What Is an Outpatient Treatment Program?
An outpatient program is a structured, supportive treatment setting that offers help for people who are recovering from substance addiction, mental illness, or both.
Outpatient programs and intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) represent a medium level of care. Because addiction and mental illness vary in severity, treatment is offered with greater and lesser degrees of structure, depending on how much direct care (time with a healing professional) is necessary for an ill individual to get better.
Greater structure, intensity, and frequency of treatment are offered to those needing higher levels of care. Fewer treatment hours per week are administered when people do not need as much direct support at this stage of their journey.
Outpatient programs represent a sort of “in-between” option, where people can receive varying levels of intensity while living in their own homes and working jobs. Within outpatient programs, there are differing levels of intensity, so it is possible to taper down the level of care gradually.
The stages of structured care offered in OPs are often pre-determined, such that a set number of weeks or several sessions are required to be completed before graduating to the next phase. Phases of less structure mean higher self-responsibility, greater ability to navigate risk, and less direct intervention by the therapeutic support team.
Outpatient programs offer different tracks for people requiring different levels of support, and so may have daylong, half-day options, and twice-weekly offerings. OPs are designed to provide some flexibility for work and family life.
Since the goal of all treatment programs is to be able to live one’s life independently, as well as more happily and meaningfully again, treatment is organized around what is truly needed in the current stage of recovery to be able to handle autonomy and experience well-being.
What Is an Inpatient Treatment Program?
Inpatient treatment programs, also called residential treatment programs, are stay-away programs, sort of like a healing retreat, where you leave your home environment and check in at a facility to receive intensive treatment onsite for some time.
Inpatient treatment programs are often preceded by medically supervised detoxification programs in California. Medical detoxification facilities are similar to hospitals, with doctors and nurses on staff to monitor your safety during withdrawal.
After completing your detoxification process, you would enter inpatient treatment at a rehabilitation facility, where you would stay for a predetermined length of time (usually somewhere between 1 and 3 months, depending on the program and your needs).
It is very common to follow your inpatient treatment with some length of time receiving follow-up outpatient treatment.
The typical recommended path would be to start with medically supervised detoxification, then complete inpatient (rehab), then attend outpatient while living and working in the community, then progress to relying primarily upon community resources (such as 12 steps).
What Is the Difference Between Inpatient and Outpatient Rehab?
The main difference between inpatient and outpatient rehab is whether you stay overnight at the facility (inpatient) or whether you stay in your own home, receiving treatment services only during the day (outpatient).
Inpatient is typically offered in rehabilitation facilities that are designed for around-the-clock care, involving daily treatment programming, activities, and a heavy component of community and co-living. These are sometimes offered in comfortable, retreat-like settings, (as is the case for Villa Kali Ma), and will provide an extra element of protection from one’s normal life challenges while you focus on stabilizing your recovery.
Outpatient provides as much structure and frequency of services as possible during treatment hours but does not also include the aspect of checking in and staying at the facility for the duration of your treatment. Outpatient usually has less intensity of activities and communal experience built in, though some group activities and meetings will be offered.
Outpatient treatment services are frequently provided for people who have completed inpatient treatment and are gradually stepping down the degree of structure and intensity of treatment.
Whether outpatient or inpatient is better for you should be determined together with an addiction services provider, who can assess your level of need and make recommendations.
What Are Some Therapy Options for Outpatient and Inpatient Treatment Programs?
Both inpatient and outpatient treatment programs provide a comprehensive core structure of addiction treatment. The core treatment programming of either will cover certain required aspects, which include education about addiction, individual therapy, family therapy, therapy groups, activities, and involvement in 12-step or another community-based recovery model.
For example, at Villa Kali Ma you can receive many of the same core services and therapy modalities whether in outpatient or inpatient, though there is a difference in frequency and intensiveness. We provide individual counseling, groups, and our many holistic modalities in both contexts.
What Are the Benefits of Inpatient Treatment?
If possible, it is best to attend inpatient treatment, as it is the most effective way to reset to a sober life pattern.
Inpatient settings such as Villa Kali Ma’s residential treatment program at the Villa are designed to provide a holistic, round-the-clock treatment that works best when approached like an intensive or a retreat (like a yoga retreat or a teacher training, for example).
Being in a harmonious, safe setting that is designed to support your initiation into your new life is enormously beneficial for getting everything settled in place. It is very helpful to be away from the possibility of using or drinking and to be away from life stressors and even loved ones for a short time in which we are fully free to prioritize our safety and sanity first.
The community aspect is also an important part of treatment, as living with other women in a retreat-like setting, and forming bonds of trust with others who have similar stories to us, is a big part of getting better. Addiction is an isolating disease, and intensive togetherness – even if it’s an intimidating thought at first! – is a big part of the cure.
Inpatient is a short-term, non-permanent way to kick off your recovery and new life and make sure it has a strong foundation before you go test it out in the real world.
What Are the Benefits of Outpatient Treatment?
Outpatient treatment is the next best thing to inpatient treatment. It is often offered as a down-stepped level of care just after completing inpatient treatment and it is designed to support you while you return to your normal life, while still providing training wheels.
In cases where it is not possible to leave home long enough for an inpatient stay, outpatient can be the next most viable option.
Villa Kali Ma Offers Inpatient and Outpatient Programs for Women
At the beginning of our recovery, we need treatment every single day. We need to have contact with healing professionals and to express our feelings, fears, and struggles to others who truly get it and have the ability to understand what it takes to put sobriety first (friends and family, even when well-meaning, typically do not understand what goes into making such a big life change).
Whether you’re looking for inpatient treatment in a retreat-like getaway, where you will eat healthy, get some sunshine, and have the chance to participate in activities and form bonds of connection with other recovering women, or whether you would like to participate only during our day treatment options at our office, Villa Kali Ma has programs for women to meet your needs in a creative, supportive, unique and healthy way.
