IOP/PHP History
Although a concept of mental health and psychotherapy can be found even in ancient times, the field of psychology emerged as a scientific discipline in the late 1800’s with Wilhelm Wundt where he studied the adult mind and associated behaviors. The modern concept of mental health and one’s emotional well-being is often attributed to Clifford Beers in the early 1900’s when he published a book focused on mental “hygiene”. The year after its’ publication the National Commission of Mental Hygiene was founded. Since its’ humble beginnings, the concept of Mental Hygiene has grown through ongoing scientific experiments and advancements in the field of psychology, psychiatry, and mental health.
For many years, and even to some extent today, mental health has had a negative stigma often associated with brokenness. Various mental health hospitals and institutions were established to assist those with severe psychiatric issues but the less severe issues were often overlooked. These issues included depression and anxiety as well as many disorders that had not yet been clearly defined and regarded as an issue. The types of treatments used in these facilities often followed medical treatments for others at that time, such as bloodletting, shock therapy, etc. Early psychiatric institutions had a very dismal cure rate, partially due to insufficient treatment methods and partially due to the nature of the illnesses being presented at the facility.
As previously mentioned, the idea of psychotherapy as a treatment option can be traced back many years. The more modern concept of psychotherapy is arguably traced back to the 1700’s with Franz Mesmer, often called the “Father of Western Psychotherapy” with another key player being Sigmund Freud. These types of treatments would be more akin to the 21st century concept of Outpatient services, which include any mental health services where the patient receives regular (usually weekly) treatment but does not live or stay on site. This allows the patient to live a normal lifestyle while also focusing on improved mental well-being.
Most hospitals and larger facilities treated the more severe diagnoses whereas individual psychotherapy offered help to those less severe. This led to an unintentional dichotomy in the mental health field. In the late 1900’s and early 2000’s there has been a rise in more modern in-patient facilities offering modern treatments with a healthy success rate. Unfortunately, many patients in these facilities were then released back into their normal environment, which often proved to be too much of a change and led to relapses in their conditions. Thus the rise of both Intensive Outpatient and Partial Hospitalization Programs.
Both IOP and PHP offer a half-way stop between inpatient and outpatient services. These programs allow the participant to ease back in to their normal daily routine, whether that be work, school, home, relationships, etc. During the sessions times the patient is able to process through emotions and experiences transitioning from the inpatient setting to their normal routine, which can sometimes be overwhelming. The program also reinforces any skills, strategies, or techniques taught at the inpatient setting as well as learn new ones.
An IOP/PHP can also be used as a step-up program for individuals currently receiving outpatient services that are needing a higher level of care but not to the extent they need an inpatient setting. Individuals who are receiving outpatient services but aren’t seeing improvement in their symptoms may be a good fit for an IOP/PHP. If symptoms are actually getting worse and/or are significantly impacting daily functioning this type of program may be a good option also.
Historically, IOP/PHP has been to help individuals overcome issues with alcohol or other addictive substances. These are fantastic program who have helped a number of individuals; however, there has been a rise in non-substance abuse mental health needs which has gone under treated. Recently, new Intensive Outpatient and Partial Hospitalization Programs have been established that focus solely on mental health. Our Logos IOP/PHP is a mental health program that does not offer detox nor do we work with individuals whose primary diagnosis is substance abuse although we do have individuals who present with a secondary substance abuse diagnosis as long as their substance abuse issue is well controlled. This does mean we do require that individuals within the program cannot use during the duration of the program.
An IOP/PHP is not an appropriate therapy option for people who are at risk of hurting themselves or others. Nor is this type of program recommended for patients who need constant supervision or detox. In these situations, a referral should be made to an appropriate facility or to a local psychiatric hospital.
Here at Logos we offer both Outpatient services as well as an IOP/PHP. We do offer a free assessment over the phone in order to verify a fit for the IOP/PHP program or to help you determine what level of care would work best for you.
Written by J. Todd Baker, Ph.D., LPC-S, BCN