The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), along with the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), recommends IOP services for every client seeking treatment for drug and alcohol abuse. The level of intensive outpatient treatment is determined during the initial clinical assessment and can be broken down into four stages:
INITIAL ENGAGEMENT – GETTING STARTED
The substance abuse counselor assists clients in identifying treatment goals and responsibilities, such as attending group sessions, submitting samples for urine analysis, and maintaining sobriety.
During this stage, the counselor establishes trust in a positive therapeutic alliance with his or her client. Once goals are identified, the addiction counselor works with the client to prepare a treatment plan. If crisis intervention is needed, a credentialed drug and alcohol counselor will effectively work to resolve the crisis before treatment begins.
A crisis usually involves significant problems to which the client is oblivious. For example, a father’s alcoholic habit impairs his work performance to the extent that his employer notices the decline in the quality of work. The employee is unaware of the destructive consequences of alcoholism and continues to deny that he is an alcoholic. Vocational rehabilitation would be incorporated into the treatment plan so he can successfully reintegrate into the workforce.
EARLY RECOVERY
The services mentioned above, such as relapse prevention counseling and process groups, help individuals to develop skills and understand underlying motivations that compelled them to use addictive substances in the first place. Some strategies utilized during this stage may include the following: