Inspiring Conversations with Eva Altobelli of Home-LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eva Altobelli.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

YOUR STORY:

I come to working as an Addiction Psychiatrist from a nontraditional path.

I believe the power of passion, curiosity and motivation can overcome almost any obstacle; as I was a troubled kid with failing grades and yet found my to a medical degree and full life– through decades of self reflection and hard work, good friends and learning the hard way.

I received a fine arts degree, and my first career was in film production in New York City—which was super fun in my 20s. I’ve always had an interest in the human condition and existential angst, probably because that’s something I identify with. In my teens, I was reading all the existential authors like Sartre, Dostoevsky, and Ayn Rand. Then, in my early 20s, I became fascinated by the brain when I discovered Oliver Sacks and fell in love with all the romantic, curious stories of neurological dysfunction.

For example: The man who mistook his wife for a hat, or the person who fell in love with his wife because her laugh smelled like freshly buttered toast—learning about creative ways the brain works like synesthesia (cross wiring of the senses ex seeing music) and all the different ways the mind and spirit function as well as the human condition in general, was endlessly fascinating to me.

Toward the end of my short-lived film career, I had one of those “aha” moments. The director changed his mind and wanted sod instead of hay for a huge production, which meant every free hand—including mine—was jumping in dumpsters to remove one  prop to make room for the new one . At 26, on a sweltering summer day on Eighth Avenue in New York City, I found myself in a dumpster wondering, “Is this really what I’m going to do for the rest of my life?”

Given my interest in consciousness and creativity, my fantasy was to join a think tank, smoke pot, and talk about consciousness—but that kind of thing didn’t really exist in my world as a kid from Philly in the ’70s and ’80s. So, I started applying to grad schools. After a lot of hard work in a post-bac premed program at Hunter, I was eventually accepted to one medical school, which I found enormously challenging. It was actually the only time I ever took an antidepressant—because it was rough being a decade older and far less prepared for the sheer intensity of memorizing science facts and dissecting cadavers.

I also learned I was a fainter. My surgical group used to whisper, “Bend your knees, bend your knees,” in the operating theater so I’d collapse instead of face-planting into the patient. So, psychiatry it was.

During residency, I found it both meaningful and heartbreaking. Western psychiatry at the time was driven by psychopharmacology, diagnosis, and pathology. I was trained to tell patients that something was wrong with them and that we were going to fix it with a particular medication or treatment.

Then I entered my fellowship in addiction—and that’s where I had my second ‘aha’ moment. I finally felt like I’d found my people: those also mired in existential angst and the conundrum of the human condition, trying to figure out how to find their way in the world. While I don’t personally have an addictive path or pattern of behavior, I genuinely feel that we’re all in recovery from something.

Fast forward a couple of decades—after working across traditional and nontraditional psychiatry and addiction psychiatry settings (detox, rehab, outpatient, inpatient)—I’ve come to see myself, as an Addiction Psychiatrist, really as a trauma therapist. I’ve spent years exploring alternative modalities of healing: yoga, breathwork, and beyond. I believe deeply in the mind-body-spirit-soul connection, and that healing is a unique process for each person—there’s no one “right” way to do it.

I eventually opened Home-LA—which is an acronym for Healing Opportunities, Meaningful Evolution—driven by a mission to explore more creative ways to talk about and approach mental illness, mental wellness, addiction, and recovery.

So here I am—a clinician at heart. I love the human connection and finding creative paths toward wholeness, healing, and wellness. I run a practice that integrates psychiatry, psychotherapy, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, and bodywork.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Obstacles and Challenges Of course. One of the challenges is certainly balancing work and life. When my focus was limited to working clinically , that was one thing—but now that I run a business, am a clinician, a mom, an entrepreneur and also separating, spending time with friends, staying connected to family, supporting aging parents, remembering to go to the gym, take walks in nature, eat healthy, sleep, and have fun… there’s just a lot to life.
One of my ongoing challenges is remembering to do less—to embrace Yin energy, to receive, and to just be. I’m naturally more Yang-oriented, with a “doing” approach to the world, which is of course supported (and rewarded) by our current society and culture. But I actually don’t think it serves us.
I think as a humanity, if we spent more time in stillness—being present with each other and in nature—we could begin to disconnect from the electronic, progress-driven undercurrent. You know how sea turtles traverse tremendous expanses of the ocean by dipping into these currents that carry them along? I feel like a lot of our humanness is being lost because we’re caught in those electronic and goal-driven currents, rather than being completely present—with our feet on the ground, looking each other in the eye.
Another obstacle or challenge is being a woman. I’ve been invisibly acculturated to apologize for strong opinions, or knowing more then the men in the room.   Gaining insight into the subtle accommodations of apologizing for a novel idea, and then reorienting myself had been valuable.  

