What Are the Benefits of Partial Day Treatment?

Partial day treatment is a form of partial hospitalization program. This level of treatment is a step-down program for clients who have already attended residential treatment.

Partial day treatment allows people to develop a support system, search for employment, and set up sustainable habits so that they can practice managing a level of independence to prepare for being fully on their own.

Structure of Partial Day Treatment

The treatment aspects of partial day programs are scheduled for five to six hours a day approximately five days a week. These times are committed to focusing on gaining independence and developing a plan to move forward from treatment on your own. As you meet with a case manager and therapist, you can set up a relapse prevention plan that can help you maintain your healthy lifestyle.

One main emphasis of partial day treatment is the management of your mental health. Outlining coping mechanisms in your relapse prevention plan can help you manage emotional setbacks on your own after full discharge from treatment. While you are still attending your partial day program, you have the opportunity to practice these skills. This will help you transition into your everyday life and adjust to life outside of treatment once the partial day program is completed.

Benefits of Partial Day Treatment

Partial day treatment can provide many benefits as you transition from residential or full-time recovery to independence. Having the support of your treatment team during this step-down phase may be very beneficial to your motivation to maintain lifelong sobriety during a critical time.

This phase can also give you the opportunity to put into practice the skills and information you have gained and understand more specifically how you can use them in the real world. Having the structure of a partial day program during this transitional period can keep its stress from compounding with the stress of the outside world and allow you more time to strengthen your recovery skills.

Freedom to Manage Responsibilities

One of the main benefits of partial day treatment is the ability to have other focuses and responsibilities outside of recovery. For example, many individuals have a job or attend school during this period. While you still have a commitment to recovery in a partial day program, many people can work or study part-time as well. During this phase of treatment, recovery should still be the main priority, but you will likely want to practice balancing recovery with other real-world responsibilities.

Investing in yourself through outside responsibilities can greatly benefit your recovery if you are ready to manage them. After all, developing the habits to manage a combination of adult responsibilities can improve your self-esteem and motivation to continue your sobriety. Reaching this stage is a big step and deserves to be celebrated. By implementing the skills you have previously learned into your job or education, you can become a well-rounded individual and begin living a life more aligned with your goals for your future.

Professional Support

When working through transitional phases in recovery, you may find it challenging to adjust to not having professionals by your side to support you. Partial day treatment still gives you the opportunity to regularly meet with your professional team and receive feedback to help you continue your improvement. By meeting less often with your professional team than you did in a residential program, you can slowly adjust to managing your recovery yourself as time goes on.

It can be beneficial to check back in with your professional team after you have fully completed recovery if you feel the need, but seeing yourself able to manage with less and less professional support can increase your self-esteem and independence. By the time you are through with recovery, you should have the skills necessary to hold yourself accountable for your sobriety and regulate your emotions.

Discharge Plan

Another major benefit of partial day treatment is the focus on the discharge plan. By working with your treatment team, you can put together a plan that focuses on each aspect of the addiction you have overcome. You can discuss potential issues that may arise and develop a plan for how you can handle them. There may be situations that come up in the future that will not be specifically addressed in your plan. However, having an overall plan of how to manage different circumstances can still help you make the best decision at the moment by applying the skills you have learned.

You also will work to create a structured schedule moving forward for you to keep on track. Following this discharge plan at the end of this treatment program can greatly increase your chances of long-term success after leaving treatment.

Pathway to Success

Reaching this stage of recovery should be viewed as a huge accomplishment. Being able to lower the amount of time spent each day focused on recovery means you are getting closer to a life free from the influence of substances. Implementing the aspects of recovery into your normal lifestyle can feel refreshing after being in a residential treatment program. Continue using the skills you have gained so far, and keep up the hard work.

Partial day treatment — also referred to as a partial hospitalization program — is a level of care often used after residential treatment. While working to slowly implement aspects of real life in correlation with the skills learned throughout recovery, you can receive a great deal of support through a partial day program during the first stage of this transition. Partial day treatment can benefit you in many ways. One of the significant benefits of this treatment is the space to work toward education or hold a part-time job. By learning to manage different adult responsibilities while working through recovery, you will likely have an easier time adjusting to sobriety after you leave treatment altogether. You still have access to your professional team during this phase to help you adjust to coping independently. To learn more about the benefits of partial day treatment, contact Dream Recovery at (949) 732-1960.