Our personalized approach fits your schedule while offering cutting edge treatment needed to get your life back.
Intensive Outpatient Program
Highly Effective for Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, & ADHD
For treatment-resistant depression and other chronic disorders, our IOP can deliver life-changing results and long-term relief. This comprehensive program combines multiple modalities to treat the whole individual, as opposed to specific symptoms.
Our IOP is different than most. Not only are we able to utilize alternative therapies such as TMS and ketamine if clinically indicated, but we offer customized schedules to fit into your life. You’ll experience a personalized combination of scientifically-backed treatments to quickly and effectively combat depression, anxiety, and PTSD. These treatments work synergistically by inducing neuroplasticity, turning on dormant parts of the brain, and learning skills to combat maladaptive patterns.
What is an IOP?
IOP stands for intensive outpatient program, which is a structured approach to treat mental health disorders. Also known as structured outpatient or intensive outpatient treatment, this non-residential psychological treatment program involves daily appointments and various treatment and therapy options. It is designed to help patients establish support mechanisms and develop useful coping skills and strategies. IOP can be a step down from inpatient programs or partial hospitalization programs while still offering a high level of care. Sessions are daily or nearly daily, and no overnight stays are required. This enables you to continue your day-to-day life and develop emotional regulation and coping strategies in the real world.
Our IOPs are suitable for individuals who have a stable home environment and would like to receive intensive and regular mental health care without disrupting their work and life schedule. The program may be a better option for patients who are not effectively managing a condition at the standard outpatient level. Structured outpatient programs are not the right level of care for individuals who are at immediate risk of harming themselves or others. Patients are likely to be a good fit for an IOP if they are motivated to participate in the scheduled programming, are comfortable in a group setting, are driven to improve their condition and ready to work toward recovery, are willing to verbally express feelings and thoughts, and are able to learn and apply recovery skills. Compared to traditional outpatient counseling and treatment, a structured outpatient program can be beneficial by offering greater support from fellow participants and clinicians. Patients can spend more time at the clinic, encouraging a greater focus on recovery and wellbeing.
At TMS & Brain Health, our IOP can treat a variety of mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, and OCD. IOPs are commonly used to treat substance use disorders that do not require detoxification, however we do not offer treatment for SUDs at our clinics.
A typical IOP consists of meetings, individual counseling, group therapy and complementary therapies or workshops, psychoeducation, medication management, and various methods of treatment that suit the individual. Sessions can total anywhere from 6-30 hours each week, depending on the individual’s treatment plan and availability.
In addition to intensive outpatient, we offer a similar program, a PHP (Partial Hospitalization Program) that is more structured with more sessions each week. Your assigned treatment team will advise on which program is right for you. Our IOP may also be recommended as a transitional step between the partial hospitalization program and independent life.
What’s Different About TMS & Brain Health IOPs?
Drug-Free Alternative Therapies
Our focus goes well beyond the traditional medicinal psychiatry methods. We specialize in alternative therapies such as TMS, Neurofeedback, and Ketamine Treatments, alongside standard approaches such as group therapy, individual therapy, and meditation. These therapies have been scientifically validated and have proven to be safe, effective, and FDA-approved. All of these approaches help to retrain and trigger neuroplasticity in certain areas of the brain, resulting in more effective results for a longer period of time than medication or therapy alone. Experience a new life without the debilitating side effects of traditional medicine.
Convenient Scheduling
Unlike many other IOP programs, at TMS & Brain Health your treatments are scheduled to fit your life and do not have to be contiguous or all at once. Our approach is quite unique; whereas most other programs plug a patient into a set schedule, we can schedule sessions throughout the day and week so that you can continue to go to work or school. Your IOP can integrate virtual and in-person sessions (IOP in Los Angeles) (IOP in Santa Monica) or patients can participate in a fully online IOP. The schedule absolutely adjusts to your work schedule and availability, in addition to what’s clinically recommended by your treatment team.
Maybe you’ll have a TMS treatment in the morning, go to work, have a Zoom session at lunchtime, and come back for group therapy in the evening. To be able to experience the results of an intensive outpatient program without having to commit to all day sessions is empowering and life-changing.
Your Treatment Plan
During your first week, your assigned therapist will create a personalized treatment plan with you. Depending on your needs, this may consist of some combination of ketamine/Spravato, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, neurofeedback, group therapy, individual therapy, mindfulness meditation, case management, and medication management.
Your Treatment Plan
During your first week, your assigned therapist will create a personalized treatment plan with you. Depending on your needs, this may consist of some combination of ketamine assisted therapy/Spravato, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, neurofeedback, group therapy, individual therapy, mindfulness meditation, case management, and medication management.
Your schedule of sessions will be customized to your availability and the clinical recommendations for your specific needs. Schedules will be Monday through Friday, although we offer limited weekend sessions to patients on a case by case basis. Group Therapy sessions are typically in the mornings, afternoon, and evenings. Some individual therapy sessions can possibly be scheduled by Zoom or phone. TMS is typically administered 5 days a week.
Typically, an IOP is 2-3 months, however this depends on the individual. Your assigned therapist will discuss this with you and adjust along the way.
Summary of Treatments
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
TMS is a non-invasive process that uses magnetic pulses to gently activate specific areas of the brain. Originally used to measure brain activity during clinical trials, TMS can target areas of the brain associated with depression and anxiety. Patients simply sit in a comfortable chair at one of our treatment clinics while the TMS equipment is applied to the scalp. When the machine transmits magnetic pulses, it stimulates neural activity in the targeted region. TMS is typically administered 5 times per week for 4-6 weeks, totaling 20-30 TMS sessions. Patients can schedule booster sessions after the treatment course is complete to lengthen the effects of the treatment.
There are multiple types of transcranial magnetic stimulation. At TMS & Brain Health, we most often administer theta-burst stimulation (TBS) or Express TMS, in which the frequency of magnetic pulses is calibrated to the standard frequency of human brain waves during learning, and pulses are delivered in short, frequent bursts. TBS shows significantly higher effectiveness than other TMS methods and the treatment session time is significantly shorter. Sessions involve only 1-3 minutes of actual magnetic stimulation, compared to around 20-45 minutes with other types of TMS.
TMS is both drug-free and FDA-approved. Within our personalized treatment plans, TMS is effective for about 92.5% of our patients. Approximately 10-20% of people will see significant improvements in mood within the first week. Most patients report that symptoms lessen slowly throughout the treatment course, and about 10% don’t notice any improvements until the end of treatment. Patients can experience relief or full remission for many weeks or months following the treatment course.
Ketamine/ Spravato
Ketamine is a fascinating medication with a profound ability to rapidly alleviate symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and chronic pain. Unlike other antidepressant medications that stop working when you stop taking them, ketamine makes meaningful changes in your brain chemistry almost immediately after the first dose, and actually allows your brain to regrow lost neural connections. Ketamine interacts with glutamate production and brain inflammation. These mechanisms of action likely contribute to its unique effects on depression and neural activity. Rather than temporarily adjusting your brain’s chemical balances, ketamine helps you form healthy and lasting neurological patterns.
When our clinical team creates your personalized treatment plan, Spravato esketamine nasal spray or ketamine RDTs (rapid dissolve tablets) may be prescribed. If prescribed, these treatments are administered in the office twice per week and are paired with individual therapy to ensure a greater likelihood for remission. This approach may also be referred to as ketamine assisted psychotherapy, or KAP.
Neurofeedback and Biofeedback
Neurofeedback allows individuals to train their own brainwaves to combat maladaptive patterns and behaviors. A computer is set up to monitor these brainwaves, and we give the individual different types of feedback depending on what waves are being produced. For instance, if an individual is anxious, their brainwaves will reflect this, and the computer will may make a specific sound. The same may happen if someone is more relaxed. Over time, people can learn how to control their own brainwaves and teach themselves how to regulate their own brain.
Group Therapy
Group therapy can be an effective way to share experiences with others dealing with the same issues in the community. Group therapy sessions are kept small, and are 100% confidential. We usually have group therapy in the afternoons and evenings.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness meditations sessions offer a unique way to take oneself out of their head, and learn how to be fully present in the moment. Practicing mindfulness can help individuals develop useful skills that promote wellbeing such as emotional regulation.
EMDR Therapy
EMDR, or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, is one of the most effective treatments available for PTSD, scientifically validated in over 30 peer-reviewed randomized controlled trials. EMDR is unique in that the therapy itself is meant to be short-term, meaning one doesn’t have to stay in therapy forever. Our therapists are EMDR certified.
EMDR is a unique therapeutic process that helps the brain to resume its natural healing process. Specifically designed to aid in the processing of traumatic memories, EMDR allows patients to emotionally heal from trauma or distressing experiences without years of therapy or discussion of distressing events. The process involves focusing thoughts and attention as guided by a clinician and repeated intervals of bilateral stimulation, in which various stimuli such as taps or tones are administered to both sides of the body. Patients can experience rapid emotional healing from a single EMDR session.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is one of the most well-researched methods of talk therapy. CBT involves becoming aware of negative, self-destructive, and/or maladaptive thought patterns, and developing skills to help deter these. CBT is an active type of talk therapy, whereby the individual works with a therapist to identify harmful distortions in thinking and find ways to reevaluate them. Individuals also often gain a better understanding of the motivation and behavior of others, develop greater confidence in their own abilities, and develop emotional coping skills.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT is another type of evidence-based talk therapy, involving developing increased mindfulness, emotional regulation, resilience, and communication skills. Once learned, DBT skills can be applied to all emotional challenges in daily life. DBT is highly effective for disorders and conditions related to unhealthy efforts to control intense negative emotions, such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety. With DBT, patients learn to come to terms with reality and find healthier ways to manage emotions.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT is an action-oriented form of therapy stemming from CBT that involves individual acceptance of one’s emotions and struggles, and commitment to making the changes necessary to improve one’s behavior and wellbeing. During ACT, individuals learn to listen to their own self-talk and determine whether problems require immediate action or must be accepted for what they are. Individuals learn and work with six core mental processes: acceptance, cognitive de-fusion, being present, self as context, values, and committed action.
MBSR Therapy
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction therapy is a type of meditation therapy that offers mindfulness training from a certified instructor to help the patient learn useful emotional regulation and calming techniques. MBSR is an eight-week course that helps individuals manage and respond to stress.
The course is flexible and customizable, but focuses on two main components: mindfulness and yoga. The foundational principles of MBSR therapy include the importance of living in the present moment, reframing life experience and healing as a challenge and adventure in living rather than a chore, and acknowledging immediate lifestyle changes necessary to achieve mindfulness. MBSR therapy sessions also focus on an educational orientation rather than therapeutic, as well as encouraging a medically heterogeneous environment without segregation by condition or diagnosis.
Individual Therapy
You will have an individual therapy session at least once per week. This could be hybrid options between in person, Zoom, or phone. We may encourage you to consider having a family member or significant other present for some therapy sessions.
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TMS & Brain Health is not a healthcare provider and does not render any psychiatry or other medical services, including but not limited to TMS, Ketamine, or Neurofeedback. IOP services are rendered through a separate, affiliated entity. Rather, TMS & Brain Health performs administrative services for various psychiatrists and/or psychiatry and/or medical practices. Further, this website does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. More information can be found at our disclaimer page.
