The Benefits of Intensive Outpatient Treatment

If you need treatment for an addiction or a mood disorder and have been considering attending residential treatment, there is another option – Intensive Outpatient Treatment. Let’s be honest, it can be humiliating packing up your bags, leaving home, and being confined in a facility that limits your phone calls,  computer access, and freedom. Oh yes, some of the residential facilities are very luxurious, and if you have the budget, these programs can feel like you are on a vacation. However, treatment is a serious matter that you don’t want to toy around with, if you have a serious problem that can be life threatening, serious treatment is recommended.

Residential treatment is generally four to eight weeks, though it isn’t uncommon for people to stay in a program for six months. That’s a long time to be away from normal life, and still it doesn’t guarantee a total cure. Sobriety takes real effort for sometimes years. This is why AA says, “One step at a time”.   

Relapse rates are normally 60% in the first year of treatment, regardless of the format you choose, relapse can be seen as a regular occurrence, but it depends on the severity. This is why ongoing treatment is the key.  

We recommend going to a facility that is close to where you live. If you’ve chosen to go through treatment at a facility that is distant, their support is far away and ongoing support after treatment is the key. Though, if you choose to go to a facility that is distant, continued efforts through individual counseling, self-help groups, and group counseling can be of great benefit. The key is doing something while you get used to the new and improved you.

Successful treatment takes a minimum of a year to process through the old habits and cement in the new. This is why it is so important to go through a program you believe in, have had good success with, and provides tools for you to turn to instead of falling back on the old habits. Each treatment program will help you get through the initial obvious problems, but once you are away it is not uncommon for more issues to come to the surface or new ones to head your way. Will the program prepare you for this? Now that is the $100,000 question.

When I was the clinical director of a residential treatment program it was disheartening when people who worked so hard on themselves at the facility, relapse once they got back home. I had seen this when I worked in 12 step programs and vowed to go back to school to discover a cure that would be long lasting. When this happened in my residential facility I asked myself why. I used this therapy approach on myself and it worked like a charm, treated thousands with it at a crisis center and saw great success there, but why wasn’t It 100% with my own program?

Often therapists will blame the clients. “They didn’t try hard enough” or “They weren’t ready to change”. It isn’t their fault if the tools don’t work, or are too complicated for them. I have learned that failure leads to opportunities and that I need to change up my approach and listen to people that are having difficulties with my material. All, or should I saw the majority of relapse took place when people failed to do two things: Follow up on treatment after they were discharged and failure to address their emotional upset. It is normal for us to avoid our emotions and focus on the quick fix methods that only go so far. Since I couldn’t refer people to a therapist with my unique training, I figured that I could open up an Outpatient Clinic for ongoing care myself.

Having a great program is one thing, continually refining it is something else. I figured that Disneyland was always changing their rides, so why not me? You may wonder why I bring up Disneyland, well to me treatment can be an amazing adventure if you let yourself explore the deep wounded areas within. Doing so is not always hard work, sometimes it is addressed in play.

Intensive outpatient treatment allows you to go through treatment while you remain at home. This can be key if the stresses that are put on you in your home environment caused you to seek treatment in the first place. In attending treatment while experiencing problems where you live, you get to apply the tools you have been learning, eliminating the shock of going to residential care, returning home after the month or more, and being confronted in a raw state.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a great need for residential treatment when it is imperative to keep a person to stay away from substances. However residential treatment isn’t a 100% guarantee against this. Many facilities are easily compromised when clients are not motivated to change themselves, but are forced to take a time out from using due to family demands or court obligations.

I am upfront with people. I ask them if they want to heal or simply are doing this to please others? The mere fact that the person is at a facility shows that something in their life isn’t working, but are they willing to change?

I remember my own journey. I was addicted, on the street, and jobless. I loved using because it was my normal, but look where it brought me. Where was the star athlete that coached children how to play baseball? I felt ashamed when reality hit and I bargained with myself to stop for a few years, get my life back in order, and then decide if I wanted to return to using at that time. The first step was becoming sober. I fought for it because I wanted me back. Once motivated, people can do amazing things.

