issues and co-occurring disorders like trauma, anxiety, and depression

Specialized Counseling

Regular meetings with certified substance use counselors who bring both professional expertise and often their own recovery experience

Group Therapy

Multiple weekly groups using evidence-based approaches like DBT, CBT, ACT, and trauma recovery

Family Healing

Therapy sessions that help repair relationships damaged by addiction and build support networks essential for lasting recovery

Experiential Arts Program

Music therapy, poetry, painting, and creative writing that unlock expression beyond words

Holistic Healing

Mindfulness meditation, yoga, breathwork, and fitness programs that reconnect mind and body

Equine Therapy

Transformative work with horses that builds trust and emotional awareness

Case Management

Practical assistance with life challenges, from legal issues to career planning

Recovery Support Meetings

Clients explore AA, NA, CA, SLAA, Conscious Recovery, and more.

Somatic Interventions

Find where trauma lies in the body, and heal it.

Psychoeducation Groups

Learn important life skills for living independently after treatment.

Fitness Program

Heal your body, heal your spirit.

Why Women-Only Addiction Treatment Works

Women face unique challenges in addiction and recovery. Many of our clients arrive carrying the weight of generational trauma, heavy family responsibilities, or societal judgment that are all more intense than many of their male counterparts. This is even more true for women from historically marginalized communities, or trans and gender-nonconforming clients. For anyone and everyone that arrives at Friendly House, our women-only environment creates safety that makes deep healing possible.

Research confirms what we've seen for decades: Women often achieve better outcomes in gender-specific treatment. For example, in our residential program, women can:

Address gender-specific trauma in a safe, supportive environment
Explore their identities free from gender expectations or dynamics
Build connections with others who understand their unique challenges
Focus completely on their recovery without distractions
Discover strength in shared experiences with other women

Our program directly addresses the challenges that women face, creating a space where women can prioritize their own healing, perhaps for the first time.

A Day in Residential Treatment

Life at Friendly House balances structured clinical treatment with the warmth of community living. Mornings might begin with meditation and breakfast. Days include individual therapy, group sessions, and therapeutic activities. Evenings might bring recovery support meetings, family visits, or quiet time in our garden courtyard.

Throughout it all, women find themselves doing something many haven't done in years—connecting authentically with others, discovering strengths they didn't know they had, and experiencing true joy and peace. The daily rhythm of residential life provides both the structure needed for early recovery and the community that makes it sustainable.

A Foundation for Lasting Recovery

Through life skills training, relapse prevention planning, and connections to our strong Grateful Hearts alumni community, we create a bridge to lasting recovery. When women complete our residential program, they leave with a toolbox of coping skills, a community of support, and renewed belief in themselves and their future. They join a legacy of thousands of women who have found healing within these walls since 1951. Some may even continue on to our sober living home or intensive outpatient program, In Our Power. No matter what success looks like, we equip our women to achieve it.

Residential Addiction Treatment for Women