From over the counter medications and prescription drugs to alcohol and street drugs, almost any drug can be abused. Substance abuse is a challenging issue which can potentially impact all areas of an individual life, including health, work, and interpersonal relationships. Hopefully, an individual in the grips of alcohol or drug addiction will reach out for help.
Luckily, there are several levels and settings of addiction treatment, and after careful assessment, intensive outpatient treatment for substance abuse may be recommended. Ordinarily, this type of therapy is reserved for those with less severe addictions, who have a supportive environment and doesn’t have mental health disorders.
Why Intensive Outpatient Treatment?
There are several benefits of outpatient treatment, but it is more beneficial and appropriates to people whose condition is satisfactorily stable. For one, this treatment can be administered through several settings, including the local health department, hospital clinic, by telephone, and at the therapist’s office. Plus, the daily appointment can be regulated in several programs to allow adequate time for work or school.
Success Rates
There are different methods for the treatment of substance abuse, but intensive outpatient rehabilitation has worked for lots of people. In 2007, a study found that the people attending outpatient programs, including the intensive outpatient programs, did better than those in a regular residential treatment program.
According to a study, 73 percent of patients involved in the outpatient’s treatment and IOP experienced favorable outcomes to 60 percent for regular treatment at follow up point after nine-month program completion.
How Long Is an Outpatient Program?
Standard IOP involves at least nine hours of weekly treatment, divided into three-hour sessions with a couple of meetings extending to six hours. The loose relations require that therapy of six to thirty hours should be given, depending on the client’s needs for at least 90 days.
Although the intensity of IOP treatment is comparable to partial hospitalization programs (PHP), SAMHSA recommended that partial hospitalization programs should contain six hours or more of therapy per day on consecutive weekends. However, in IOP, there is no required minimum length of stay, but the minimum of 90 days rehabilitation program is suitable for most people.
Things to Prepare Before Seeking Help
Before seeking intensive outpatient treatment for substance abuse for yourself or loved one, try to find out some information to make sure you have all the necessary details. Some of them include:
- If there are any known medical issues
- How long the substance abuse has been going on
- How often the substance is being used
- Are there any other mental disorders present?
- If the individual is abusing more than one substance at the same time
Parting thoughts
Choosing between inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation program is a dilemma millions of people face every day, they want to get help for substance abuse, but can’t take the time of school or work to go to a rehab clinic. At Lionrockrecovery, we don’t think anyone should be forced to choose between school or supporting their family and getting the substance abuse treatment they need. That is why we designed a flexible and innovative system to help people seeking treatment.
