Recovery shouldn’t mean you have to choose between getting help or getting your life together. For years, this was the difficult choice many had to make; either go away for months of residential treatment and lose a job, lose a house, lose custody of the kids, or try to keep going with perhaps weekly counseling while struggling on their own, and often not enough support.
Intensive outpatient programs – changed that situation entirely: providing comprehensive support and professional treatment for those serious needs of addiction, but providing opportunity for people to keep their daily lives and connections intact, and not compromised. It is an upgrade, not an out and out compromise; In that it is a smarter approach for many different cases.
The main distinction is that instead of separating you from your life, to get better, intensive outpatient treatment gets you better in your real life circumstances.
Getting Real Treatment Without the Disruption
Traditional residential treatment works well for some people, but let’s face it, it’s a pretty artificial environment. Everything is planned, and structured; the meals are there for you, you’re kept with limited means to trigger a desire. And someone is there with you or keeping an eye on you. Certainly this kind of support got patients stable at first, it just doesn’t teach any skills for any real life situations.
Intensive outpatient programs typically provide 9 to 15 contact hours per week. They provide treatment across presumably 3 to 5 days, and as an example might consist of three hours sessions, three times a week, or two weeks but customarily longer….meaning less number of times per week. The schedule varies, but the treatment intensity is just as you would experience in residential, crazy condensed into available blocks of time. Those seeking holistic care find that this perspective enables them to legitimately tackle their addiction while still addressing work, housing, or family obligations.
Between appointments, participants resume time outs of the clinic to go home, go to work, attend to family obligations, and experience all the regular stresses and triggers participants will inevitably face while trying to stay in long-term recovery. Meanwhile, treatment providers are checking in regularly and frequently to discuss with participants what they were feeling, doing, or thinking after those experiences, and how to work on those triggers.
Real-World Recovery Skills
This is where a partial hospitalization treatment really shines: you are learning to practice recovery skills (whatever that means for the individual) in the real-time environment where you will be expected to practice them. You had a rough day at work? Your next outpatient appointment will be tomorrow or the day after—not weeks from now—so you can discuss coping skills before you forget what happened.
Many families find that their loved one does better with this type of approach because they are not living in treatment bubble. Instead, they are getting back into their real social circles, workplace pressures, family obligations, etc., while the provider is available to support them.
The treatment does everything a residential treatment would; individuals are participating in individual therapy and group counseling, education about addiction, relapse prevention planning, and in some cases, family therapy, etc. However, it’s happening in a way that factors in real life rather than replaces it.
Staying Connected While in Treatment
The greatest advantage is people can get treatment without loss of stability. They can still hold their long-term job, and not risk their job for a recovery program. They can still lease an apartment and not have to often worry about custody and child cares. Students can stay in school. Stability usually supports recovery rather than impedes it. Financial, relational, and life events can lead to relapse. If one can maintain income, housing, and a connection with their networks, this stability yields a firmer base for recovery.
Stability also aids in family healing. Instead of going away for treatment and then making an attempt at repairing relationships upon returning, families are part of the recovery effort from the get-go. They can attend family sessions, learn about addiction with the person in treatment, and repair trust little by little.
When IOP Makes the Most Sense
Intensive Outpatient Treatment is optimal for people who are detoxed, medically stable, in a safe and supported environment, and willing to engage in treatment. It is often a good choice for working professionals, parents with custodial children, or anyone with responsibilities that would make residential treatment impractical.
Some people will step down to iop outpatient after a successful residential treatment stay in an effort to bridge intensive treatment and independent recovery. Others may initiate a relationship with treatment through IOP, especially if they are able to address their addiction-related issues before their addiction has taken over their lives.
This approach also lends itself well to persons managing multiple substances or co-occurring mental health issues, again as long as they are stable enough to live independently whilst receiving treatment.
The Framework That Holds You Accountable
Be careful not to confuse flexibility with ease. Intensive outpatient programs are still intensive. There are regular drug screens, homework assignments, and expectations for your participation and progress.
The framework is different than with residential treatment. However, the framework is still present. Generally speaking, clients must attend all sessions that are scheduled, participate (at least somewhat) in therapy groups, do individual assignments, and often attend extra peer-support meetings at community locations.
The distinction is that the framework exists around your life and does not need to replace it. Sessions that may be normally scheduled in the evenings will allow clients to attend work, or scheduled during the school day for parents with their children in school.
Building Skills for Sustainable Recovery
Maybe the greatest value of intensive outpatient treatment is people are building their recovery support system in their community where they will, for the most part, be living going forward. They are finding only groups that meet in the area, relational connection with people they can see in the near future and learning how to use community resources.
When people transition from a residential setting, it can be difficult for some participants who have learned to do things or think about recovery sober in high-structure format to some extent. In outpatient treatment, there is not transition because while in the program, people have been consistently practicing their recovery skills in their everyday environment.
The skills feel more authentic and sustainable because they were learned in the ‘real world,’ as opposed to in an contingently insulated, institutionalized treatment program.
Making The Decision That Is Best For You
Intensive outpatient treatment is not for everyone. For clients pleasure and happiness, they may need to be medically monitored. Some people live in unsafe environments and still others may have attempted outpatient options multiple times without being successful. These people likely may need more intensive treatment or care.
For many people, IOP finds them the exact mind and spirit balance of initially intruding on their life with peer-support from professionals. It is comprehensive enough to work with people with significant addiction needs yet flexible enough to work though the challenges of daily life we face.
The great part is that choosing IOP is not reconciling to less treatment. You are choosing a model that respects recovery needs to be sustainable in your life, not just doable in treatment. Once treatment is acknowledged and fitted as your life rather than fit to treatment, the chances of success significantly increase.
