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Adolescent Intensive After School Program

Coping Skills for Parents and Adolescents
Using a multidisciplinary approach, the staff at Walden Behavioral Care is dedicated to providing the most effective and advanced treatments for eating disorders. The Adolescent Intensive After School Program (IOP) is designed for adolescents seeking additional support in the recovery process from an eating disorder. The program offers a comprehensive group treatment approach that teaches skills to adolescents while offering their parents support and techniques to move their child towards recovery. The Adolescent IOP also offers individual family counseling which is an integral component of our treatment.

The IOP is used in conjunction with outpatient treatment, and is ideal for adolescents transitioning from a higher level of care or needing more support than their outpatient team alone can provide.

The focus of the Adolescent IOP is on the development of healthy coping skills through evidence-based behavioral treatments. Our treatment approach draws from the Maudsley Method which incorporates significant family involvement, from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) which focuses on effective emotion regulation, and from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which is considered to be the backbone of effective eating disorder treatment.

Who We Treat
The Adolescent IOP at Walden is appropriate for individuals 12 to 17 years old, who are medically stable, without acute psychiatric symptoms, and are actively working with an outpatient treatment team.

Program Hours
3:45-7:00 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Thursday

IOP Goals
Walden’s Adolescent IOP provides adolescents the opportunity to receive support and feedback from their peers while learning skills to manage eating disordered symptoms. Families receive support and feedback from other parents of children suffering from an eating disorder and work with trained clinicians to learn skills to help their children cope with an eating disorder. A family meeting will be required one time per week to give families support and help them generalize the skills taught in group, as well as work through problems that arise implementing the treatment. Additionally, a medical educational group is offered to families twice a month by Walden’s Medical Director, Dr. James Greenblatt.

IOP Goals for Adolescents Include

• Development of healthy coping skills to manage eating disordered thoughts and behaviors
• Development of specific dialectical behavioral skills to help individuals:
  • cope with painful feelings
  • manage triggering and stressful situations
  • manage urges and anxious thoughts
  • learn interpersonal effectiveness techniques
• Re-integration to school, family, and friends
• Development of healthier eating habits
• Relapse prevention

IOP Goals for Families Include

• Development of concrete strategies to manage problems that arise implementing the treatment at home with your child
• Attainment and understanding of DBT skills to support skill usage at home
• Support and feedback from other parents of children suffering from an eating disorder
• Better understanding of the psychosocial aspects of eating disorders

Duration
Patients typically participate in the program for four to six weeks.

Treatment
The focus of treatment is to prepare adolescents for a successful transition to outpatient care and make progress towards lasting recovery. Individuals in the Adolescent IOP must have an outpatient team during their course of treatment in the program. We also ask adolescents to be integrating an element of daily structure into their life while in treatment. If these elements are not in place upon admission to the program, clinicians at Walden will assist by providing appropriate referrals for an outpatient team, as well as support the process of developing a daily structure.

The treatment components of the program include group therapy, therapeutic meals, family therapy, and individual counseling.

Program Schedule for Adolescents
Adolescents attend three days of IOP treatment per week. During the first week, the Walden IOP clinical staff will work with families to establish a personalized treatment plan to address each adolescent’s needs and goals. Each adolescent will have weekly meetings with their Walden therapist who will help establish structure, reinforce behavioral skills, and help implement a treatment schedule.

A Typical Evening

Family Schedule
Groups are held for parents Monday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. The Wednesday group is optional. In addition, families will meet weekly for approximately one hour with their primary Walden therapist.