Outpatient mental health care is a level of mental health treatment that offers flexibility, allowing people to treat their issues while still maintaining other responsibilities. In this article, we’ll go over what to expect from this level of care.
What Is Outpatient Mental Health Treatment?
Outpatient mental health treatment is a type of care in which the person goes several times a week to receive treatment during the day, returning home in the evenings. It’s less intensive than inpatient treatment, allowing people to maintain some of their daily life responsibilities while continuing their recovery journey.
Outpatient treatment typically involves regular therapy sessions (individual, group, or family), medication management, and other supportive services that help individuals manage their mental health conditions. It can also address substance use disorders, which often co-occur with mental health issues.
What Mental Health Disorders Can Outpatient Rehab Treat?
A wide range of mental health disorders can be successfully treated in outpatient treatment.
These include:
- Depression: Characterized by persistent sadness, loss of interest in activities, and feelings of worthlessness, depression can severely reduce a person’s quality of life. Outpatient depression treatment often includes therapy modalities like CBT, medication to provide more immediate relief, and support groups.
- Anxiety: Anxiety disorders, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety Disorder, involve excessive worry, fear, and physical symptoms like increased heart rate. Outpatient anxiety treatment usually includes therapy to manage thoughts and behavior patterns, relaxation techniques, and possibly anti-anxiety medications.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): PTSD occurs after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, leading to flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety. Outpatient PTSD treatment focuses on trauma-informed therapy (such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR) and coping strategies to manage symptoms.
- Bipolar Disorder: People with bipolar disorder experience extreme mood swings, from depressive lows to manic highs. Outpatient treatment typically combines mood-stabilizing medications with therapy to help patients regulate emotions and maintain stability.
- Substance Use Disorders: Though often associated with inpatient care, outpatient programs can also effectively treat substance use disorders by offering counseling, relapse prevention, and addiction education. Treatment plans may include medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and group therapy.
Through counseling, medication, skills training, and more, outpatient mental health care can treat a wide variety of behavioral health issues, including mental illness and addiction.
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Call 866-881-1184What Are the Different Types of Mental Health Outpatient Treatment?
Outpatient mental health care is just one level of the entire continuum of care that is used to treat people with mental health or addiction issues.
The others include:
Inpatient Mental Health Care
This typically comes before outpatient treatment. It’s the most intensive form of mental health care, designed for those whose psychiatric symptoms or addictions are too severe to be managed in outpatient treatment.
This type of treatment requires patients to stay at a specialized facility, often a hospital or residential treatment center, for round-the-clock care. The goal of inpatient treatment is to provide a controlled, structured environment where individuals can stabilize, receive comprehensive care, and be monitored for safety.
Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)
PHP is designed for individuals who need structured, daily support but do not require 24-hour supervision. PHP often serves as a step down from inpatient hospitalization or as an alternative to it for those who are at risk but still able to live at home.
People attending PHP will usually go to treatment five to seven days a week, with each treatment session lasting between six to eight hours.
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
IOP provides a middle-ground level of care, offering more structure than traditional outpatient treatment but with less daily time commitment than PHP. It’s suited for individuals who need more than weekly therapy sessions but can manage their condition without daily monitoring.
Patients in an IOP will typically attend therapy three to five days a week for about three to four hours each day.
Outpatient Rehab Therapies
There is a wide variety of helpful and life-changing therapies that can be accessed in outpatient mental health care. These therapies can be used alone or in combination, depending on the patient’s needs and preferences.
Evidence-based therapies include things like:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is one of the most widely researched and effective therapies for treating mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and OCD. It focuses on helping people identify and challenge negative thought patterns and behaviors and develop coping strategies to manage stress or anxiety.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Originally developed for Borderline Personality Disorder, DBT is now used to treat various conditions, including mood disorders and self-harm behaviors. It combines CBT techniques with mindfulness and emotional regulation strategies.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR is an evidence-based therapy used primarily to treat trauma and PTSD. During sessions, patients recall traumatic events while following the therapist’s hand movements or other bilateral stimulation. This helps patients process traumatic memories.
- Motivational Interviewing: Motivational Interviewing is a therapeutic approach often used for individuals struggling with substance use disorders or ambivalence about making changes. It’s a collaborative process aimed at enhancing a person’s motivation to change.
