Outpatient care offers a flexible and accessible approach to recovering from addiction. It can be a good choice for those who don’t want to neglect work and family responsibilities or prefer to remain living at home during treatment.
However, it’s common to have some questions before beginning treatment to understand what the process will look like. One of the most frequently asked questions is, “How long does outpatient rehab go for?”
We’ll provide everything you need to know about the duration of outpatient rehab in the rest of this article so you understand how it works, the typical timeline, and factors that can affect its length.
What Is Outpatient Rehab?
Outpatient rehab is a flexible approach to addiction treatment where you’re able to return home each night rather than living at a treatment center for a duration of time.
During the typical outpatient program, you’ll report to the treatment center at designated times and days throughout the week. During that time, you’ll go through the steps of a rehab program, including:
- Attending therapy sessions and support groups
- Participating in life skill building activities
- Working on strategies to maintain long-term sobriety
Many people choose this option when they don’t want to stop working or be away from their family during treatment. It can usually be customized to your schedule to help you balance recovery while managing other responsibilities.
That said, regularly reporting to the treatment center on your own requires commitment and accountability. Therefore, it’s important to assess your ability to stay consistent and continue working on recovery each day before choosing outpatient rehab.
Outpatient vs. Inpatient Rehab
You may have also heard of another type of addiction treatment called inpatient rehab.
The way that inpatient rehab differs from outpatient is it involves living at a treatment center for a duration of time while working through a recovery program. It can be a good option for those with a more severe addiction, who want more support, or who want a controlled living environment that allows them to focus completely on recovery.
Therefore, while outpatient rehab offers flexible treatment schedules with the ability to continue living at home, inpatient rehab involves more commitment but provides a more focused environment with continuous support throughout the day.
If you’re struggling to decide which is best for you, contacting a treatment center and setting up an initial consultation can help. The treatment staff can answer questions and assess your current needs to determine the right fit.
Types of Outpatient Rehab Programs
When selecting outpatient rehab, there are different types of programs for varying patient needs. Those include:
- Standard outpatient rehab: This is the least intensive form of outpatient rehab. It can be a good choice for recovery from less severe addictions or for those who need the most amount of flexibility.
- Intensive outpatient programs (IOPs): An IOP will provide more support and a higher level of structure than standard outpatient rehab. It’s often used to treat more severe addictions or those with co-occurring mental health conditions. Treatment sessions during an IOP will typically take up more time each day and involve more activities to help with recovery.
- Partial hospitalization program (PHP): A PHP is the most structured and intensive form of outpatient care. It typically involves a very consistent schedule, close supervision, and lots of activities and skill building to facilitate long-term recovery.
At times, patients may transition from more intensive forms of outpatient care down to less intensive forms as they progress. So, it isn’t uncommon to see someone start with a PHP, move to an IOP, and then finish with standard outpatient care. This can be an important factor when considering outpatient rehab timelines.
Typical Duration of Outpatient Rehab
So, how long is outpatient treatment? It ultimately depends on individual needs and may be longer or shorter depending on how a patient progresses. However, for a general estimate, outpatient programs typically fall under two categories:
- Short-term programs last between 4-12 weeks. Shorter durations are common with less severe addictions where patients just need some initial support to get on the right track.
- Long-term programs last between 3-6 months or more. These are common with more severe addictions where more ongoing support is needed.
With either option, support doesn’t end with the outpatient program. It’s usually recommended to continue with a maintenance or aftercare program for ongoing support that could consist of regular check-ins, continued therapy, or connecting you with local support resources. Most studies show that continuing care plays a significant role in the long-term success of treatment programs.
Factors That Affect the Length of Outpatient Rehab
Several factors can affect how long outpatient rehab programs last. Those include:
- The severity of the addiction: When someone has been addicted to a substance for a long time or has been taking drugs at very high doses, it generally takes longer to recover.
- Co-occurring mental health conditions: Mental health can contribute to addiction and lead to longer treatment times. However, taking the time to address underlying mental health conditions or trauma is very important since studies show that treating both mental health and addiction leads to higher success rates.
- The type of substance involved: Certain drugs can have more severe withdrawal symptoms and lead to stronger cravings that require longer treatment. Some drugs that are known to have more serious withdrawals are opioids, alcohol, and benzodiazepines.
- Individual recovery goals: Some individuals may have longer recovery goals or want to stay in treatment longer to ensure they feel ready before getting back to everyday life.
Personalized treatment and considering the whole person are important when creating a treatment program. Taking the time to address underlying conditions that are contributing to addiction or setting individual goals that allow you to leave treatment with a plan in place can help maintain long-term sobriety.
Benefits of Longer Outpatient Rehab Programs
A growing body of research is showing that longer addiction treatment programs can lead to higher success rates.
For instance, a meta-analysis published in 2021 by the Journal of Social Science & Medicine analyzed several studies on the length of treatment and success rates. The results suggested that those who received longer-term care or support had a 23.9% greater chance of maintaining sobriety than traditional short-term treatment.
The reason for this is there are several benefits of longer rehab programs. Those include:
- It provides more time to build healthy habits and coping skills.
- Patients are able to receive more consistent counseling and therapy.
- It provides and helps build a stronger support network before leaving treatment.
- It allows more time for relapse prevention planning that helps manage triggers and challenges in daily life.
Transitioning from Outpatient Rehab
As mentioned earlier, continued support is important after finishing outpatient rehab. Fortunately, many options can help ease the transition from rehab back to everyday life. Those include:
- Aftercare: This can include scheduled check-ins or being able to continue attending therapy or support groups at the treatment center.
- Local support groups: Connecting with local support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) can provide a solid support structure to maintain sobriety.
- Continued individual or group therapy: Continuing therapy sessions outside the rehab center is also an option and a good idea. The treatment center may even help you connect with local individual or group therapists before finishing the program.
Conclusion
Ultimately, outpatient rehab offers a flexible option to recover from addiction when you don’t want to give up responsibilities or be away from home for a duration of time.
The length of outpatient rehab, whether it’s short-term (4-12 weeks) or longer-term (3-6+ months), depends on individual needs. It’s important not to rush things and listen to your treatment team to determine which type of rehab and length is best for you.
If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, Genesis House Rehab can help. We offer both outpatient and inpatient treatment options that provide support and the necessary resources to recover. All our plans are tailored to your needs, evidence-based, and you’ll have the support of our treatment staff each step of the way.
References
- McKay, James R. “Impact of Continuing Care on Recovery from Substance Use Disorder.” Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, vol. 41, no. 1, 2021, doi:10.35946/arcr.v41.1.01. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7813220/
- Yule, Amy, and John Kelly. “Integrating Treatment for Co-Occurring Mental Health Conditions.” Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, vol. 40, no. 1, 2019, doi:10.35946/arcr.v40.1.07. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6799972/
- Beaulieu, Myriam, et al. “A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of the Long-Term Treatment and Support of Substance Use Disorders.” Social Science & Medicine, vol. 285, no. 285, Sept. 2021, p. 114289, doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114289. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953621006213
