Most people in America are aware that people who have addiction issues need to go to rehab for help. For most of us, going to rehab means taking part in a residential treatment program. That involves living in the treatment facility for between 30 to 90 days.
That’s the general vision everyone has about rehab. In recent years, residential treatment centers all over the country have struggled to keep up with demand. That’s a sad indoctrination of the increasing substance abuse problem we have in this country. In an effort to help alleviate the backlog of people who need treatment, a lot of rehabs across the country are putting more emphasis on outpatient treatment.
Yes, outpatient treatment has always been available. However, residential treatment was always offered as the preferred option because it keeps clients safe from relapses while they get treatment. As demand for residential treatment started rising, rehab administrators began using outpatient treatment options for a larger base of people.
The reality is a lot of people who need treatment avoid treatment because they cannot or will not commit to going through a residential treatment process. Outpatient treatment programs open the door to a wider range of treatment options for such people. Why would someone prefer outpatient treatment over a more restrictive but safe residential treatment option? Here is a list of common reasons people avoid residential treatment:
- They don’t have insurance a cannot affort to pay for residential treatment
- They have family and child care responsibilities that make residential treatment too restrictive
- They cannot take time away from school or work
- They would incur finacial reprecussions if they missed work
- They don’t feel the severity of their addiction warrants residential treatment
Clearly, these are all viable reasons for someone to opt for a less restrictive outpatient option. The good news is outpatient treatment programs have become more effective because of the additional focus they get from rehab administrators and therapists. Clients get the same level of care while being able to live at home and still manage their responsibilities. In the next section, we are going to tell you a little bit about three outpatient treatment options.
Outpatient Treatment Options
As part of the outpatient treatment option, clients get a lot of individual therapy. They also get access to family and group therapy options if time allows. That’s the bottom line. Clients get the same level of treatment as residential treatment clients but have to be able to act responsibly and not use drugs while getting treatment. Since outpatient clients are required to act responsibly for the extra level of freedom they get, they do have to follow some very strict rules. Here are a few of those rules:
- Must abstain from using alcohol or any drugs without a doctor’s prescription
- When reporting for treatment, they must be willing to drug test
- Must report for all therapy appointments on time every time
- Must continue to show progress towards recovery
If clients can follow these rules, they have an excellent chance of recovering from their addiction. If they can’t follow rules, they are asked to either accept admission into a residential treatment program or seek help from another treatment facility. Currently, there are three main outpatient options available in most rehabs. What differentiates these three programs from one another is the time commitment clients have to make. Here’s a summary of these three options:
- General Outpatient Program (OP): client reports for treatment one or two times a week for up to two hours a session
- Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP): client reports for treatment three to five times a week for up to four hours a session
- Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP): client reports for treatment five to seven times a week for up to eight hours a session
Rehab administrators will recommend an option based on the client’s circumstances and the severity of their addiction problem. Knowing you might be able to accept an outpatient treatment will hopefully motivate you to revisit the possibility of getting help. Regardless of which option you want or need, we would like to invite you to call one of our administrative staff members at 844-844-3463. They will use your phone call as an opportunity to answer your questions and offer you information about the facility and our addiction treatment options.