Find PHP Programs for Addiction Treatment Near You
A partial hospitalization program, commonly called PHP, provides intensive daytime addiction treatment while allowing patients to live outside the treatment facility. PHP can include several hours of therapy, medication management, psychiatric care, substance use counseling, recovery planning, and clinical monitoring on treatment days. Compare programs by location, schedule, substance-use services, mental health capability, medications, and what level of care comes next.
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PHP is one of the most intensive forms of addiction treatment that does not normally require living at the treatment facility.
Patients typically attend structured treatment during the day and return home, to supportive housing, or to a recovery residence afterward. PHP may be appropriate after medical detox or residential treatment, or it may serve as the starting level of care for someone who needs substantial clinical support but can remain safe outside a 24-hour setting.
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What is a partial hospitalization program for addiction?
A partial hospitalization program is a structured outpatient level of treatment for people who need considerably more support than weekly counseling or standard outpatient care but do not currently require round-the-clock residential or hospital treatment.
The word “hospitalization” can be confusing. Most addiction PHP patients are not admitted to a hospital bed and do not remain at the program overnight. Treatment generally takes place during the day, with the patient leaving after programming ends.
A PHP may operate within an addiction treatment center, behavioral health facility, hospital outpatient department, or another appropriately licensed treatment setting. The exact services and schedule depend on the program, state requirements, clinical needs, and payer rules.
- Structured treatment on multiple days each week
- Individual and group addiction therapy
- Medical and psychiatric assessment when available
- Medication management when clinically appropriate
- Drug and alcohol monitoring when part of the treatment plan
- Relapse-prevention and continuing-care planning
- Coordination with family, housing, and outside clinicians when appropriate
Is PHP the same as ASAM Level 2.5?
PHP remains widely used by treatment centers, patients, insurers, and healthcare systems. ASAM has updated the terminology used within its current addiction-treatment framework.
PHP is still a familiar term
Partial hospitalization remains one of the most common phrases patients encounter when comparing intensive daytime addiction treatment.
ASAM now uses High Intensity Outpatient
ASAM’s Fourth Edition refers to Level 2.5 as High Intensity Outpatient. ASAM specifically states that PHP has not been eliminated; the terminology has changed.
Clinical need matters more than the label
Ask what services are actually provided, how many treatment hours are scheduled, who is on the clinical team, and what risks the program can safely manage rather than choosing by program name alone.
Who may benefit from addiction treatment in a PHP?
Placement should follow an individual clinical assessment. Two people using the same substance may need very different levels of care because withdrawal risk, mental health, medical needs, housing, support, and recent treatment history can differ substantially.
Stepping down from residential care
PHP can provide substantial structure after someone no longer needs to live in a residential program but still benefits from frequent therapy, monitoring, medication management, and recovery planning.
Repeated return to substance use
Someone struggling in ordinary outpatient treatment may benefit from more treatment hours, closer clinical contact, more frequent reassessment, and a highly structured weekly schedule.
Co-occurring mental health needs
Depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, trauma-related symptoms, and other psychiatric needs can complicate addiction treatment. A dual diagnosis capable PHP may coordinate psychiatric and substance-use care.
Stable enough to live outside treatment
PHP generally assumes that the person can remain medically and behaviorally safe outside treatment hours and has an appropriate place to stay when the program closes for the day.
Needing structure during early recovery
Daily routines, frequent groups, clinical accountability, medication visits, and recovery planning can provide structure during a period when cravings, mood changes, sleep problems, and relapse risks remain significant.
Moving up from a lower level of care
A person in IOP or standard outpatient treatment may temporarily need more intensive services if substance use increases, psychiatric symptoms worsen, or the existing treatment schedule is not providing enough support.
When might someone need more intensive care than PHP?
PHP is intensive, but patients still spend substantial time outside the treatment facility. Some medical, withdrawal, psychiatric, or environmental risks require a setting with 24-hour support.
Dangerous withdrawal risk
Alcohol, benzodiazepines, and some other withdrawal situations can require medically supervised withdrawal management. The appropriate setting depends on symptoms, history, medications, medical conditions, and clinical assessment.
Medical instability
Serious medical complications, severe dehydration, overdose complications, uncontrolled seizures, delirium, or other acute medical needs can require emergency or hospital-level care.
Severe psychiatric symptoms
Active suicidality, severe mania, acute psychosis, dangerous behavior, or an inability to maintain safety outside program hours may require emergency evaluation or a higher psychiatric level of care.
