Often called the “terrible teens”, we don’t need to tell you that adolescence is a challenging time for many children and their families. As your teen sprints toward development into young adulthood, they face a whole host of physical, emotional, and cognitive changes. Sometimes, the challenges involved in this tricky period can be overwhelming, both for you and your teen.
Some common problems that you may have already seen crop up are challenging behaviors at home and school, such as mood swings, concerns about body image, identity issues, and substance abuse. Conflict may also arise with authority figures like teachers and principals, due to your teen’s burning desire for independence.
When these problems affect your teen’s mental health and your family, teen intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) can provide structured support and treatment, all while your teen stays living at home.
This article describes what is offered by teen intensive outpatient programs, explains their benefits, and signposts some of the best services available, so you know where to turn.
What Is an Adolescent Intensive Outpatient Program?
Adolescent intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) are mental health treatment programs for teens with mild to moderate mental health difficulties—for example, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, or body image and identity issues.
Adolescent intensive outpatient program mental health services allow teens to live at home while receiving treatment, unlike inpatient programs. Because of this, an intensive outpatient program for teens minimizes disruption to their school, community, and family relationships. It also supports their mental health and well-being during those turbulent teenage years.
What Do Adolescent IOPs Involve?
An adolescent intensive outpatient program (IOP) is a structured treatment program that provides wrap-around support, offering not only practical but emotional treatment, too. They treat mental health problems through a structured approach, over several hours a day a few days a week. This can include:
- Individual, group, and family therapy
- Expressive therapies such as art, music, and drama therapy
- Peer support and psychoeducation groups
- Skills development such as coping skills, emotional regulation, interpersonal communication, and social skills training
- Tailored academic support
- Careful monitoring of compliance and side effects will also be included for teens on medication
Let’s take a more detailed look at the overall structure and what this involves.
Before the program begins, a team of qualified clinicians will evaluate your child’s mental health, substance use, behavioral challenges, and family dynamics. This initial assessment is used to create a tailored treatment plan designed to meet the unique needs and goals of each patient.
Treatment can include a combination of any or all the components listed above. For example, a teen presenting with anxiety and substance abuse issues may benefit from individual and family therapy sessions, medication management, or participation in a peer support group.
They may also receive support through mindfulness-based stress reduction, activities that build their emotional regulation skills, and tailored academic support.
Individual therapy could include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Focuses on challenging negative thoughts to support behavioral change
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): Uses mindfulness-based strategies to support teens suffering from mood swings and emotional regulation problems.
- Person-centered Counseling: Provides active listening and empathic support that may be especially helpful for teens struggling to adapt to a loss or change.
Meanwhile, family therapy sessions explore your family dynamics, improve communication, resolve conflicts, and strengthen your support systems. As parents, you’ll receive guidance on how to support your teen, set healthy boundaries, and manage their challenging behaviors.
An intensive outpatient program for adolescents may also offer tailored educational support to help your teen keep up with their schoolwork during treatment. Tutoring and study groups may be available for adolescents who are struggling academically.
Benefits of IOPs for Teens
Teen intensive outpatient programs provide many benefits for adolescents, particularly because they treat mental health problems while maintaining the teen’s family relationships, community engagement, and education.
Let’s look at some of the emerging scientific findings for IOPs:
- Alleviate Mental Health Problems: Teen IOPs are particularly effective because they combat mental health difficulties in the context of developmental needs. By leaning on strong peer relationships through group work and encouraging self-acceptance, teen IOPs support adolescents’ personal growth.
- Reduce Substance Abuse: IOPs are also helpful for teens receiving inpatient care for substance abuse by using evidence-based therapies, peer group support, and effective relapse prevention strategies.
- Lessen Suicidal Thoughts: Studies find that IOPs which specialize in suicide reduction alleviate depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts. The improvements continue at discharge and long after the IOP ends.
- Encourage Regular Attendance: Teens seem more keen to seek support from intensive outpatient programs than in other settings. Many teens tend to have high attendance and retention rates in IOPs, even if they refuse to attend other places like school.
- Build Important Life Skills: IOPs that use particular life skills training methods (the SAFE model) show extremely positive results. It’s believed that these provide the stability that helps get teens back on their feet.
So, you know the benefits. But how do you know which IOP is right for your child? We’ll explore that question in depth next.
Choosing the Right IOP for Your Child
When choosing an IOP for your child, look out for programs that are specialized, evidence-based, family-inclusive, and accessible—these are the best options out there. It’s also worth ensuring they have a proven track record of positive outcomes.
However, while these are good things to look out for, it’s important to know that every family is unique. You have to find the right balance of support, engagement, and flexibility for your child’s, and your family’s, needs.
