What Is an Intensive Outpatient Program? What Are IOPs For?

What is an intensive outpatient program (IOP)? I am currently in one, and I have been helped by another before. So, I am going to explain to you what an intensive outpatient program is in this article.

What Is an Intensive Outpatient Program to Me?

I am going to speak from experience while answering the question: what is an IOP? The program I am in now, and a different one I participated in previously (at the same hospital) have been in a group therapy format, with a social worker facilitating the conversation. We learn cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills to address our mental health conditions. The whole group is divided into two groups that each meet for one session in the morning and one in the late morning and early afternoon. Tuesday last week was my first day in the IOP. I met with a social worker privately before the group sessions began, and we met again after the first sessions.

But you are still waiting to find out--what is an IOP to me? I see it as a mental health tune-up. I came to both of the IOPs under very different circumstances. Last time, I was afraid I might hurt myself, so I had my husband drive me to the emergency room (ER), and while I was there, I called into one of my jobs and quit. I had been hospitalized in the psychiatric ward before, but this time the doctors were confident an IOP would be suitable.

This time, I am going through a difficult medication change, and my therapist suggested an IOP. I was glad because I thought I was about to land back in the ER due to the way I was feeling. Also, this time, instead of quitting my job, I alerted my editor at HealthyPlace that I was in an IOP but saw no reason why I couldn’t keep posting articles.

There’s More to the Question of 'What Is an Intensive Outpatient Program?'

So, what is an IOP? There are many facets to this question. I see it as making a big investment in my mental health. I’ve already learned so much just this past few days. I’ve learned I don’t have to live under the tyranny of my thoughts. One thing I knew I had to do to learn, though, was not to expect this program to copy the same experience that I had in the IOP seven years ago. I’ve idealized that IOP experience, even to the point of hoping a certain social worker from seven years ago was still there. (He isn’t.)

One thing I do bring with me from the IOP I was in before to the IOP I’m in now is the belief that it can help me. It can, and it will. I know for a fact that this IOP is helping me because, after just a few days, it’s starting to.