Meet The Team

Our Team

Meet The Team
Meet The Team
Our dedicated team of experts and the faces behind the success.
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Meet The Team

Michael Villarreal

Owner

Michael Villarreal and his parents have worked closely together making each of their facilities feel like the home the clients deserve to be in.

The family’s familiarity and expertise stems from owning residential senior care facilities for over 20 years. Due to many years of experience in a residential care setting, they decided to branch their knowledge into a different demographic, yet similar setting and open what we know today as Southern California Sunrise Recovery Center. The Villarreal’s still collectively run several facilities.

Michael, himself, graduated from Cal Poly Pomona and started his career in their family owned business navigating all directions of the company. Some of these task’s include but are not limited to, facility compliance, day-to-day operations, staffing, and overseeing the different divisions of the company. He continues to pride himself on being very hands-on within the company and his management team to truly ensure the values that his family has set continues to be followed through the day to day operations.

Michael and his family truly believes in healing the mind, body and soul.

Meet The Team

Chad Chapman

Operations Director

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Melissa Wright, M.A. LMFT

Clinical Director

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Blaine Lovette

Director of Clinical Outreach

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Betsy

Admissions Coordinator

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Mabel Macias

Admissions Coordinator

Mabel Macias has been working for Southern California Sunrise Recovery Center since the start of the company in 2017 allowing her to truly understand and believe in the mission the company upholds.

As Admissions Coordinator, Mabel has a passion to help clients and families find the correct treatment the patient is needing. Mabel prides herself to being both the patient and their support system’s biggest advocate during the initial steps of the admission process and works closely with the clinical team to ensure a smooth transition both in and out of our facilities. Mabel strives to ensure each and every client who is seeking treatment receives the care they deserve.

Mabel is currently continuing her education to better serve the mental health and substance abuse population, as those are the two areas she focuses on.

Meet The Team

Medical Team

Doctor & Nurse Practitioner

Dr. Sanjai Thankachen graduated from Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medicine in 2000. He completed his residency on psychiatry in 2008 from CreedmoorPsychiatric Center in New York, where fifty percent of his rotations were at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. After his residency he worked at Ventura County Medical Centers in an adult out-patient setting and now lives in Orange County, California.

Dr. Thankachen is currently working with Pacific Neuropsychiatric Specialist in an out-patient practice, as well as working at multiple in-patient psychiatric and medical units bringing his patients the most advanced health care treatment in psychiatry. Dr. Thankachen sees patients with an array of disorders, including depression, bipolar illness schizophrenia, anxiety, and dementia-related problems.

Dr. Thankachen is also involved in professional organization and societies in good standing including the American Psychiatric Association, Indian Medical Association and the Karnataka Medical Association