Josiah White’s is continually seeking new ways to meet the needs of the students we serve, demonstrating our commitment to thoughtful ingenuity. In light of this, we have recently begun introducing Intensive Outpatient Treatment (IOT) in our Teaching Recovery, Empowering Change (TREC) program, which serves teens with moderate to severe substance use disorders under the umbrella of Residential Services.
Intensive Outpatient Treatment consists of three hour segments of holistic treatment three days per week. Students currently participate in IOT for a total 16 weeks during their time at Josiah White’s.
This programming seeks to prepare students to continue attending a 12-step program after they leave while also emphasizing the integration of all aspects of Josiah White’s Residential Services, from clinical to recreational. IOT also allows the students’ therapists to spend additional time with the students in different contexts, strengthening the relationships between them.
IOT includes treatment in a variety of areas, such as:
- Seeking Safety: a therapist-led group that combines skills for trauma and addiction
- Independent Living: a group led by Independent Living Coordinator Grace Wedekind that teaches students about budgeting, interviewing for jobs, searching for an apartment, etc.
- Moral Reconation Therapy: a 12-step group designed to improve moral reasoning
- Presentations: a time for students to work on the 8 presentations they complete during their time at Josiah White’s, all of which highlight the main points of their treatment work and how it applies to them personally
- Matrix (informed): a therapist-led substance abuse curriculum
- Integrating Dialectical Behavior Therapy with the Twelve Steps (DBT): a therapist-led group that combines DBT skills with the 12 steps of recovery
- 12 Steps: a group led by Student Chaplain Shane Chellis regarding AA/NA and working through the 12 steps of recovery
- Horticulture Therapy: a group where Kenny Harvey, Director of Experiential Learning and a certified horticulture therapist leads students in hands-on activities involving analogies from horticulture and applies them to life
- Recreation: a group that gives students an opportunity to work on their physical health as it relates to their mental health using breathing and grounding techniques
When speaking on his experience of leading the 12-step group, Pastor Shane said, “I think the main issue is that we are diving into the heart of broken lives. We are seeking to create a context where they can see their own lives, and process things like fear, bitterness and resentment, guilt and shame honestly with where they are.”
We are grateful for the ways IOT has already positively impacted our students and look forward to continuing to see it make a difference in the future.