Unsafe living environment
A person returning each evening to active substance use, violence, severe instability, or another unsafe environment may need residential treatment or additional recovery-housing support.
Need for continuous monitoring
Some patients require nursing, medical, psychiatric, or behavioral monitoring that cannot safely stop when daytime programming ends.
Repeated failure to stabilize
If substance use or serious symptoms continue despite intensive outpatient treatment, the treatment team may reassess whether a more intensive setting is appropriate.
What does a day in an addiction PHP look like?
Schedules differ considerably. Some programs operate during normal daytime hours, while others offer extended or specialized tracks. A treatment day may combine several types of clinical services rather than relying on one long group session.
Check-in and assessment
Staff may review substance use, cravings, sleep, mood, medications, withdrawal symptoms, safety concerns, and events since the previous treatment day.
Clinical programming
Group and individual sessions can focus on substance use, triggers, coping skills, emotional regulation, relationships, relapse prevention, and mental health symptoms.
Medical or psychiatric care
Depending on the program and treatment plan, patients may meet with a physician, advanced practice clinician, nurse, psychiatrist, or other prescriber for medication and health needs.
Planning for outside hours
The team may review evening plans, housing, recovery meetings, medications, family issues, transportation, triggers, and what to do if symptoms worsen before the next treatment day.
What services can addiction PHP programs provide?
Programs differ substantially. The most useful question is not whether a facility calls itself PHP, but which services are actually available within the program and how they are coordinated.
Individual Therapy
One-on-one treatment can address substance use patterns, motivation, cravings, trauma, relationships, mental health symptoms, relapse risks, and personalized recovery goals.
Group Therapy
Groups may focus on coping skills, relapse prevention, emotional regulation, interpersonal problems, recovery education, communication, and other treatment goals.
Medication Management
Programs with prescribing capability may manage medications for substance use disorders, psychiatric conditions, sleep, withdrawal-related symptoms, or other medical needs.
Psychiatric Services
Dual diagnosis programs may provide psychiatric assessment, medication review, ongoing symptom monitoring, and coordinated treatment for mental health conditions.
Family Services
Family therapy and education can address communication, boundaries, medication support, overdose awareness, home expectations, and preparation for lower levels of care.
Case Management
Case management may address housing, transportation, appointments, employment, legal obligations, insurance, outside medical care, and referrals needed after PHP.
Recovery Planning
Treatment can identify high-risk situations, early warning signs, coping strategies, medication plans, recovery supports, and steps to take after a return to substance use.
Drug and Alcohol Monitoring
Toxicology testing may be used as one part of treatment monitoring. Programs should explain how results are used clinically rather than treating testing as the entire treatment plan.
Continuing-Care Coordination
A strong PHP begins planning early for IOP, outpatient therapy, medications, psychiatric care, primary care, recovery housing, peer support, and other services needed after discharge.
Therapy approaches used in addiction PHP programs
Behavioral treatment should be selected according to the substance-use disorder, mental health needs, treatment goals, and the individual rather than assuming every patient needs the same therapy.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
CBT can help patients identify thoughts, emotions, situations, and behaviors associated with substance use while developing new coping and problem-solving strategies.
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational approaches can help when someone feels uncertain about stopping substance use, taking medications, changing relationships, or committing to treatment goals.
Contingency Management
Contingency management uses structured positive reinforcement for treatment participation and recovery-related behaviors. It has particularly strong evidence in stimulant-use treatment.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills
DBT-informed treatment may help with emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal problems, impulsivity, and other factors that interact with substance use.
Trauma-Informed Care
Trauma-informed programs consider safety, choice, trust, triggers, and emotional stability. Focused trauma treatment should be matched to the patient’s readiness and clinical condition.
Family Therapy
Family work can address patterns that affect recovery while helping relatives prepare for discharge, understand medications, respond to warning signs, and establish healthier communication.
Which addictions can be treated in a PHP?
PHP can be used for many substance use disorders once the person can safely participate in outpatient-level treatment. The treatment plan should account for the specific substance, withdrawal risk, medications, overdose history, and other substances being used.
Alcohol Use Disorder
PHP can provide therapy, medication management, relapse-prevention planning, psychiatric treatment, and continuing care after acute withdrawal risks have been addressed.