 As humans we live within a context-on both the macro and micro level and it’s really complicated to hold all of the different ways of thinking seeing and being without judgment. It’s hard to see our world in so much pain and continuing to make mistakes.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Home-LA a Holistic Mental Health & Wellness Center At Home-LA, we are a clinician-run mental health healing center dedicated to honoring the mind, body, and spirit. We specialize in trauma-informed psychotherapy, pharmacology, addiction treatment, and whole-person health optimization.
Our mission is to transform the way we think about and talk about mental illness, mental wellness, addiction, and recovery to reduce suffering and enhance quality of life. Drawing on over a century of collective wisdom, our highly curated multidisciplinary team integrates Eastern and Western traditions to foster lasting change.

We believe in the power of collaborative team-based care. Every treatment plan is tailored to meet each individual’s needs — ranging from outpatient support to step-down care.

In addition to clinical services, Home-LA offers educational trainings and community workshops, ensuring we remain at the forefront of innovative, high-quality care — always within a safe, supportive, and personalized environment.

We have a number of service:
Holistic Psychiatry 
Psychotherapy
Addiction Consultation
Psychedelic Consultation
Concierge Services
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
And
Curated Trauma Recovery Program (CTRP)
I can expand on the last two:
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
At Home-LA, we offer Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) with an emphasis on the relational model of therapy. Every person is treated as an individual and every relationship is unique. Whether we meet and have one session to unblock obstacles, or have a series of sessions to address a long-held system of beliefs, we see the path to healing as a journey we take together. We appreciate the vulnerability and courage it takes to explore this healing path and look forward to supporting you on the journey. All ketamine services begin with a consultation with one of our specialists to ensure suitability. Together we develop a treatment plan to meet your individual needs.
Curated Trauma Recovery Program (CTRP)
Trauma is a psychological and physiological response to experiences that feel threatening or overwhelming. Whether arising from a single event or chronic and covert, the experience of trauma lives in the body, mind, and spirit. We believe that trauma can be healed, and that with support, we can learn new ways of being in the world—cultivating safety within ourselves and in relationship with others, empowering a sense of self that is aligned, connected, and capable of creating a life filled with joy, purpose, and community.
Our Approach: Trauma therapy is not a one-size-fits-all process—because trauma itself is deeply individual. Each person’s healing journey is  uniquely crafted. At Home-LA, we work collaboratively with clients to curate a personalized path toward healing, continuously reevaluating and adapting our approach as growth unfolds.
Wraparound Services May Include:
Psychotherapy — Individual, group, or family therapy
Trauma-Focused Modalities — EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy
Mind-Body Therapies — Trauma-informed yoga, breathwork, and meditation
Bodywork & Energy Medicine: Release trauma held in the body
Traditional Chinese Medicine & Experiential Approaches
Medication Management — Holistic psychiatric care
Case Management & Community Coordination
Our multidisciplinary team partners with outside case managers, treatment teams, and supportive housing providers when needed to ensure true continuity of care.
Our work is both supportive and empowering—helping clients build insight, develop practical tools, and reconnect with their own capacity for healing. We aim to help each person rediscover a sense of wholeness, resilience, and inner peace that endures beyond treatment

How do you think about happiness?
Happiness This is the big one, right? This is why we’re really here. We’re here to tap into our own soul’s mission for this life. And whilst I’m sure we all have a purpose, it can’t just be about the purpose — we’re also supposed to enjoy the journey.
For me, that sometimes takes work: to stop doing and just be, to enjoy. I’m not sure if the question here is what brings me happiness or what I like to do for myself, because I’m inclined to wax philosophical and wonder — what is happiness, really? To me, it’s such an individual notion.
But if I had to sum it up: Sense of purpose, connection, community, belonging and LOVE!

Pricing:

• from $325 per session
• $1250 for 3 hour KAP sessions

Contact Info:

• Website: https://home-la.com/
• Instagram: @homela_psychiatry
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084633279949
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/eva-altobelli-md-210b878