If you or someone close to you is struggling with addiction, it is important that you find the right level of care so that you can trust you are getting the best care for you and your circumstances.
There are two main groups of care available: inpatient and outpatient. Within those, there are several other options.
Finding the Care Best for You
Finding the care best for you involves knowing what level of care meets your needs. To that end, you can choose from four key levels of care:
Inpatient/Residential
Inpatient or residential care is where you reside full-time at your treatment facility. This is the highest level of care that has the largest requirements of you but offers the highest level of supervision and access with 24-hour care, and services that extend two things like room and board, meals prepared for you, and access to the entire facility.
Ask yourself:
- Are you unable to care for yourself?
- Is your home life unstable?
- Are you at risk of causing harm to yourself or others?
- Are you able to step away from your personal or professional responsibilities for several weeks or months at a time?
- Do you need or prefer 24-hour supervision?
- Are you looking for a chance to completely step away from your daily routine and immerse yourself in recovery?
- Do you need detox before you start your treatment?
- Do you need medication-assisted treatment for detox?
- Have you been in an outpatient program before, but now you realize you need additional help?
PHP
A partial hospitalization program (PHP) is the next step down. This is a full-time commitment but you don’t have 24 hours supervision nor do you have to live at the treatment center. For this level of care you participate every day of the week on a full-time basis and usually you have at least one meal provided for you.
In some cases, you can receive detox treatment at a specified detox center and transition to a partial hospitalization program offered by the same facility. In other cases you might need to receive detox at a hospital before coming to your program.
Ask yourself:
- Are you able to care for yourself?
- Do you need detox?
- Do you only have a few weeks off from work or school?
- Are you able to get yourself to and from a treatment center?
- Do you want something where you can reside at home during the course of your treatment?
- Do you prefer something that is short but intensive?
IOP
An intensive outpatient program (IOP) is the next step below that. Studies have indicated that these levels of outpatient programs can be just as effective as residential programs depending on your needs and your circumstances.
These function on a part-time basis where you don’t reside at the facility and meals are typically not included. However, you are expected to participate in a half day of scheduled services, several days per week.
Ask yourself:
- Are you looking for part-time support, more than just weekly support groups but less than an inpatient program?
- Do you have a safe and supportive home environment?
- Are you able to get yourself to and from the treatment center regularly?
- Are you looking for a chance to practice the things you learn in therapy every day when you are home?
- Have you been through recovery before, but now you have experienced a relapse and need a little extra support?
Outpatient
After that is traditional outpatient. This is much more flexible and instead of requiring daily commitments or several hours at a time is usually comprised of support groups and group therapy that meet on a weekly basis.
This is the lowest level of care and is intended for people who have previously completed other levels of care or who perhaps have had a relapse and need a little additional support.
Ask yourself:
- Have you completed another level of care, and are you transitioning back to daily life?
- Are you somewhere along your path to sobriety, but now you want a little extra support?
- Do you want to maintain weekly access to therapy and group sessions?
Finding the Best Care for You with Sequoia Recovery
At Sequoia Recovery, we offer every level of care. This makes it easy for our clients to work with our team and determine which level of care is best and receive that care at our treatment center.
When you reach out for your initial assessment, we will ask you some questions about your history with substance abuse and treatment programs and, from there, make a recommendation for the best level of care. If, for example, your schedule cannot allow for an inpatient program, but you need detox, we can offer detox services at our drug and alcohol detox center and help you transition to your partial hospitalization program or intensive outpatient program as recommended.
