When you are ready to start addiction rehabilitation, you may be unsure as to whether outpatient care or a residential program is best. Many factors go into this decision, ranging from the severity of your addiction to your insurance coverage and the availability of programs near you. There are several personal factors you must consider before making this decision as well. Seek help from a professional as well as family members to weigh your options while you make this important decision.
Intensive Outpatient Services for Addiction Recovery
Individuals who enroll in outpatient recovery participate in individual and family counseling, group therapy, and skills training that can help them achieve long-term recovery goals. During treatment, clients are required to abstain from using drugs or alcohol, and must submit to random, supervised drug testing.
Alcohol and drug intensive outpatient programs can serve as a person’s entry point into addiction recovery, a step down from a residential program, or a step up from less involved outpatient services. An individual might opt for an intensive outpatient program rather than residential treatment due to the desire or need for freedom of movement. Participants live at home and attend counseling and skills training sessions at their outpatient recovery center.
Applying Lessons Right Away
While individuals may only have time for part-time work outside of their program, they are still able to maintain work, family, or school-related obligations. As a result, those taking part in outpatient addiction services can immediately apply the lessons they have learned to their lives, rather than waiting a month or more to test out new strategies like they would in a residential program.
Additionally, insurance companies consider a number of factors when deciding which level of care will be approved. Your specific situation and treatment history will often determine whether insurance will agree to cover intensive outpatient treatment or residential treatment.
Should I Enroll Directly into an IOP?
There are many factors that will contribute to the decision to opt for outpatient rehab as opposed to a residential program.
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- Are you able to resist the temptation to use while still being exposed to the same temptations and triggers you already face? Unlike a residential program, intensive outpatient programs will not remove you from your everyday environment, so your living situation has to be somewhat stable before you enter the program.
- Do you have plenty of social support? Do you have a positive network of friends and family who can help guide you through this difficult time?
- Have you tried and failed with an outpatient program once or several times before?
- Do you need detox treatment due to your physical addiction to drugs and alcohol? While detoxification is often a part of residential treatment, it may not be available in an outpatient setting because the process requires intense supervision.
- What does your insurance cover? Most private health care policies provide at least partial coverage for substance abuse services. Alcoholism and drug addiction are diseases now recognized by the American Medical Association.
How you answer the above questions is crucial to your decision to enroll in an intensive outpatient program. Above all, be honest with yourself and carefully consider the advice of a professional as well as family members. To see if you are right for outpatient rehab in Northern or Central New Jersey, contact an admissions representative at High Focus Centers.
