people in session on couch

What is an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)?

NewCircle’s eating disorder Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) provides a lower level of care for teens and adults seeking long-term recovery. Unlike residential or partial hospitalization programs, IOP does not require overnight stays or full-day attendance. Instead, it provides structured, therapeutic support several days a week, giving you the freedom to return to work, school, or home life while continuing your healing journey.

IOP is often recommended for individuals who are stepping down from a more intensive level of care, such as residential treatment or PHP, but still need ongoing support. Our program includes multiple hours of group and individual therapy each week, typically spread across 3–5 days, with sessions lasting between 3–4 hours a day. It’s held in the same warm, community-centered space as our residential care, providing continuity, peer support, and connection.

What’s a typical day in IOP treatment look like?

While every treatment plan is personalized, a typical IOP day includes:

  • Individual therapy with your primary clinician
  • Group sessions focused on skill-building, body image, and emotion regulation
  • Meal or snack support with nutrition education
  • Creative or movement-based group activities
  • Check-ins with the care team and ongoing progress planning

Most clients attend IOP 4 days per week, 3 hours per day. We offer both adolescent and adult tracks, with LGBTQ+ affirming and inclusive care at every step.

2025 08 22 new circle 2807 2

Benefits of IOP eating disorder treatment

Flexible Scheduling

Our IOP is designed to fit into real life, with options that allow you to continue attending work, school, or family commitments.

Step-Down or Standalone Support

Whether you’re transitioning from a higher level of care or beginning your path with structured outpatient therapy, IOP meets you where you are.

Consistent, Evidence-Based Therapy

Engage in both group and individual therapy sessions grounded in proven approaches that support lasting healing.

Supportive Community Environment

IOP takes place in a welcoming, therapeutic environment where connection, compassion, and peer support are integral to the healing process.

Nutritional Guidance

Our team provides support to help you strengthen your relationship with food and build trust around nourishment.

Real-World Application of Skills

Apply the tools you’re learning to your daily life, then return to a supportive space to reflect, regroup, and reinforce your progress.

Ready to take the next step toward recovery?

You’ve come this far, and you don’t have to pause your world to keep going. Our IOP meets you where you are, offering continued support, structure, and connection as you rebuild life on your terms.

How it works

Admissions & Assessment

We begin with a comprehensive clinical assessment and intake to understand your history, needs, and current schedule. Based on this, we develop a personalized IOP plan tailored to your needs.

Treatment Engagement

You’ll attend 3–4 hour sessions, 3 to 5 days per week, for a minimum of 9 hours weekly. Treatment includes group and individual therapy, supported meals/snacks, and experiential groups.

Transition & Aftercare

When clinically appropriate, we help you step down to traditional outpatient care. Discharge planning begins early, so your next chapter feels grounded, supported, and clear.

What happens after IOP treatment?

Recovery doesn’t end when IOP ends. Many clients transition to weekly outpatient therapy, continue working with an outpatient dietitian, or participate in alumni groups. From the beginning of your time in IOP, we focus on helping you build a sustainable plan for what comes next.

That might include finding a local therapist, returning to school or work, or simply strengthening your support network. Our team walks alongside you through discharge planning, relapse prevention, and alumni support, so you don’t have to do it all on your own.

depositphotos 162865986 s

NewCircle Reviews

“After my whole life of never being sure I could get help, this place blew me out of the water. I have fully graduated out of the program and my life is forever changed. All of the staff are amazing individuals who are there to really change lives. The facility is beautiful and has so many amazing qualities that it would take me pages to describe them. If you need help, I HIGHLY recommend here!”

– Residential Alumni, NewCircle
Date: 1/6/2026

“New Circle really did change my life for the better. I completed two months of Res and a month of PHP. The RC’s (especially Timmy) are fantastic and wonderful. Larry is the best intake coordinator in the WORLD (so kind and communicative!). The clinicians helped me work through so many struggles and to build a support system at home. This treatment program is SO individualized; it is able to meet the needs of so many individuals. There are so many things I could say, so I will leave it on this note…. If you are considering coming to New Circle, yes. Come, without a doubt. I am in a larger body, and that did not negatively impact my treatment whatsoever. I felt very accepted by staff. After struggling with my eating disorder from early childhood into adulthood, I’m finally able to see a life for myself without bulimia.”

– Residential & PHP Alumni, NewCircle
Date: 3/10/2026

“I would suggest this program to anybody struggling with an eating disorder. This program is so supportive and positive the people who work here really care about their jobs and the effect they have on others. From therapists all the way to nursing, everyone here is amazing!! If you’re struggling in any way, please call NewCircle.”