Aside from these therapies, there are also a variety of holistic therapies. Evidence-based therapies are backed by scientific research and focus on specific mental health conditions, using proven techniques to reduce symptoms. These therapies are structured and target behavioral changes and cognitive patterns.
Holistic therapies, such as mindfulness, meditation, sound healing, and others, take a broader approach, aiming to balance the mind, body, and spirit for overall well-being. While not always scientifically validated, holistic therapies often come from traditional practices and focus on long-term wellness. Good outpatient mental health care combines both approaches, addressing both immediate symptoms and broader healing.
How Much Does Outpatient Mental Health Treatment Cost?
The expense of outpatient mental health care won’t be the same for all patients since individual aspects can make it more or less expensive, such as the particular type of therapy offered and the number of sessions prescribed. The level of professional certification of the treatment provider will also influence cost.
More intensive programs, because they involve more therapy sessions, will naturally be more expensive. This is one reason why outpatient mental health care is attractive – because it’s less expensive than inpatient treatment.
Insurance can usually help with the cost, either covering it partially or outright. It’s important to verify coverage with your insurance provider to understand what’s included and what out-of-pocket costs may apply.
Looking for quality substance abuse treatment that’s also affordable? South Coast accepts most major insurance providers. Get a free insurance benefits check now.
Check Your CoverageTrust South Coast for Outpatient Mental Health Care Treatment
If you or a loved one are seeking outpatient mental health care, South Coast Behavioral Health is here to help. We offer a full suite of care options for mental health at our Oklahoma City facility. Mental health care at South Coast emphasizes individualized treatment, psychiatric medication management, the best of both evidence-based and holistic therapy, and family and alumni support.
For those dealing with dual-diagnosis mental health and addiction issues, our other California facilities are a good option. The first step in treating addiction is a medical detox. This means using drugs to manage withdrawal symptoms.
Our medical detox program in California is staffed by caring and compassionate professionals who can provide you with medications to manage your withdrawal symptoms.
At South Coast, we take pride in offering care that is closely tailored to specific issues. To that end, we offer gender-specific detox programs, with medical detox for men in Irvine, CA, and medical detox for women in Huntington Beach, CA.
After detoxing, proper treatment can begin.
Treatment for substance abuse takes place along an entire spectrum of care. Along that entire spectrum are various behavioral therapies, support groups, and the use of medically-assisted treatment (MAT).
These levels of treatment are, in order, as follows:
Residential Treatment in California
After successfully completing medical detox, you’ll receive inpatient treatment in Orange County, California. There, you’ll receive medically-assisted treatment and dual diagnosis treatment to deal with any cravings or co-occurring mental health issues you may be battling.
We also offer residential treatment facilities in Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Huntington Beach for those who desire gender-specific treatment. There, patients get round-the-clock medical attention and monitoring while living at the institution full-time.
In addition to individual and group counseling and medication management, you’ll also have access to leisure activities and family support services.
Partial Hospitalization in California
Most clients start substance abuse treatment with South Coast in our residential treatment program. After completing that, many desire something that still provides structure and support but with extra space and time to oneself. For that, we offer Partial Hospitalization in Newport Beach.
A step down from inpatient care but with more structure than conventional outpatient programs, partial hospitalization offers a good balance for those looking to ease back into normal life. Clients can receive care five to seven days a week for a number of hours each day, returning back to their homes in the evening.
This way, they can recover without putting their daily lives completely on hold, receiving intense therapeutic interventions like group and individual therapy, skill development, and medication management as necessary.
Intensive Outpatient Treatment in California
For those leaving inpatient residential treatment or partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient programs (IOP) are yet another gradual step forward on the road to recovery.
With a focus on group therapy, individual counseling, and education, clients undergoing Intensive Outpatient Treatment in Newport Beach can meet three to five days a week. Each session lasts three hours.
This level of care requires the least amount of attendance at a facility.
Start Today
If you or a loved one are struggling with outpatient mental health care but wonder how long treatment takes, have questions about rehab payment options, or have other questions, call us at 866-881-1184 or contact us here. Our highly qualified staff will be happy to help.
