Usually, mental health and addiction rehabilitation institutions provide either inpatient (residential) programs, outpatient programs (IOP), or both together. Selecting between these two kinds of therapy approaches might be difficult for various reasons.
Likewise, think of someone who has finished a residential treatment program but finds the idea of returning straight back into regular life overwhelming. As they adjust to living with their families and in their communities, they could require some additional direction and encouragement.
Intensive outpatient treatment programs (IOPs) close the distance between residential treatment programs and outpatient services by their very nature. IOPs are meant to enable people to keep their daily routines and still get a degree of treatment better than standard outpatient therapy programs.
For people suffering from mental health or drug abuse problems, IOPs provide several advantages. These advantages must be raised publicly so that patients—or those of loved ones—may choose IOPs as a useful therapeutic choice.
IOPs offer five advantages below:
- Patients’ and Facilities’ Flexibility
The fact that IOPs give the patients and the treatment center more freedom is among their most important advantages. Plans are created especially for the patient; hence the team at the treatment facility is more suited to meet the particular demands and goals for therapy. In the same vein, IOPs give patients more freedom to keep treating as they go about their everyday business. About timing therapy sessions and working around a patient’s calendar, IOPs provide more freedom.
- Enhanced Patient Personal Accountability
One more major advantage of IOPs is that they let patients participate in more personal obligations. IOPs provide a better mix between residential treatment programs, which demand patients to put their obligations on hold, and inpatient therapies, which might not supply the degree of care needed to maintain recovery.
With the help of mental health professionals, IOPs inspire individuals to learn how to appropriately manage their obligations. Particularly for those leaving rehab, IOPs provide a great chance for patients to strike a good balance between giving their rehabilitation top priority and their outside obligations.
- More Chance to Apply Acquired Treatment Skill Set
Unlike residential treatment programs, IOPs let patients actively apply what they learn throughout treatment in their regular lives. Patients have the opportunity to go home and apply newly acquired coping mechanisms, such as mindfulness or meditation, in real-life situations when they are instructed of them. Additionally crucial are IOP programs since they let individuals pick up fresh abilities that will enable them to manage current pain.
- IOPs Offer More Privacy
IOPs provide still another advantage since they are more private than residential facilities. Living at a residential treatment center becomes your business everyone else’s. Especially since everyone is probably experiencing quite similar difficulties, you grow rather close with others undergoing treatment with you. Your company becomes somewhat more private in an IOP and you have more freedom to determine what you would want to keep to yourself or share with colleagues.
Furthermore, IOPs let people be in treatment without needing an explanation for a protracted absence like they would for a residential treatment program—such as employment. Because of the flexibility with scheduling, patients may feel less exposed regarding their problems during an IOP.
- Community Support System Networks
IOPs provide patients with many support systems meant to help them recuperate. Patients in outpatient treatment will have access to support groups, mentors, individual counseling sessions, and group therapy sessions meant to inspire and encourage their path to recovery. Patients also have more access to support systems outside of treatment, including family members and friends, alongside therapists, counselors, and other mental health workers.
Key Take-Away
IOPs let patients reside at home , hence people are urged to lean into their relationships with friends and relatives outside of therapy. They are urged to try to strengthen their support networks so that, once they finish IOP, they will be more self-assured in their relationships and capacity for long-term recovery.
