Intensive Outpatient Program in the Chicago Area and Gaithersburg, MD

Adolescent & Adult Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) Offered at All SunCloud Locations

Intensive Outpatient Programs provide stabilization for patients who are having difficulty managing their mental health symptoms in traditional outpatient treatment. The SunCloud Health IOP treatment team designs intensive outpatient programs for patients with consideration to psychiatric diagnoses, developmental functioning, behavioral needs, family involvement, and community resources, so you can achieve your individual mental health goals.

No Two Individuals Are Alike; Customized Intensive Outpatient Programs for All Clients

It’s often rare in medicine for clinicians to take an individualized approach to care for mental health conditions. At SunCloud Health, that’s the exact approach we take. We look at the person in front of us, talking through their personal and family history, the difficulties they face, and their daily lives in order to paint a picture of what’s taking place on a psychological level.

No two individuals have the same picture, which is why we design adolescent and adult intensive outpatient program plans customized to the person and their mental health challenges. These comprehensive bio-psycho-social-spiritual plans incorporate evidence-based treatments, including individual and group therapy, 12-step facilitation, peer support, psychiatric treatment, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, mindfulness practice, and family intervention – all working together to help the patient return to a more functional, healthy and independent life.

Above all, our integrated intensive treatment program is designed to coordinate care across disorders in order to eliminate the need for patients having to choose which of their disorders deserves priority in terms of treatment. The disruption this type of “tracked” approach creates for the patient in their recovery, is eliminated by our cohesive approach which puts the patient at the center of their treatment.

Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) Schedule

Our intensive outpatient program operates 3-5 days per week for three to five hours per day of programming, as a minimum. Because every patient is unique, the recommended length of stay depends on each person’s clinical circumstances, which may include mood disorders, substance use disorders, eating disorders, and co-occurring disorders. We work with your school or work schedule to help achieve your mental health goals through intensive treatment while still allowing for time outside of care.

Adult IOP Hours, Northbrook: 11:00am-3:30pm, M-F
Adult IOP Hours, Naperville: 9:30am-2pm, M-F
Adult IOP Hours, Chicago: 9:30am-2pm, M-F
Virtual Evening IOP Hours: 5:15-9:00pm, M-F
Adolescent IOP Hours, all locations: 4:00-7:00pm, M-F

Goals of the Program areTo Assist Patients In:

Medication management and medication-assisted treatment to help manage symptoms of mental health conditions.
Effectively managing stress and overwhelming emotions using emotion and distress management skills, interpersonal effectiveness skills, and mindfulness skills.
Developing effective patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving to help ensure relapse prevention and greater management of mental health, eating disorder, and/or psychiatric symptoms.
Resolving mental health problems through building reliable systems of support and identifying/building upon their strengths to sustain progress now and in the future.
Providing therapeutic interventions and education that will give knowledge and skills to patients and families to cope with current and future stressors.
Educating patients and families about mental illness, eating disorders, and substance use disorders to engage them in treatment and recovery activities.
Employing a chronic illness management model to support patients in building self-esteem and maintaining long-term wellness for their mental and behavioral health.
Design intensive outpatient programs, group and individual therapy sessions, skill-building groups, and other treatment program plans that help clients learn coping skills that will be the foundation of long-term recovery.

Our Commitment to Exceptional Patient Care

Our mission is to provide best-in-class care to persons with complex co-occurring disorders using an integrated approach. This means challenging the business-as-usual mental health system and focusing on the long-term value we can inspire – first, by creating a unified treatment experience for our patients and their families. By ensuring unparalleled medical and clinical advice in a supportive community, clients in IOP are on the right path to achieve their recovery goals.

Our integrated model treats the whole person, targeting underlying biological, psychological, social, and spiritual causes of problematic symptoms for each patient, taking a dimensional rather than categorical approach to care. We know that even within the same DSM V diagnosis, patients have a tremendous amount of heterogeneity and don’t always have the same disease despite having the same diagnosis. We seek to identify and treat the person’s disease rather than their DSM V diagnosis. We believe that mental illness, addiction, and eating disorders are brain diseases, which impact a person’s thinking, acting, and feeling organ; that no one asks to have a brain disease; and that good treatment prolongs life, increases one’s quality of life, and improves overall health.

