Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
An intensive outpatient program (IOP) is an alternative means of receiving focused treatment for mental
health conditions or addiction while maintaining family, home, work, or school commitments.
Many intensive outpatient program participants continue to manage their careers, family
responsibilities, and education while undergoing outpatient treatment. While the program is designed
to accommodate outside obligations, treatment in an IOP involves several days per week of structured
rehabilitation and therapies.
The Advantages of IOP Treatment
While residential treatment is the most comprehensive form of mental health or addiction treatment, it is not necessarily suitable for all individuals. Many people have maintained careers and relationships with family and need to ensure the continuity of those aspects of their lives during treatment. This is when IOP may be the right for someone who also needs to prioritize work, school, home life, and other obligations. Within IOP treatment, clients still receive staff and peer support while maintaining community access for strengthening self-managed sobriety, all at the same time.
Our treatment programs are both affordable and accessible to provide treatment opportunities for every client who needs our help. Regardless of your history, we have the programs and experience you can trust when you are ready to embrace sobriety and begin a new life in recovery. Based on the core principles of honesty, compassion, and integrity, every staff member seeks to help you succeed in treatment and recovery.
Types of Therapy in IOP
Group therapy plays a significant role in IOP treatment for addiction. These groups are usually kept to a maximum of ten participants so each can have a voice, feel safe, and form peer bonds within the group. Together, these groups explore a variety of topics, such as:- Post-acute withdrawal syndrome
- Relapse prevention
- Management of cravings, triggers, and urges
- Drug and alcohol education
- 12-step program exploration
- Dual diagnosis treatment
- Family Therapy
- Socialization in sobriety
- Other subjects of importance to the group
Individual therapy is also provided weekly. These private sessions provide an environment where the client can discuss more individualized matters than in a group setting. Family members may also participate in an individual session if appropriate.
An intensive outpatient program may involve declining intensity structure. This means more attendance is necessary in the beginning of treatment than later when recovery has built strength. This higher intensity of the first weeks in recovery helps those overcoming addiction successfully navigate their most tentative periods of sobriety with greater support.
Intensive Outpatient Treatment at Steps to Recovery
At Steps to Recovery, our Bucks County and Lehigh Valley locations offer IOP services on Monday,
Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, allowing clients to choose
their days/evenings based on their personal schedules. Each IOP client attends therapy sessions with a
clinician once per week, as well as a psychiatric evaluation and a follow-up on a monthly basis.
Eligibility for our intensive outpatient programs is established through a medical assessment before
entry. This important part of the admissions process also helps establish “medical necessity” for
insurance coverage justification. Each client entering our IOP receives an individualized treatment plan.
Program duration for intensive outpatient treatment may vary for individuals. Duration is according to
personal needs and is usually first established in the individual treatment planning process at admission.
STRIDE Program Recovery Housing at our Bucks County Location
Our STRIDE Program supports clients as they integrate back into their communities, offering flexibility with daytime and nighttime services. Each client attends programming three times per week while they live in recovery housing that is staffed by qualified, certified recovery specialists. Our recovery specialists serve as case managers, helping clients with real-world skill building focusing on gainful employment, permanent housing, public transportation, and community integration. The STRIDE Program includes:- Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PET)
- Individual Therapy
- Family Therapy
- Career Development
- Nutrition Therapy
- Life Skills Groups
- Relapse Prevention
- Medication Therapy Management,including MAT
