Intensive Outpatient Therapy
Does Your Teen Need A Higher Level Of Care Than Therapy Can Provide?
Is your teenager struggling with anxiety, depression, or disordered eating?
Has traditional therapy not yielded the results you wanted for your adolescent?
Do you think they would benefit from a community-based program where they’re around peers with similar needs?
Maybe your teenager is currently in weekly outpatient treatment, but it isn’t enough and there seems to be a lack of progress. Perhaps they struggle to regulate their emotions—they’re moodier than usual and they’re isolating more often. Maybe they have an eating disorder and are struggling to maintain a healthy meal plan. Over time, their mental health issues could impact their academics and cause their grades to slip. As a result, you may feel that more in-depth care is needed.
Yet at the same time, your teenager may not need inpatient care or a residential program. They’d rather be able to stay home with family and go about life as normal. If this is the case, we are confident that intensive outpatient therapy is right for your adolescent. Here at Lift Wellness Group, our intensive outpatient program (IOP) gives your teen a chance to overcome their challenges and build rapport and community with a group of likeminded peers.
Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, or a provider looking for a referral, we encourage you to learn more about how our IOP can help adolescents ages 10 to 17 work through their mental health issues.
Many People Don’t Know About The Benefits Of An IOP
In fact, lots of caregivers feel torn between sending their adolescents to once-a-week therapy or inpatient care. Although both of these options have their benefits, they aren’t suitable for everyone. Intensive outpatient therapy provides a lovely middle ground—a chance for kids and teens to get in-depth care without having to put school and family life on the backburner. They can get support three days a week and still return home each day.
That said, if your teenager has more pressing medical or psychiatric needs, they may benefit more from a Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP). This level of care offers more psychiatric monitoring and medication management, so it works well for adolescents who need more serious care yet aren’t able to do an inpatient program.
Additionally, standard one-on-one therapy may work better for your teen if they get overstimulated by large groups of people or if they don’t like sharing in group settings. If you’re unsure what form of treatment would benefit your teenager, we would be happy to help you figure out what’s appropriate for them.
Intensive Outpatient Therapy Provides A Warm, Inviting Space For Teens To Work Through Their Mental Health Challenges
At Lift Wellness Group, our Intensive Outpatient Program generally runs three days a week for three to four hours each day. The IOP is an opportunity to provide more support than once-per-week therapy, since it allows for multiple group sessions in addition to a weekly individual or family session. The goal is to help adolescents build community with peers and learn and practice real world skills in a group setting.
Our IOP’s small size allows for customized and inclusive care in an intimate setting. Groups are designed to provide a warm, inviting environment where adolescents can learn, practice, and test skills that are applicable to their everyday lives. Our clinicians have lots of training and experience working with teens, so we are very in tune with the struggles of modern teens. We specialize in treating anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and many other mental health issues.
What To Expect In Intensive Outpatient Sessions
Our IOP is milieu-based therapy, meaning that most of the work is done in groups. Each week, however, there is a one-on-one session so that your teenager can go deeper into any underlying issues that have come up in group sessions. There’s also the possibility for family therapy sessions. This is especially helpful if your teenager is dealing with an eating disorder, since it can help everyone at home learn how to support your teen better.
Each group session has a different focus. Some of the main group topics at our outpatient program include Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Expressive Arts, Navigating Social Media, Mind-Body Connection, and Diet Myths 101. These topics rotate and vary from group to group. Each of them was developed by our clinicians here at Lift to ensure that teens gain real-life skills for dealing with everyday challenges.
Teens who receive treatment at the IOP level will learn various strategies for regulating their emotions, being more assertive, communicating their needs, and improving their relationships. For adolescents with eating disorders, intensive outpatient therapy can help them learn to think critically about what’s fact and fiction in nutrition and diet culture. We offer meals to all our clients, but for those with eating disorders, we have a specific nutritional meal plan created just for them. Treatment with us is always customized to suit the needs of each client.
Schedule A Tour Of Our Treatment Facility!
Some of our competitors have treatment programs in large medical buildings—we don’t. Instead of having our IOPs in a sterile and intimidating medical environment, treatment with us takes place in a small, warm, and inviting space. The building we use looks like a house on the outside and inside, so it’s very easy for adolescents to feel at ease when they walk in the doors.
If you’d like to see the space before you commit to having your teen in our IOP, you are more than welcome to book a tour with us! You can schedule one by calling our intake number at 203-908-5603.
Your Teenager Deserves Compassionate, Community-Based Treatment
At Lift Wellness Group, our mission is to empower teenagers to overcome their hurdles and achieve their hopes and dreams. One of the best ways to do that is through a community-based program with other teenagers. This is an opportunity for your adolescent to meet peers who can validate them, encourage them, and lift them up.
To find out more about intensive outpatient therapy, you can use our contact form or call 203-908-5603.