Let’s discuss some key qualities to keep an eye out for when you’re scouting for IOPs.
1. Program Specialization
Look for an IOP that specializes in the difficulties your child is facing. Some IOPs specialize in specific problems, such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, or trauma, while others may focus on substance abuse or high-risk behaviors.
2. Staff Credentials and Experience
High-quality IOPs are typically staffed by licensed therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists who have experience working with adolescents. Some programs require specialized staff trained in crisis intervention and suicide prevention, or substance abuse and challenging behavior, for example.
3. Family Involvement
The most effective teen IOPs will place family therapy and parental support at the core of your child’s progress. High levels of family involvement will help support the stability at home that will contribute to your teen’s recovery.
4. Flexible Telehealth and In-person Treatment Options
Telehealth IOPs became more common during the recent pandemic. These can be particularly useful when location or travel is a barrier. However, it’s important to ask your child about their comfort levels with virtual interactions and ensure the program’s telehealth services are confidential.
Many teen IOPs offer blended treatment delivery options combining in-person and online attendance, so this is another option.
5. An Evidence-based Treatment Approach
Therapy methods like CBT and DBT have a strong scientific evidence base, suggesting they’re highly effective. When assessing IOPs, try to ensure they are using evidence-based approaches, as this suggests the treatment quality level is high.
For example, teen IOP peer support groups, mindfulness meditation groups, and training adolescents in coping strategies and emotional regulation skills are all interventions strongly supported by evidence.
6. Outcomes, Satisfaction, and Retention Rates
Look at how well the program has worked for other teens and their families. High attendance rates and patient satisfaction scores indicate that teens feel safe and supported, which is important for continued attendance and engagement.
7. Costs and Insurance Coverage
Finally, it’s important to confirm that the program accepts your insurance or other financial assistance options. Some IOPs accept both private and public insurance, offering cost-effective treatment alternatives to inpatient care.
Here at Mission Connection, we offer specialized evidence-based teen IOPs in safe and comfortable surroundings tailored to your child’s specific needs. Family involvement is at the core of our treatment philosophy alongside flexible engagement strategies that support your child’s continuing school and community life.
We actively involve our teens and their families when planning their tailored treatment program, and the right mental health professionals for them. Read on to select the right Mission Connection teen IOP for your child.
The Best Adolescent IOPs in Washington, California, and Virginia
Mission Connection prides itself on offering flexible, compassionate teen IOPs in comfortable surroundings tailored to your child’s unique needs.
Our Washington-based adolescent intensive outpatient program offers flexibly delivered services, including individual and group therapy, family counseling, psychiatric evaluations, medication management, and crisis intervention.
At our California-based adolescent intensive outpatient program, we provide telehealth services to teens, using video conferencing, phone calls, secure messaging, and other online platforms. The prime benefit of this program is that you can access it all from the comfort of your home.
Finally, our Virginia teen intensive outpatient program offers both in-person and telehealth services, combining many therapeutic approaches and support services.
If you have any questions or just want to chat and find out more about how Mission Connection can help you, get in touch with us on our hotline: 866-512-6755.
Our team is looking forward to hearing from you.
References
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Clarke, S., Atasuntseva, A., Thordarson, M., & Berk, M. (2022). Adolescent dialectical behavior therapy intensive outpatient programs. In Handbook of evidence-based day treatment programs for children and adolescents (pp. 281-299). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Durlak, J., Weissberg, R., & Pachan, M. (2010). A meta-analysis of after-school programs that seek to promote personal and social skills in children and adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 45 (3-4), 294-309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-010-9300-6.
Evans-Chase, M., Kornmann, R., Peralta, B., Gliske, K., Berry, K., Solomon, P., & Fenkel, C. (2023). Understanding treatment needs of youth in a remote intensive outpatient program through solicited journals: Quality improvement analysis. JMIR Formative Research, 7. https://doi.org/10.2196/45509.
Heerschap, J. K., Michaels, M., Hughes, J. L., & Kennard, B. D. (2022). Development and implementation of an intensive outpatient program for suicidal youth. In Handbook of evidence-based day treatment programs for children and adolescents (pp. 217-234). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Kennard, B., Mayes, T., King, J., Moorehead, A., Wolfe, K., Hughes, J., Castillo, B., Smith, M., Matney, J., Oscarson, B., Stewart, S., Nakonezny, P., Foxwell, A., & Emslie, G. (2019). The development and feasibility outcomes of a youth suicide prevention intensive outpatient program. The Journal of Adolescent Health: Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 64 (3), 362-369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.09.015.
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