Intensive outpatient treatment (IOP) is most likely a foreign concept to you because it is not the most popular addiction treatment option. IOP is a treatment option that consists of the clients going to meetings in the rehab center several times a week for several hours, as opposed to living at the facility. The clients are still able to go to work and/or school, see their family, and be involved in the outside world.
Intensive outpatient treatment offers the following services:
Group Therapy
Group therapy is one service that is offered by all IOP programs. People who have never had an addiction cannot provide the same empathy and problem-solving techniques as a fellow recovering addict. Topics that group therapy covers are stress management, assertiveness training, drug and alcohol refusal training, coping skill development, and relapse prevention.
Psycho-educational Groups
People who are recovering from addiction can have a hard time being gentle with themselves due to the myths and stigma that surround the disease. Psycho-educational groups educate the clients about the science of the disease and the effects of it.
Family Therapy
Addiction can cause great hostility within the family because it manifests negative behavior. Family therapy can help the family understand the disease and work through the issues that have arisen as a result of the disease.
How to Make IOP Work
While IOP is an effective form of addiction treatment, it can not do the work for you. Recovery requires motivation and dedication. Many people believe that the most reputable treatment centers and therapists are an absolute necessity. While effective treatment centers and therapists are vital, they will not cure you. They can offer you the tools, but you have to be willing to take them and use them. Remember that no recipe ever cooked a meal; only a person who used the recipe cooked the meal.
Step Three of the Twelve Steps states, “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.” Regardless of your personal creed, that step is saying that your way of thinking and behavior did not work and you must be willing to get into another way of thinking and behaving. In IOP and other recovery meetings, you will be given suggestions from other recovering addicts and counselors. While they should not make all of the decisions for you, especially life-altering ones (e.g. where to live, work, or go to school), you should be open to taking their suggestions. South Florida rehabs are a great place to start your journey. Call us at 833-846-5669 or visit our websites today.