Outpatient addiction treatment is delivered by way of scheduled weekday therapy sessions to treat alcohol use disorder, substance use disorder, or co-occurring disorder.
You don’t need to pack your bags and head to a residential rehab center in Huntington Beach, and you can engage with structured treatment while remaining anchored to everyday life.
While not suitable for all addictions, data shows that outpatient treatment is equally as effective as inpatient treatment for most substance use disorders.
What is Outpatient Addiction Treatment?
Outpatient treatment is much more effective for treating mild and some moderate addictions than severe addictions.
There are significant differences in the timescale, intensity, and format of outpatient treatment, depending on which form makes the best fit for you.
You find three main varieties of outpatient rehab, as well as continuing care.
- Regular outpatient program
- IOP (intensive outpatient program)
- PHP (partial hospitalization program)
Regular outpatient program
With a standard outpatient program, you will attend a weekly therapy session at a treatment center.
While this might be suitable for some mild addictions, most people find a more intensive form of the outpatient program more beneficial.
IOP (intensive outpatient program)
The next step up on the continuum of care from outpatient rehab is an intensive outpatient program, commonly abbreviated to IOP.
Despite the name, an IOP is not the most intensive form of outpatient treatment. That comes in the form of a PHP – more on that directly below.
Intensive outpatient programs offer you a minimum of nine hours of weekly sessions. Like all forms of outpatient treatment, you’ll return home or to a sober living home between sessions.
As you hit treatment goals, you can reduce your time commitment. If necessary, you can then step down to a regular outpatient program for a more gradual transition into sustained sobriety and daily living.
IOPs work well if you can’t commit to the intense and full-time nature of a PHP but need more support and structure than a traditional outpatient program provides.
PHP (partial hospitalization program)
Bridging the gap between inpatient and outpatient rehab, a PHP (partial hospitalization program), is the most structured and intense form of outpatient programming.
A PHP, also known as a day program, offers you an enhanced level of care over five to seven days, with a full-time schedule of up to 35 hours of weekly therapy. Sessions at a treatment center are what constitutes the hospitalization component, so don’t confuse this with being confined at a hospital.
As with all forms of outpatient therapy, you are based at home or a sober living home throughout treatment.
Day programs offer an abundance of support and structure, but some people find the time commitment too intense. That said, the personalized nature of PHPs means you may be able to rejig your schedule to accommodate.
Regardless of the form of outpatient program that makes the smoothest fit, you’ll have access to the same services. Indeed, these are the same services you would find in residential rehab. Without the cost of room and board to consider, though, treatment comes in at a fraction of the cost.
Outpatient addiction treatment connects you with the following therapies and treatments:
- MAT (medication-assisted treatment): For alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorder, MAT is proven effective for reducing the intensity of both cravings and withdrawal symptoms. MAT is always best delivered in combination with psychotherapies – see below.
- Individual counseling: One-to-one counseling allows you to explore the root cause of your addiction with a qualified therapist.
- Group counseling: While group counseling doesn’t offer the same level of personalization, you’ll learn about addiction in a wider sense, while also benefiting from powerful peer support from others in recovery.
- Psychotherapies: Psychotherapy, also known as talking therapy, helps you to examine the interlinked nature of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Therapies like CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) help you identify what triggers you to abuse substances, and you will also formulate superior coping strategies, enabling you to navigate life’s stressors without abusing drink or drugs. DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy) is another closely related form of psychotherapy also useful for treating some mental health disorders and co-occurring disorders.
- Family therapy: Addiction is a family disease, impacting all members of the family and straining relationships. Many outpatient programs offer you access to various forms of family therapy. You’ll learn to communicate more effectively, and also to resolve conflict more successfully.
- Relapse prevention and management: Anywhere from 40% to 60% of those in recovery relapse at least once, according to NIDA data. As a progressive and relapsing condition, outpatient treatment programs will help you plan to minimize the chance of relapse, as well as equip you with the skills to ensure a slip doesn’t mean a permanent return to substance abuse.
- Educational and vocational development programs: The more you learn about all aspects of addiction, the more effectively you can fight back, embracing sobriety rather than viewing it negatively. All the best rehab centers will offer both educational and vocational development components to outpatient programming.
- Holistic therapies: From experiential adventure therapy to mindfulness meditation and yoga, many outpatient programs for addiction offer holistic rehab alongside evidence-based treatment, providing a whole-body approach to recovery.
In addition to these three main forms of treatment taking place in an outpatient addiction treatment center, continuing care for addiction can also be considered outpatient care.
The most common form of continuing support comes in the form of local meetings of 12-step groups like AA and NA, or secular alternatives like SMART recovery.
Benefits of Getting Addiction Treatment from an Outpatient Program
Engaging with treatment in an outpatient setting delivers several key benefits.
- Affordability: Outpatient treatment is much cheaper than inpatient treatment, without the costs of accommodation, food, and around-the-clock care. Also, most health insurance policies will meet the cost of outpatient treatment, whereas most will not cover the cost of inpatient rehab.
- Flexibility: You can attend therapy sessions around commitments at home, work, or school. You can also customize treatment to better accommodate your schedule. With inpatient treatment, by contrast, you’ll need a month or more away from home, work, or school. Even if affordable, this is by no means always practical.
- Discretion: It’s hard to hide an absence of a month or more from an employer, friends, or family. For those looking to engage with addiction treatment subtly, outpatient programs provide a discreet solution.
- Social support network: Remaining at home during outpatient treatment for addiction – assuming the environment is supportive and not full of triggers for substance abuse – allows you to stay connected to your support network.
- Proven effective: There is an evidence base for the effectiveness of outpatient treatment for most substance use disorders.
How can you go about finding addiction treatment near you, then?
Outpatient Addiction Treatment Near Me
Formulate a list of key information before contacting treatment facilities. Consider the following:
- How long have you been using substances?
- Are you dependent on the substance?
- How much are you consuming?
- Are you using multiple substances?
- Do you have an underlying mental health disorder?
- Are you aware of any underlying medical conditions?
- Do you need to pay for the treatment with insurance?
You’ll then be ready to start searching, online and offline, for the right outpatient addiction treatment near you.
Los Angeles
Searching online for “outpatient addiction treatment Los Angeles” should yield the most suitable treatment centers near you.
You also ask for recommendations from friends and family, as well as from your primary healthcare provider.
Orange County
Here at The District Recovery Community, we offer evidence-based outpatient addiction treatment in Orange County.
Whether you need an IOP, a PHP, sober living, or dual diagnosis treatment, we offer all this and more here at TDRC.
All you need to do is the hard part: reach out to admissions right now at 844.287.8506.
