The Difference Between
OP and IOP
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Table of Contents
THE COMFORT OF HOME WITH THE STRUCTURE OF TREATMENT
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction almost always requires professional help.1 A high quality addiction treatment program addresses a wide range of issues and gives individuals the strategies, skills and tools they need to recover for the long-term.
Addiction treatment takes place in a variety of settings, depending on an individual’s needs.
Both outpatient programs (OP) and intensive outpatient programs (IOP) enable you to live at home while in rehab. Here, we take a closer look at what these are and how they work.
Outpatient Program vs. Intensive Outpatient Program
Clients in both outpatient and intensive outpatient programs engage in therapy, psychoeducational classes and other services and interventions, depending on their unique needs.
Holistic Treatment
Traditional Therapies
Traditional therapies are those that have been shown through research to successfully treat addiction. These include:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is the most commonly used therapy in addiction treatment programs and helps people identify self-destructive thought and behavior patterns and develop new, healthier ways of thinking and behaving.
- Family therapy, which helps repair damaged relationships and restore function to the family system.
- Trauma-focused therapies like acceptance and commitment therapy, which instills a sense of safety in trauma survivors.
- Pharmacotherapy, or the use of medications, which may be used to treat a co-occurring mental illness or, in the case of medication-assisted treatment, the addiction.
Complementary Therapies
Complementary therapies are those that have been shown through research to successfully treat addiction when they’re used along with traditional therapies. These include:
- Art or music therapy, which helps individuals express difficult emotions, heal emotional wounds, decrease denial and increase motivation and self-awareness.
- Biofeedback therapy, which helps individuals learn to reduce their body’s stress response and become more aware of how stress affects the body.
- Meditation, which improves mindfulness, reduces stress and increases self-awareness.
Psychoeducational Classes
Aftercare
According to the Butler Center for Research, the likelihood of long-term recovery increases by 20 percent for each consecutive month you engage in an aftercare plan.5
- 20% Increase of Long-Term Recovery for Each Consecutive Month of Aftercare 20%
The Continuum of Care for Addiction Treatment
The American Society of Addiction Medicine has identified four levels of care for treating addiction.2
Level 1: Outpatient
Clients in this level of care attend programming for nine or fewer hours each week.
Level 2: IOP & PHP
Level 2.1 is an intensive outpatient program, which is similar to outpatient treatment except that it consists of nine or more hours of programming each week.
Level 2.2 is partial hospitalization services, which involves 20 or more hours of outpatient services each week.
Level 3: Residential
The first three are clinically managed residential programs, which involve living at the treatment center while in rehab.
The higher the sub-level, the more intensive the services.
The fourth sub-level is medically monitored inpatient treatment for those who require medication or medical supervision.
Level 4: Intensive Inpatient
This level is for people who are unstable, have severe problems or who are experiencing severe withdrawal during detox.
Four Stages of Treatment
Engagement in Treatment
Early recovery
Maintenance
Community Support
Recovery Starts with Detox to End Dependence
Dependence is a physical reliance on drugs or alcohol, caused by changes in neurotransmitter function resulting from heavy substance abuse. Dependence is different from addiction, which is characterized by compulsive drug abuse despite negative consequences, driven by intense cravings and dysfunctional thought and behavior patterns.
How Long Does Detox Take?
Medical detox is supervised by medical and mental health professionals who can provide medication as needed to reduce the severity of withdrawal symptoms and shorten the length of time it takes to detox. In general, detox can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks or longer. How long it takes to detox depends on a number of factors, including:
- The drug of dependence
- The length and severity of dependence
- The amount of drugs or alcohol in the body at the time detox starts
- An individual’s age and general state of physical and mental health
- An individual’s unique biology
How is My Program Determined?
- The length and severity of the addiction
- Whether a mental illness co-occurs with the addiction
- How safe and stable an individual’s living environment is
- The extent and severity of an individual’s personal problems
- How motivated a person is to recover
Motivation is an important factor for determining where on the continuum of care someone will enter treatment. Those who have little intrinsic motivation to recover will likely start treatment in an inpatient program. People with a higher level of intrinsic motivation will likely start in an outpatient program or an intensive outpatient program.
High Quality Outpatient and Intensive Outpatient Programs Work
If you’re struggling with a drug or alcohol addiction, an outpatient program or intensive outpatient program may be right for you. You’ll be able to continue living at home and working or caring for the family while undergoing treatment, and you’ll be able to put into practice right away, in the real world, the skills and strategies you’re learning in therapy. Treatment can help you end an addiction once and for all, and it can improve your quality of life and lead to authentic happiness in a life of sobriety.
Resources
- https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-use-addiction
- https://www.asamcontinuum.org/knowledgebase/what-are-the-asam-levels-of-care/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64088/
- https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-drug-addiction-treatment-research-based-guide-third-edition/principles-effective-treatment
- https://www.hazelden.org/web/public/document/bcrup_continuingcare.pdf