Intensive Substance Treatment Outpatient Program (iSTOP)
Substance abuse treatment is often not readily accessible to most clients and many clients who enter treatment drop out in the early stages. Furthermore, in traditional residential treatment settings, when a client expresses readiness to attend treatment, lack of timely access may not be available and creating barriers and may result in a missed opportunity for treatment. When a client overcomes these challenges and admitted, programs are brief resulting in discharge in 30-90 days back into the community while cognitive and behavior changes are yet to be ingrained. The duration of the treatment is not sufficient and takes clients away from their natural environment. The duration of substance use treatment rather than intensity has been shown to be more strongly linked to positive outcomes.
The above makes entry and engagement in treatment crucial processes in intensive drug outpatient treatment. Clients intake and engagement can involve ambiguous processes such as collecting intake information from clients while initiating a caring, empathic relationship. In iSTOP our intervention begins with the establishment of a reassuring therapeutic relationship as soon as clients registers for the program and present themselves for treatment. An individualized treatment plan will be developed in collaboration with the client to address their specific needs.
iSTOP (intensive Substance Treatment Outpatient Program) offers a virtual long-term intensive day treatment program for individuals with substance use problems that will assist them in leading a sober/non-problematic use of legal substances, non-criminal, and balanced lives. Our team assumes that a phased approach that focuses on i) Engagement & Stabilization, ii) Skills Building, and iii) Transition & Reintegration will better address the needs of the clientele. The programming focus is specific for each phase and aligns with increasing responsibilities, and integration into the community with improvement in clients’ overall quality of life.