What is the difference between IOP and outpatient therapy?
Intensive Outpatient Programs, or IOPs, provide wraparound services for folks needing extra mental health support. Unlike outpatient therapy, which typically consists of one hour-long session per week, IOP takes place 3-5 days per week for a total of 6-20 hours. These supportive services include individual therapy, group therapy, case management, medication management, and family therapy. For many folks, simply hearing “family therapy” can elicit feelings of fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, and skepticism. We receive messages from media and other cultural influences that family therapy is centered around finding who is to blame and “fixing” this person. I want to assure you that this is not the case.
Why family support is so important.
For individuals in IOP, many of whom are taking a leave from work or school, having their support system directly included in their treatment is invaluable. Family support can help to minimize feelings of isolation, shame, and anxiety while building connectedness, validation, and gratitude. While it is the therapist’s job to facilitate a safe and supportive family therapy space, we ask that clients and their support systems come to family therapy with curiosity, openness, and a willingness to be honest and vulnerable. At Mind Therapy Clinic (MTC), family therapy can take many different forms and include a variety of members.
Configurations of family therapy.
Below are some examples of themes and configurations of family therapy:
1. MTC client and family-of-origin members (parents, siblings, grandparents)exploring and understanding the family system, including:
- How to modify longstanding communication or attachment patterns that might be compromising self-efficacy/independence and connectedness
- How subsystems (ex. child/parent, parent/parent, sibling/sibling) impact the entire family system
- The impact of intergenerational trauma
2. MTC client and chosen family (partner, children, in-laws, friends) exploring and understanding the family system, including roles and dynamics that are keeping the unit from flourishing.
3. Family-of-origin members or chosen family receiving coaching and/or psychoeducation on how to support their loved one at MTC as well as take care of themselves.
The configuration of family support is developed intentionally between the treatment team and the MTC client and can morph over time as one’s needs change. A significant part of IOP care is developing a robust mental health relapse prevention plan for maintaining treatment gains and ideally mitigating a future spike in distress. While a notable component of this plan includes identifying one’s triggers along with effective and accessible coping skills, the other piece is building a support system and taking steps to maintain these connections. This is why family support in intensive outpatient programs is so important – therapy is not an independent process as we are social creatures who thrive from authentic connection. As folks graduate from IOP and increase demands in other areas of their life, perhaps education or work, having a support system to fall back on is crucial.
Learn more, take the next step.
If you are interested in family therapy or joining our Family and Relationship Issues process group, give us a call or text us to learn more.
If you have questions about family support options at MTC, feel free to contact me.