We offer an intensive outpatient program (IOP) for clients struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction. IOP involves three hours of small group therapy three evenings per week, usually for 12 weeks.

During sessions, participants share their progress, discuss their triggers, and set recovery goals. Staff counselors, several of whom have maintained long-term sobriety themselves, moderate these conversations. Counselors also provide information on the science of addiction and teach strategies to prevent a relapse.

Many participants also struggle with mental health issues like depression. They can discuss those matters in IOP and talk about how those conditions contribute to their drinking and drug use.

Clients take routine drug tests, though a slip-up is not necessarily grounds for expulsion from the group. Instead, group members discuss the thoughts, feelings, and urges that led to the relapse and work on strategies for resisting future temptations to drink or use drugs.

Some people enter an IOP after spending time in rehab. Many people attend IOP as their first stop because it provides a rigorous structure while allowing time to attend work or school.

IOP allows people with addictions to share their struggles with others who are going through the same experience. Participants learn from each other and can come to understand their disease in new ways by listening to other people who suffer from addiction.

Counselors teach healthy strategies for coping with stress and other triggers. Staff members take turns leading sessions, so participants have an opportunity to hear a few different perspectives.

IOP is focused on making practical short-term and long-term improvements. Each participant is responsible for taking action outside the group to help their recovery. In the beginning, homework might include cleaning a single room or attending one Narcotics Anonymous meeting. As participants heal, they begin to expect more of themselves, and begin assigning themselves tasks like applying for jobs, going to the gym, or reconnecting with friends with whom they lost contact during active addiction.

By the end of IOP, participants have new tools for managing their urges and a strategy for maintaining their sobriety, whether through groups like NA, individual counseling, or a less intensive outpatient program.

The MindSol Wellness Center offers intensive outpatient treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse. We also provide weekly group therapy for people who have gotten clean and sober and are focused on maintaining their sobriety long-term.

Call our Sarasota, FL office today at (941) 256-3725 to learn more.