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Intensive Outpatient Program After School
If your teen is struggling with mental health issues, you may be wondering if an after-school IOP is the right treatment option. If you’re unfamiliar with these types of programs, they are designed specifically for helping with teen mental health in such a way that it doesn’t interfere with their day-to-day life and their ability to go to school.
Putting your teen into an IOP after-school program can seem frightening at first, but we’ll explain what to expect if your teen is enrolled in this type of program. We will also explore the benefits of IOP treatment for teenagers and answer some common questions about this type of outpatient care.
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Interested in entering the after-school outpatient program at Relevance Behavioral Health? Leave us a message below and one of our specialists will get back to you.
How Does After School IOP Work?
An after-school IOP program is an outpatient mental health treatment program that meets typically three days a week for two to three hours after the school day ends. These programs are designed to help teens struggling with mental health issues but who still need to attend school on a regular basis.
IOPs usually include group therapy, individual therapy, and family therapy sessions. In some cases, medication management may also be included as part of the teen’s care plan. The focus of these programs is on helping teenagers learn how to cope with their mental health symptoms in a healthy way so that they can continue to function well at home, at school, and in their social lives.
If your teen is struggling with mental health issues, an after-school IOP may be an excellent option to consider. These programs can help teens learn how to cope with their symptoms while still attending school and participating in other activities.
Before enrolling your teen in an after-school IOP, it’s important to talk to their doctor or mental health professional to make sure that this is the right treatment choice. After-school IOPs are not appropriate for every teenager, and there are other types of outpatient care that may be more suitable depending on the severity of your teen’s symptoms.
If your teen is enrolled in an after-school IOP, you can expect them to attend group therapy and individual therapy sessions three days a week. You should also expect that they will continue to attend school on a regular basis.
The therapists who work with teens in IOPs are specially trained in working with adolescents. They will help your teen learn how to cope with their mental health symptoms in a healthy way. The goal of these programs is to help teenagers improve their mental health and teach them how to manage their illness to continue to live a productive life.
In addition to after-school IOPs, there are other types of outpatient mental health treatment for teenagers. These include partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) and day treatment programs.
Partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) are similar to after-school IOPs, but they meet for a longer period of time each day. PHPs typically meet five days a week for six hours per day.
Day treatment programs are also similar to after-school IOPs, but they meet during the daytime instead of after school hours. Day treatment programs usually meet five days a week for three to four hours per day.
Both PHPs and day treatment programs provide more intensive mental health treatment than after-school IOPs, but they also require the teenager to miss more school.
The decision of whether to enroll your teen in an after-school IOP, PHP, or day treatment program depends on many factors, including the severity of their symptoms, their ability to function at school, and their ability to participate in other activities.
Interested in entering the after-school outpatient program at Relevance Behavioral Health? Your health insurance plan may cover all, or at least some, of your teen’s treatment at our facility!
After-school IOPs are typically very effective in helping teenagers improve their mental health. In many cases, teens who participate in these programs see a decrease in their symptoms and an improvement in their overall functioning.
There are a number of uses for an after-school IOP, and this type of program can help your teen deal with a number of specific issues such as mood disorders, inability to focus, and more.
Anxiety is another problem that many teens deal with. An IOP can help by teaching coping skills and providing a support system for your teen to understand their anxiety and handle it better so that it doesn’t interrupt their day-to-day activities.
Additionally, stress and the inability to perform well in day-to-day activities are often the results of not getting enough sleep. An after school IOP can help by providing a structured environment in which your teen can get the rest they need
If you’re still not sold on whether an after-school IOP is suitable for your teen, then let us talk about some of the benefits. There are many benefits of after-school IOP treatment for teenagers. Some of these benefits include:
Improved mental health: IOPs have been shown to be very effective in helping teenagers improve their mental health.
Reduced symptoms: Teens who participate in IOP treatment often see a reduction in their symptoms.
Increased ability to cope with stress: The skills that teens learn while attending an IOP can help them better cope with stress in the future.
Greater independence: IOPs teach teenagers how to manage their mental health and encourage them to become more independent.
Better school attendance and performance: One of the main goals of after-school IOP is to help teens continue attending school on a regular basis while still receiving treatment for their mental health issues. Many students who attend IOPs see an improvement in their school attendance and performance.
If you are considering after-school IOP treatment for your teenager, it is important to talk to your child’s doctor or mental health professional about whether this type of program would be a good fit for your family. After-school IOPs can be very beneficial for teenagers struggling with mental health issues, but they are not suitable for every family.
As many know, each mental health situation is unique, and only by getting the proper help can your teen learn to cope with their mental illness and be able to live a normal life.
Now that you know a bit more about how after-school IOPs work, you can make a better, more informed decision about the type of help your teen needs and how best to go about getting it.
Relevance is dedicated to providing its clients with the right type of care for their unique situations, so no matter what type of mental health issues your teen is facing, our kind and talented staff is there to help and give them the skills and tools they need to cope with their mental illness and go on living their best lives in spite of what they are going through.