Intensive outpatient programs are designed to help treat substance use disorders without requiring inpatient (residential) treatment. With intensive outpatient programs, clients usually come to the facility for several hours a day most days of the week. 

Intensive outpatient treatment is not residential, but it does meet regularly. An intensive program may meet for 40 hours a week, for example, while a typical outpatient program may meet for half that time or less. Every facility is different, so it’s important to ask about the required schedule before you or someone you love begins the program. 

Intensive outpatient programs have many exceptional benefits. Some benefits to consider include:

• Flexibility
• Remaining close to family and friends
• Building a community of like-minded peers
• Maintaining responsibilities
• Reducing the cost of treatment

Here is more information on each of these benefits and why they help make intensive outpatient treatment an excellent option for some individuals.

An Intensive Outpatient Program Offers Flexibility

With intensive outpatient treatment, clients are able to keep flexibility in their schedules. For example, they may attend treatment from 6:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and then go to work in the evenings. They may have the flexibility to send their children to school in the morning and pick them up after class. 

Many outpatient clients do have responsibilities that they have to take care of each day, and the flexibility of the program is what allows them to seek help for the substance use disorder while still managing those responsibilities. 

Family and Friends Stay Close

With an intensive outpatient clinic, clients have the option of staying in touch with their families and including them in their care plans. If you or someone you know are attending rehab on an outpatient basis, you may end up having many conversations about what you’re doing each day and how your rehabilitation process is going. Family therapy programs may also be a part of IOP.

Patients Get to Build a Community

Another benefit of an intensive outpatient program is that clients get the opportunity to build a community with those they meet during group therapy sessions. Clients have a community of peers that they can speak with both in and outside of treatment. From those who have recovered to those who are starting on the path to recovery with them, there will be many people to help along the way. 

Responsibilities May Be Met

Beneficially, the flexibility of an outpatient schedule means that clients can maintain work, school, or social schedules to keep up with their responsibilities. Most people can’t set aside their responsibilities for weeks on end while they go through recovery, and outpatient treatment doesn’t require them to. 

During the most significant periods of distress, it may be a good idea to take some time off work, to hire a babysitter, or to get additional support, but once that is over, then going to work, school, participating in typical activities, and taking care of responsibilities can be healthy for clients.

An Intensive Outpatient Program Costs Less

Intensive outpatient treatment costs less than an inpatient psychiatrist visit, which is one of its major draws. Many clients enjoy being able to go home at the end of the day, so they can relax in their own homes and prepare for their next day’s session.

Contact Sunrise Vista to Learn More about Outpatient and Inpatient Psychiatric Treatment in Canton, OH

At Sunrise Vista, we want to help you or someone you love on the path to sobriety at our treatment center in Ohio. Intensive outpatient treatment is just one of many options open to patients today. Call us at 844-942-3007 to learn more about the treatment plans that may work for you or someone you know.