How do I know if PIOP is the level of care that I need?

Choosing the correct level of care is critical in getting appropriate and successful care.  In broad terms levels of care include:

Inpatient: A locked unit at a hospital for people who are not safely treated in the community. This is appropriate if someone is intent on hurting themselves or their thinking is so disorganized that they can't take care of their basic needs in the community.  Stays at this level of care are generally 3-5 days and focus entirely on addressing acute safety concerns and discharging people from this level of care as quickly as possible.  Close observation and 24 hour nursing care are provided as well as daily contact with a physician or nurse practitioner. 

Residential: An unlocked therapeutic setting for people who have severe illnesses that cannot be managed on an outpatient basis but who are not so acutely ill that they need the containment and observation of a locked inpatient unit.  Stays at this level of care tend to last weeks-months rather than days and give a treatment team the time to get to know people intimately enough to actually address underlying causes of illness.  Being out of the home environment is necessary for many who have difficult family situations or maladaptive behaviors that cannot be managed at home such as eating disorders, severe substance use disorders, OCD or PTSD.  

Psychotherapeutic Intensive Outpatient Treatment (PIOP): A treatment setting for people who would benefit from residential care, but who can manage their maladaptive behaviors safely in the community.   There are several hours a day of programming including group therapy with skilled practitioners and individual therapy, art therapy, family therapy, and the healing of being in a therapeutic community.  Groups are kept smaller and practitioners have ample staff time to discuss cases. Stays at this level of care tend to last weeks to months.

Partial Hospital Program (PHP) /Intensive Outpatient Treatment (IOP) Several hours a day of treatment provided to people who are living in the community while they attend daily groups. Length of stays tend to be shorter (days to weeks) as the focus is more medical and psychoeducational than psychotherapeutic.  Groups tend to be larger and are often not led by psychotherapists.  These programs tend to be step-downs from inpatient programs at the same institution.  

Outpatient: People seeing practitioners in their offices or virtually from home. While there are folks who have stabilized in their treatment and have a good connection with their providers, for many others the care is fragmented and visits are infrequent. When there are multiple practitioners involved, communication is often challenged or absent altogether. Many times, patients may benefit from more frequent visits or more intensive outpatient psychotherapy, but these options are not available or not accessible.