What You Can Expect From Partial Hospitalization Mental Health Treatment
Posted on: 13 February 2019
If you have been struggling with your mental health conditions, whether you have depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or any combination of mental health disorder, you may wonder about what options you might have when it comes to care and treatment. While you may know the basics of general outpatient treatment and inpatient treatment, you may never have heard of partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient mental health treatment. If your caregivers have mentioned partial hospitalization treatment, it is important that you get to know some of the thing you can expect from the experience. Knowing more about this type of mental health program, you can better determine whether it is the right option for you.
Group Therapy Is a Major Component
One of the most important facts to know about partial hospitalization treatment is that the primary emphasis in your care plan will be on various types of group therapy. One of the biggest benefits of programs like inpatient and intensive outpatient treatment is that you get the opportunity to be in several different group sessions.
Group therapy can benefit you in a variety of ways. Learning concepts and practicing coping mechanisms and strategies with others can actually help you to know and understand yourself better. Different people in the group will have different ideas and stories that they share with the group. Oftentimes, you will be able to utilize these ideas or even relate to their stories, which helps you in the recovery process.
Group environments can also be much more comfortable than one-on-one lessons. When you are working with just your therapist, you will be on the spot to come up with an answer to every question right away. However, if you are stumped in a group session, other members can answer the questions and come up with ideas first. This can inspire or jump start your own thinking.
You Will See a Psychiatrist Regularly
The primary purpose of any mental health treatment program is to get you to a point of stability. In order to get you stable, you will need both therapy and medical treatment. As such, partial hospitalization programs give you regular access to a psychiatrist.
Generally, you will have daily meetings with a psychiatric practitioner. The initial meeting will generally be with the psychiatrist and the subsequent appointments with residents or psychiatric nurse practitioners. This just allows the main psychiatrist to be available for emergencies but you will get the same level of care regardless of which practitioner sees you.
You may start new medications while in partial hospitalization or you might just have your current medications tweaked to better suit your needs. Being in contact with psychiatric practitioners and in therapy (therefore, under supervision) daily allows your treatment providers to adjust your medications more quickly than they would in a standard outpatient setting.
Knowing this information about partial hospitalization treatment, you can better decide whether this form of mental health care is right for you.
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