– Program Alumni, NewCircle
Date: 2/20/2026

Frequently asked questions

An intensive outpatient program is designed for people who need more than weekly therapy but don’t require the full-day structure of PHP or residential care. That might mean someone stepping down from a higher level of care who is ready to take on more of daily life while keeping consistent clinical support. It might also mean someone who is earlier in their recovery journey and whose clinical picture doesn’t require residential or PHP, but who needs something more substantial than a session or two a week to make real progress. IOP is also a strong option for someone whose eating disorder is affecting their daily functioning, relationships, or health, but who can manage work, school, or family responsibilities alongside treatment. If you’re not sure whether IOP is the right fit, our admissions team will help you figure that out. Let’s talk through it. →

Yes, and for most people this is one of the things that makes intensive outpatient treatment the right fit. IOP runs three to four hours a day, three to five days a week, structured enough to provide real clinical support, flexible enough to work around a job, a class schedule, or family responsibilities. Many of our IOP clients maintain work or school while in the program, which is part of the point. Recovery doesn’t have to mean stepping away from your life. It means building the tools to live it differently. If your schedule has specific constraints, raise them in your admissions conversation and we’ll talk through what the intensive outpatient schedule can realistically look like for you. Talk through the logistics with us. →

IOP sits between PHP and traditional weekly therapy. It gives you real clinical structure several days a week without asking you to put your whole life on hold. A typical week includes individual therapy, group sessions, nutrition support, and supported meals, all within a schedule that leaves room for work, school, or family. The “intensive” part is about frequency and depth, not disruption. At NewCircle, the intensive outpatient program happens in the same space as our higher levels of care — same team, same community, same environment — just with more room to practice what you’re building in the rest of your life. That continuity matters. Recovery isn’t a separate world you visit a few days a week. It starts to become the world you actually live in.

A typical IOP day runs three to four hours and includes a combination of group therapy, individual therapy with your primary clinician, and skills-based sessions covering areas like emotional regulation, body image, and relapse prevention. Most days also include a supported meal or snack with nutrition guidance from our registered dietitian team. Creative and movement-based groups — art, music, ceramics, yoga, dance — are woven into the week alongside care team check-ins and progress planning. Most clients attend four days a week. The rest of the day is yours — work, school, family, life. That balance is intentional. The intensive outpatient program is designed to give you enough structure to keep making progress without pulling you out of the world you’re learning to live in differently.

Frequency, depth, and the team around you. Outpatient therapy usually means one session a week with one person: valuable, but limited in how much it can hold at once. Eating disorder IOP gives you several hours of programming most days of the week, with a full team coordinating your care: therapists, dietitians, psychiatric support, and group work all running in parallel. It also means you’re not processing the hard stuff in isolation and then waiting seven days for the next session. If outpatient therapy has felt like you’re making progress in the room and losing ground the rest of the week, that’s a signal that more structure might be what’s missing. IOP is frequently what makes the difference. Let’s talk about what might work for you. →

No. While many of our intensive outpatient clients are stepping down from PHP or residential treatment, IOP is also a starting point for people who don’t need a higher level of care but need more than outpatient therapy can offer. Some clients come directly into the intensive outpatient program after a clinical assessment determines it’s the right fit. The level of care you start with is based on your current clinical picture, not on a ladder you have to climb from the bottom. If you’re not sure whether IOP or PHP is the right entry point, that’s a straightforward conversation our admissions team can help with. One call gives you a clear answer. →

Yes, and we’d argue it has to. Anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD, complex trauma — these aren’t separate issues to be handled after the eating disorder is resolved. For most people they’re part of the same picture, and treating one without the other tends not to hold. Our intensive outpatient team includes psychiatric nurse practitioners and licensed therapists who address co-occurring conditions as part of the same care plan from the start. We use EMDR for trauma, DBT for emotional regulation, and build each plan around the full combination of what someone is actually carrying. That’s not an add-on. It’s how we work.

For most clients, it’s weekly outpatient therapy, continuing the individual and nutritional work at a lower intensity as daily life takes up more space. We start building that aftercare plan early, not in the final week, so by the time you’re ready to step down, you already know what comes next. That might mean a local therapist, continued work with a dietitian, alumni support, or relapse prevention resources. The goal is that leaving IOP doesn’t feel like a door closing. It should feel like the next part of the same path — one you’re walking with more confidence and more tools than when you arrived.

Yes. NewCircle’s intensive outpatient program serves adolescents starting at age 13 in a track that runs completely separate from our adult program. Teen eating disorder IOP includes developmentally appropriate group therapy, family involvement built into the structure, coordination with schools so that academic progress doesn’t stop during treatment, and a clinical approach that accounts for the specific ways eating disorders present and function in adolescence. Parents and caregivers are an active part of the process throughout. Learn about adolescent eating disorder treatment →

Yes. Eating disorder intensive outpatient treatment is a covered benefit under many major insurance plans. Our admissions team will verify your benefits before you make any decisions, explain exactly what your coverage means in plain language, and handle the coordination on our end. You don’t have to navigate that process alone. Verification takes about two minutes. Check your coverage now or call us and we’ll walk through it together. →

It is. We believe that everyone who needs care deserves to receive it in a place where they feel genuinely safe and respected — not just accommodated. Our team reflects a range of backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences, and we’ve built dedicated programming for LGBTQ and BIPOC communities because we know that identity shapes the experience of an eating disorder, and it should shape the experience of treatment too. Whoever you are and wherever you’re coming from, there is a place for you here.

Most clients participate in the intensive outpatient program for a minimum of six weeks, though the actual length depends on clinical progress, individual needs, and insurance coverage. IOP isn’t a fixed track with a set endpoint — it’s something we reassess throughout based on how things are going and what makes sense for your recovery. Some clients move through in six to eight weeks. Others benefit from a longer stay as they build stability and confidence before stepping down to outpatient care. What we can tell you is that the timeline will always be honest and built around what’s actually right for you.