At all times you can expect the following from SunCloud Health:

Group therapy to begin and end on time.
Groups to be led by trained and qualified clinical staff. Our therapists are licensed to practice in the state of Illinois or certified addiction counselors in Illinois. Advance practice trainees are directly supervised by a licensed or certified clinician.
Individualized care, including individual therapy and specialized programs.
During admission, you will be assigned a treatment coordinator who will work with you to plan your course of treatment, make revisions with you weekly, and serve as your primary contact. If at any time you feel that a change would be in your best interest, we encourage you to discuss this with your treatment team.
You and your treatment coordinator will co-create a treatment to prioritize your treatment objectives. These behavioral health plans will be reviewed continually and updated together with your treatment coordinator in weekly sessions.
Staff who works together to communicate as a team and provide you with a collaborative, comprehensive treatment experience.
SunCloud staff will work with your outside providers (assuming you have signed a release of information) in order to provide continuity in your care.
We will strive to involve family members and loved ones in your care, assuming you have signed a release of information. Significant others will be encouraged to attend the weekly multi-family group.
Staff who encourage discussion of group dynamics, or the interaction happening in the room in the moment. We are a group-based program, treating developmental trauma through exposures that occur in process and other groups. We help you to identify and explore re-enactments (patterns in how you experience yourself, others, and authority figures) during groups and use experiential learning to facilitate corrective, healing experiences.
Staff will lead psychoeducational DBT and mindfulness skills groups to support you in learning coping skills for managing difficult feelings, practicing those skills to navigate painful emotions, and achieving symptom reduction and improve your day-to-day living experience.
When appropriate, clinical staff will encourage exploration of deeper mental health issues associated with the onset and maintenance of your individual mental health conditions and struggles.
Staff will make every effort to inform you at least a week in advance of any upcoming staff or group leader changes. We understand consistency is a crucial component of establishing safety and healing trauma.
If at any time we believe the level or type of support we can provide at SunCloud is inadequate for your clinical condition or specific mental health challenges, we will work with you to make a medically sound recommendation and support you in accessing the level/type of care your condition warrants.
We will work with you in advance of discharge to create a discharge plan to support your transition to outpatient care. For planned discharges, your treatment coordinator will speak with your identified intensive outpatient program team prior to your discharge from PHP.
During your treatment in PHP/IOP, your team will work with you to provide medical monitoring, including a schedule for obtaining weights, vital signs, medication management needs, outpatient therapy, and random toxicology screens as needed.

Weekly at all locations A Group Just For Families

Addictions, eating disorders, and psychological trauma impact entire family systems. Frequently, the families develop dysfunctional roles, enmeshed boundaries, intimacy fears, and unhealthy communication patterns.

This weekly multi-family therapy group provides a safe therapeutic space for family members of people receiving or considering mental health treatment services at SunCloud Health to embark on their own journeys toward greater mental well-being, with authenticity and transparency.

Families consciously and unconsciously transmit destructive coping strategies for mental health disorders, such as substance abuse and addiction, to the next generation. Thankfully, transformative recovery experiences can be passed on to up-and-coming generations, creating cultures of resilience for family members in place of cultures of despair. Family therapy sessions offer the possibility of recovery from codependent behaviors as well as life-changing explorations for all participants. It will also provide a forum for families to share in their experiences, create a more supportive environment, and to learn from others on how to both heal themselves and support their loved ones in their recovery.

Cost: Included for families with patients in SCH Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)

$45.00/family for all other families.

Emphasis on Process Group Modality in Our Outpatient Program

SunCloud Health’s intensive outpatient program treatment model places a lot of emphasis on process groups. We know that different people take to different things, and that difference is often based around attachment. In process groups, clients build stronger relationships with one another, where clinicians act as facilitators for growth so that members feel comfortable bonding with one another. Our goal through these group therapy sessions is for clients to create their community and so we encourage sharing resources, perceptions, stories, and coping skills in order to have a network of support that helps their recovery remain stable after leaving treatment. Learn more about our approach to process groups here.

Please call us or email us if you have patient referrals, are interested in intensive outpatient therapy, have questions about insurance coverage, or need to speak with an expert about your mental health struggles or are experiencing a psychiatric emergency. (866) 729-1012 or info@suncloudhealth.com

Explaining SunCloud’s Integrated Model Why is an integrated treatment model
essential to successfully treating patients?

Dr. Kim Dennis, Co-Founder and Medical Director at SunCloud Health, discusses the vital role the integrated model (that she is pioneering at SunCloud Health) plays in the success of treating patients with co-occurring disorders and underlying trauma. How does SunCloud create an authentic culture of patient support?

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DASA License. Department of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.

Joint Commission Behavioral Health Care Accreditation.

The Joint Commission signifies that all people always experience the safest, highest quality, best-value health care across all settings with a devotion to patient safety. The Gold Seal, is a symbol to the community and patients we serve that SunCloud Health has placed an emphasis on quality of care.