About South OC Wellness

History & Staff

South OC Wellness has grown and adapted over the years to meet the health wellness needs of a larger and increasingly more diverse population. Since our beginnings we have provided countless 'safety net' services to help individuals with mental and or medical health challenges achieve and maintain balanced, productive and happy lives. We saw a great need for health insurance assistance/advocacy, time-saving service connections, and health wellness education. We now provide Family/Employee Assistance Programs (FEAP), Community Wellness Programs, and Health Wellness Education and Services.

Marla Stone, MSW (Retired LCSW) is the founder of South OC Wellness. Marla maintained a private practice in South Orange County for the past 10 years specializing in adults, adolescents and children. Marla worked as a Psychiatric and Medical Social Worker, facilitating groups for people with serious mental health challenges, military wives, domestic violence, dual diagnosis, child abuse, and DUI offenders, successfully for the past 17 years. Marla’s long term services as an Employee Assistance Program interventionist, and an advocate for persons with chronic mental/medical health issues created a niche and expertise in the area of Medication/ Treatment Alliance. Marla treated the Military Personnel from Camp Pendleton-Marine and Navy Families for many years creating innovative treatment modalities and interventions for PTSD. Marla has been the director of a popular Dual Diagnosis program, and specializes in interventions for Dual Diagnosis. Marla is an accomplished public speaker and educator known for her enthusiasm for behavioral wellness and medical stability. She is the author of “Self Impressionism-A Medication/Treatment Alliance Program”. Marla’s philosophy is that individuals with mental and or medical health challenges can achieve and maintain balanced, productive and happy lives.

Mel Glass, PhD, LCSW, MFT has a Doctorate in Psychology with a specialization in Counseling Psychology and a Masters Degree in Social Work with a specialization in Case Management. He is dually licensed as a Psychotherapist in California as Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Marriage and Family Therapist. As a Psychotherapist, he is licensed to diagnose and treat mental disorder in the state of California.

Over his 37 years of full time professional experience, Dr. Glass has maintained private practice in Orange County for over 25 years working extensively with adults, adolescents and children. Dr. Glass facilitates Individual, Marital, Family, and Group Psychotherapy. He specializes in Dual Diagnosis treating both addictions and coexisting psychiatric conditions, has worked as Clinical Director for adult alcohol and drug residential treatment programs for 7 years, has worked in residential treatment centers for children/adolescents for 2 years, has worked collaboratively with the Domestic Violence Coordinating Team of Superior Court, has worked as a Deputy Probation Officer for Los Angeles County for almost 11 years and has 10 years of hospital experience. Dr. Glass also hosted the weekly television program, “We’re Changing Lives” on RETV Channel 6 and served as a term Chairman of the South Orange County Coordinating Council for Older Adults. Dr. Glass is frequently recognized for his appearances on the
Intervention television program.

Dr. Glass is an accomplished lecturer, well known for his community education presentations. He is highly respected for his integrity and commitment to delivering the highest quality of treatment available.

Darla Siener brings to our staff 19 years of experience working with many of the National Health Insurance Carriers. Darla’s successes as a private business owner and in the corporate world are derived mainly from her strong consumer advocacy skills and abilities to hone into the needs of her clientele. Darla has a unique knowledge of the healthcare system allowing her to easily navigate through insurance carrier policies and procedures. Darla has years of experience understanding the needs of her clients, matching clients with Health Plans and Practitioners that meet each persons or family’s individual needs. As a licensed insurance agent Darla has personally placed over 10 thousand clients on health plans, and serviced their needs in regards to patient’s legal rights. Darla is hands on when it comes to any service related challenges individuals and families may face when utilizing their health care plans. Darla brings us her keen insight of the inner workings of the healthcare industry as well as her expert level experience dealing with Health Coverage Plans, Independent Physicians Groups (IPA’s), Medicare and Disability Insurance. Darla is also on the cutting edge of upcoming changes to policy and procedure for existing and new business altering National Insurance Coverage Plans. This varied background has awarded Darla stellar problem solving skills and the outstanding ability to bring the right people together in order to resolve any healthcare related issue quickly and efficiently.

South OC Wellness “Mental Health Wellness Agents” hold various licenses and degrees: Insurance Experts, Medicare Experts, Social Security Disability Experts, LCSWs, MSWs, LMFTs, MFTs, Psychologists, Nurses, Behavioral Health, Interventionists, Substance Abuse Practitioners and Insurance Specialists.

We also have volunteers and retired professionals on staff.