Our intensive outpatient program focuses on learning how to live in recovery. After a client’s life has been severely interrupted by an addiction, a reintegration process is essential to recovery. Whether clients are transitioning from a detox or a residential setting, they often seek ways to better manage their everyday life.
Treatment aims to address the root of your problems and teaches you ways to cope so that bad habits, like alcohol use, don’t reoccur in your life. An IOP focuses on applying the lessons learned in treatment to all areas of daily life.
An intensive outpatient program (IOP) can also be effective for those who are suffering from mental health challenges such as bipolar disorder or an eating disorder. While these struggles may not require hospitalization, they are intense enough to require a more robust outpatient program.
Other mental health diagnoses that can be addressed in an IOP include:
An outpatient program is just one of five levels on the continuum of care.
These levels include:
As part of level two care, an intensive outpatient program is frequently recommended for those who struggle with an addiction and a co-occurring mental health diagnosis. If you have already participated in a level 3 or 4 detox program within a controlled environment, a level two IOP may be quite effective as it helps you reintegrate into everyday life.
Additionally, if you have prior work and family commitments, an IOP can be a more reasonable option. This type of treatment allows you to uphold these commitments without disrupting your day-to-day life.
An intensive outpatient program works with your schedule so that you can attend therapy sessions when it is convenient for you. For example, our IOP offers time slots on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, as well as Saturdays and Sundays.
Even without a prior diagnosis, patients may be recommended to an IOP. Family members, physicians, clinicians, community agencies, ministers, the judicial system, and the patients themselves are always welcome to make referrals to a program at Baton Rouge Behavioral Hospital.
Programs can be designed for people who exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
However, IOPs are not recommended for those who are currently battling addiction. This is especially true if they have a co-occurring mental health disorder and have not yet received inpatient treatment or attended a detox program.
Furthermore, this type of treatment is more likely to be effective for those who have a safe home environment. Supportive family and friends are important aspects of an effective outpatient program. On the other hand, an IOP is unlikely to be effective in the long run if you have friends and family at home who still use drugs or drink.
Clients enrolled in an IOP at Baton Rouge Behavioral Hospital can still work or attend school. Clients live at home (or a sober living environment) and pursue their normal activities while in treatment.
Outpatient programs include individual therapy to address your unique mental health challenges. Unlike traditional therapy that might feature a single therapy session once a week, an intensive program is likely to include multiple sessions each week. It may include cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and medication management as well as fun, activity-based therapy sessions called recreation therapy.
In these programs, sessions are scheduled three to five days each week. Most programs run between 5 and 8 weeks with an option to be extended. At Baton Rouge Behavioral Hospital, we schedule sessions five days a week from 4:00 PM to 4:50 PM.
In addition to individual therapy sessions, you may also participate in group therapy as part of your recovery program. If you’re recovering after participating in a detox program, your therapist may also recommend that you participate in a 12-step program.
Different groups may be used to reach different goals.
A few different group programs include:
Treatment sessions vary depending on your unique challenges and your goals. In the case of drug or alcohol dependence, sessions may focus on getting at the root cause of the addiction to help prevent it from reoccurring again in the future.
Additional topics that can be addressed during an IOP program include:
Do you think that an IOP could help you or a loved one? You can learn more about our programming by calling one of our admissions specialists at Baton Rouge Behavioral Hospital: (225) 567-8698, or you can reach out through our confidential contact form. When you’re ready for help, our highly trained care staff will be there for you.