In my 26 years of field service, a line of reasoning by clients always intrigued me: “If I really put my all into improving myself and failed it would prove that I am a total loser.” Take a look at this. This reasoning seems so logical, but then why try to do anything in life? If we fail to try then we are destined to remain where we are at. Do you like where you are at in your life? Life is all about trial and error. This is how we learn. If we fail to try then we simply remain stuck and repeat what we are doing over and over again. It is up to you to decide if you want to try and are big enough to fail and fail again. Lord knows I have made some of the most stupid mistakes, but at these times I tell myself, “Well, that didn’t work. Okay, then let’s try it another way.”

If you are ready to change, and are willing to give it your best effort then why wait? Take charge of your life right now. Make an informed decision on treatment whether it be residential or outpatient. Treatment entails breaking an addictive habit and establishing new thoughts, behaviors, and depending on the approach – addressing the underlying core issues that brought you into treatment in the first place. I for one love working with people who have tried treatment before, for many reasons. First of all, veterans of treatment tend to try a little harder in the program. You know, who wants to fail another time? Actually, who wants to fail at all? Second, teaching people a multiple of tools that treats a problem in four ways: Physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, has higher rates of success. Lastly, I know we are different because we care. You don’t heal when somebody shames you. You heal when somebody loves you. Love in our program is seen as the ultimate healer. This isn’t something we fake. Why be a phony? We are a happy staff because we all get along, have done amazing work together and love going to work.

Spiritual Psychology focuses on the whole being. If we only focus on sobriety, the underlying mental and emotional issues will stream to the surface. If you do not know how to process through them, relapse is assured.

In graduate school, where we practiced this counseling approach on each other and as a result I healed profoundly. The childhood issues I had in being abused, healed dramatically, to the point that I was able to befriend the father I had turned my back on for a decade! At Basic Steps Mental Health, I use the same curriculum from the University of Santa Monica, because of the profound effect the university had on me and the student body. We all profoundly changed. Suddenly treatment doesn’t feel like treatment at all, but more like school, or really like the schooling you wished you always had.

Our program has an emphasis on family healing. This includes your marriage or with your friends. Once you are in the sick role, people around you are used to you being that way. Your improvement can scare them because you have suddenly changed and that means they will have to change as well. This can become too much of an effort so they will try to put you back in your place. Changing the family system, where the whole family can work on this issue together, has incredible benefits because it helps the whole system adjust properly. 

Treatment isn’t something to toy with. In fact, it will probably be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do because addiction is locked into the way you think, the chemistry of your body, and the actions you do. Suddenly stopping your normal (abnormal) behaviors to improve yourself often needs the support of compassionate others. Have you ever tried to go on a diet? How easy is it for you to do so alone? With addiction treatment, you are basically going on a different diet and are asked to do so for a minimum of a year before it become your normal way of living. Yes, people do heal, provided they obtain the education, guidance, and support. Then the rest is up to you.

Some roadblocks to treatment are finances. Especially now, financial problems can be normal. Then it is important to work with your insurance company but be careful here not to be thrust into the program they choose for you. To be honest, you’ll be wasting your time.  Work with the facility you want to attend and see if they accept insurance or have payment plans for treatment. When there is a will there is a way.

In closing, understand that old habits die hard and they don’t go away on their own. It is important to learn how to take the upper hand on your own self care. It is time to get the long awaited help you need. How proud will you be of yourself after you break through your resistance and actually step out into the unknown and undergo the treatment that you desperately need. Starting your healing simply starts with a phone call.

Compassionate Care is Always Available

There are many more tools and strategies you can use in your pursuit of happiness. Here is where we come in. Contact us at Basic Steps Mental Health and let us support and educate you on this journey back to your loving heart center. Imagine living a heart-centered life, regardless of what is happening externally. We’d love to be of help.

For 25 years, Dr. Scott Alpert, the clinical director of Basic Steps Mental Health, has treated over 7,000 people with mental health and addiction problems, using a Psychological approach that mixes and matches ten of the top approaches used in the industry.  We are here virtually and in-person to help you get through this COVID-19 pandemic and many other difficulties you may be experiencing.

May you have good mental health.