Top 5 Reasons to Engage in Hopewell Health Solutions’ Tween IOP

When it comes to your child’s mental health, it can feel overwhelming to make decisions. Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOPs) are beneficial for children who need intensive support for their mental health and well-being. Our clinicians understand how delicate mental health is and the support required for children and families. There are options for mental health, but here are five reasons why we believe Hopewell Health Solutions might be your child’s best fit! 

• Comprehensive, Collaborative Care 

Our team offers an integrated, team-based approach to treatment. This allows us to work together to best meet the needs of each child in our IOP groups. Our interdisciplinary team of therapists and medication providers are able to work together to come up with the best plan of care to meet the goals of your child. Our therapists offer support and psychoeducation on topics like emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and distress tolerance. Our medication management team works with the child and family to determine options to support the child’s mental health and well-being. Therapists and medication providers are able to collaborate and work together to reach the best outcomes for each child. 

• Age Appropriate Care
  
  

The team at Hopewell Health Solutions understands the unique needs of tweens. Our tween program is for children ages 8-12, and fosters an understanding and support for children within this stage of development. We work to foster positive social relationships, independence and autonomy, emotional security and stability, positive role models, support for emotional regulation, and validation and understanding. It’s tough to be a tween, and our program provides support to meet their individual needs. We work hard to keep our lessons exciting and engaging, providing opportunities for age-appropriate engagement like role-plays, games, and discussions. 

• Use of Dialectical Behavior Therapy 

Our tween IOP utilizes evidence based practices like dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). DBT is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and is particularly useful in helping children with emotional regulation and mental health concerns. DBT has proven to be effective for people who struggle with managing extreme emotions and behaviors. The term ‘dialectical’ refers to the concept of balancing opposites - accepting oneself as they are, while also working toward positive change and growth. Our DBT curriculum includes mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. The benefit of DBT in our IOP program is that it has been proven to be effective in reducing self-harming behaviors, decreasing suicidal thoughts and behaviors, improving emotional regulation, enhancing interpersonal relationships, and increasing overall functioning and quality of life. 

• Ease of Scheduling 

Our IOP program runs Monday through Thursday, from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.. This schedule allows for school and work schedules to remain intact. Children are able to attend their school day as they regularly would, and attend IOP at 5:00, resulting in them not missing out educationally. Our Monday through Thursday schedule allows children to still have Fridays available for social engagements and family time. 

• It’s Fun! 

Above all else, children have fun and enjoy coming to IOP! What can start with some resistance at first, often results in children not wanting to leave IOP. The sense of community they find within the program has proven to be very beneficial. I’ve seen first-hand how connecting with peers who are facing similar challenges improves their self-esteem and understanding of what they are facing. We focus on providing a sense of community, offering ‘IOP family dinners’ monthly, IOP weekly jobs, and frequent check ins with staff.