What Is a Partial Hospitalization Program?
A partial hospitalization program (PHP) is a structured day program that delivers intensive therapy services three to five days a week, four hours each day.
Partial hospitalization programs are optimal settings to receive help for addiction to alcohol and other substances, including prescription drugs. People with substance use disorders are well-served with partial hospitalization programs because of the highly structured environment and density of supportive services.
Partial hospitalization programs also offer courses of treatment for mental health struggles, such as depression and anxiety. You may also consider receiving help in a PHP if you are facing a “co-occurring disorder”, which means that you struggle with both addiction and mental health imbalances at the same time, which is very common for women.
Partial hospitalization programs are often viewed as the perfect way to transition from an inpatient setting to living independently in the community while still receiving a nourishing and supportive level of services. So you may attend a PHP, as a form of “day treatment” after you have completed a stay in-house at a rehabilitation center.
Because the schedule is more flexible than being in-house full time for a hospital stay, PHPs have advantages for people with responsibilities at home and in the community which they cannot leave fully. So in some cases, people will go to PHP as a starting place when they need intensive care but aren’t able to leave their homes to receive the full support of a course of residential treatment.