Outpatient Treatment
Programs allowing patients to live at home while attending therapy sessions several times weekly. Outpatient offers flexibility for work and family responsibilities while providing counseling, education, and support groups for maintaining sobriety.
TL;DR
Outpatient treatment lets you live at home while attending therapy several times a week, giving you the flexibility to keep work and family life while building sobriety skills.
Key Points
- âś“Three intensity levels: standard (1-2Ă—/wk), IOP (9+ hrs/wk), PHP (20+ hrs/wk)
- âś“Proven as effective as inpatient for most mild-to-moderate AUD cases
- âś“Combines CBT, motivational interviewing, medications, and family sessions
- âś“Costs less, allows real-time practice of coping skills in daily life
Outpatient treatment is the bridge between your everyday life and professional recovery care. You sleep in your own bed, keep your job, and still receive the therapy, medical support, and peer connection that make sobriety stick. Most programs run three to five days a week, with sessions lasting from one hour in standard outpatient to six hours in partial hospitalization. That schedule lets you test new coping skills immediately in the same environments where you once drank—grocery store, family dinner, stressful commute—while a therapist is only a phone call away.
Choosing the right level for you
Start with an honest assessment of your drinking severity, withdrawal risk, and daily responsibilities. If you have mild-to-moderate alcohol use disorder, stable housing, and strong motivation, standard outpatient (one or two counseling sessions weekly) may be enough. If cravings are intense or you’ve relapsed before, an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) adds group therapy, medication check-ins, and relapse-prevention classes for a total of nine or more hours a week. A Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) provides up to six hours of structured care on weekdays and is ideal right after inpatient detox or when 24-hour supervision is no longer medically necessary.
What a typical week looks like
Monday: 9 a.m.–12 p.m. group CBT focused on identifying drinking triggers; 1 p.m. individual session with your therapist to set weekly goals. Wednesday: 6 p.m. family education class teaching loved ones how to support rather than enable. Friday: 10 a.m. medical appointment to adjust naltrexone dose and monitor liver enzymes. Between sessions you practice homework—calling a sponsor instead of stopping at the bar, using a craving-surfing app, or attending a lunchtime AA meeting near your office.
Success tips from people who’ve done it
Treat the schedule like a job. Block the hours in your calendar and arrange childcare or work coverage ahead of time. Build a sober commute. Drive a new route home so you don’t pass old liquor stores. Share early and often. Tell your boss you have recurring medical appointments—no details needed—and ask for flex time. Link arms at home. Invite a partner or roommate to one session so they learn the difference between support and surveillance. Plan for slips. Create a 24-hour relapse plan: who to text, where to go, and which coping skill to try first.
Outpatient care is not a watered-down version of rehab; it is simply rehab that moves with you. When you pair consistent attendance with community support, the skills you rehearse on Tuesday become the sober choices you make on Saturday night.