What Do I Do After I Finish Outpatient Rehab in Dallas?

In outpatient rehab, you can learn how to manage a substance use disorder (SUD) on your own. However, while in treatment you will receive scheduled, consistent support to work on different skills, such as emotion regulation, how to manage cravings, or work through trauma. When you complete outpatient rehab, there are options for continued support at Lighthouse Recovery Texas.

Outpatient Rehab Options

Some rehab facility options will only provide 30 days of treatment and supportive service. While in those treatment programs, a person usually has to live in a home or facility. That type of treatment does not meet the needs of the average adult. As an adult, there is family, pets, a home, work, and a number of other activities and responsibilities that require your time and attention. This is why Lighthouse offers several different options for outpatient rehab.

Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)

PHP is referred to as a structured day program. This is because, like a job, you attend treatment for a scheduled 30 hours per week, totaling four weeks. While attending treatment, you learn skills and develop healthy, sober habits. After you complete treatment for the day, you are able to put these skills and habits into practice at home.

You will receive custom programming that is designed by your treatment team, with your input and your current state in consideration. There is no one-size-fits-all in addiction treatment, as everyone develops their disorder for different reasons. Everyone’s brain is unique, which means treating and healing it must also be uniquely planned for individuals. In PHP you get small groups with focus programming to help you sustain sobriety.

Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)

IOP is a lower level of outpatient rehab. This means there are not as many hours required to complete the program. The IOP only requires three hours of programming three days per week. That is for a total of 12 weeks. This program provides less structure to your days and weeks. It is for someone further along in their recovery and/or someone who has a sober, safe environment to call home.

Since you only meet for group and individual therapy three days a week, your time in treatment is important. Through IOP you receive highly individualized care and treatment, that is flexible to meet your time needs. Lighthouse provides day and night groups in our Dallas IOP for you to fit healing into your schedule.

What Is Learned in Outpatient Rehab?

In residential treatment, a person usually focuses on stopping their substance use. Once a person is stable, both physically and psychologically from the effects of substances, they can step down to a lower level of care. This step down can be to one of the outpatient programs detailed above.

In outpatient rehab, a person moves past stabilization and works on understanding their SUD and what drove their addiction. Some scholars for the National Institute of Health (NIH) refer to this as the early, middle, and late stages of recovery. When you are in outpatient treatment you are in the middle stage of recovery. During this stage “the goal is to help clients perceive the causal relationship between substance abuse and current problems in their lives” (NIH). Therapists use the motivation in a person’s life to help them find their reason for obtaining and sustaining their sobriety. This allows you to heal, as well as repair any damage you may have caused.

Through a combination of different therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or motivational enhancement therapy (MET), you work through trauma and environmental factors that may have led to your substance use. You also work to understand and regulate your emotions. Emotions and thoughts have a strong influence on your actions, so by working to understand and manage your emotions and thoughts you can manage recovery.

Ongoing Support Is Sometimes Required

There is no shame in continued support after completing any level of treatment. Whether in residential, outpatient or if you learned to manage on your own, there is always a need for professional help. People living with co-occurring disorders, both a SUD and a mental health disorder, may require ongoing therapeutic support for continued management. That can be in the form of a support group or through individual therapists and addiction counselors.

Support After Outpatient Rehab

When you finish outpatient rehab, you are on your way to managing your recovery on your own. By developing your emotional regulation skills and learning to understand your addiction, you have the knowledge and skill to guide your sobriety. However, there are options for people completing outpatient treatment so you are not completely on your own.

Lighthouse Recovery Texas offers a recovery coach program to support you in your first year after treatment. A recovery coach is an advocate and source of support. You meet with your coach periodically. They can help you manage and resist relapse while you are learning to navigate sobriety on your own.

Fill Your Free Time With Positives

After completing outpatient treatment, such as our Dallas intensive outpatient program or partial hospitalization program in Dallas, it can be hard to know what to do next. Healing takes all of your energy and brain power. When you feel ready to focus on more than just managing your substance use and learning to cope, it can feel like you have an impossible amount of time on your hands.

To continue on your recovery path, it is helpful to fill your time with positives. A healthy and sustainable way to commit to and maintain your sobriety is by making healthy lifestyle changes. This can be changing your diet and nutrition, exploring new hobbies, or ways to get active like kayaking. Whatever you do, it is important that your lifestyle changes are positive, with positive influences and people.

There are supportive services for you after completing outpatient rehab. You do not have to manage recovery and sobriety on your own. At Lighthouse Recovery Texas, our staff are proud to have experienced our program and are happy to help you while you learn your own coping skills. With the work of a treatment team, you will learn to manage your emotions and behavior, which will help you manage your desire for substances. When you complete treatment, you will be set up with a recovery coach to support you while you learn to manage on your own, without being alone. Contact us at (214) 396-0259 to hear more about our outpatient and recovery coach programs.