Opioid Use Disorder
Programs may combine therapy with medications such as buprenorphine or naltrexone, while methadone treatment may require coordination with an opioid treatment program.
Stimulant Use Disorders
Cocaine and methamphetamine treatment relies heavily on behavioral interventions, psychiatric assessment when needed, sleep and health stabilization, and relapse-prevention planning.
Benzodiazepine Use
Benzodiazepine withdrawal can be medically serious. Patients who require withdrawal management should first be assessed for an appropriate medical setting before relying on ordinary PHP treatment.
Cannabis Use Disorder
Treatment may focus on behavioral therapy, motivation, coping skills, sleep, anxiety, family issues, and other factors contributing to continued cannabis use.
Polysubstance Use
When several substances are involved, the clinical team should evaluate combined withdrawal risks, medication interactions, overdose risk, psychiatric symptoms, and whether PHP can safely manage the complete picture.
Can a PHP provide medications for addiction?
Yes, when the program has appropriate prescribing services or coordinates medication treatment with another provider. Medication availability should be one of the first questions asked when comparing programs.
For opioid use disorder, FDA-approved treatment medications include buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone. Methadone for OUD is provided through certified opioid treatment programs, so a PHP that does not operate an OTP may coordinate care with one.
FDA-approved medications for alcohol use disorder include naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram. Medication selection depends on the patient’s health, treatment goals, recent substance use, other medications, and clinical assessment.
FDA-approved medications currently exist for some substance use disorders but not all. Behavioral treatments remain particularly important for stimulant, cannabis, and other substance use disorders without an approved disorder-specific medication.
- Ask whether addiction medications are prescribed on site
- Ask how methadone treatment is coordinated when needed
- Ask who reviews psychiatric and addiction medications together
- Ask how prescriptions continue after PHP ends
- Ask what happens if medication side effects or adherence problems develop
PHP treatment for addiction and mental health conditions
Substance use disorders commonly occur alongside mental health conditions. NIDA recommends addressing co-occurring health problems together when possible rather than treating each condition in isolation.
Depression and Anxiety
Programs may combine addiction treatment with psychotherapy, psychiatric assessment, medication management, safety monitoring, and treatment of sleep or anxiety symptoms.
PTSD and Trauma
Trauma can affect cravings, emotional regulation, sleep, relationships, and return to substance use. Treatment should emphasize safety and appropriate pacing.
Bipolar and Psychotic Symptoms
Mania, psychosis, severe depression, substance effects, and withdrawal symptoms can overlap. Psychiatric evaluation and repeated assessment can help determine the appropriate diagnosis and level of care.
PHP vs. residential treatment, IOP, and outpatient care
Addiction treatment exists on a continuum. People can move to more or less intensive care as their clinical needs change.
Residential Treatment
Patients live within the treatment setting and receive a structured recovery environment around the clock. Residential care may fit people who need more environmental support than PHP can provide.
PHP
Patients receive intensive structured treatment during the day but normally live outside the program. PHP provides more treatment contact than IOP or ordinary outpatient care.
IOP
Intensive outpatient programs provide multiple treatment sessions each week with fewer scheduled hours than PHP, giving patients more time for work, school, family, or outside recovery activities.
Standard Outpatient
Standard outpatient care may involve individual therapy, medication visits, group treatment, recovery support, or other appointments with substantially less weekly structure.
Where do patients live while attending PHP?
PHP usually does not include overnight accommodation as part of the clinical level of care. Patients may live at home, with supportive family, independently, or in a recovery residence while attending treatment.
Housing deserves careful attention because a person can spend many hours each week outside the PHP environment. Access to substances, household conflict, transportation, isolation, and exposure to people actively using drugs or alcohol can all affect recovery.
Some treatment organizations work closely with recovery residences or supportive housing programs. Housing and clinical treatment should still be understood as separate services, with clear information about costs, rules, transportation, and clinical oversight.
- Confirm where the patient will sleep each night
- Ask whether transportation to treatment is available
- Ask whether housing is clinically affiliated with the PHP
- Confirm housing fees separately from treatment costs
- Understand rules regarding medications, visitors, curfews, and testing
How long does a PHP for addiction last?
There is no single appropriate PHP length. Treatment should continue for as long as the intensity remains clinically useful and should change when the patient’s needs change.
Admission
The treatment team evaluates recent substance use, withdrawal risk, medical conditions, mental health, medications, recovery environment, prior treatment, and current goals before determining whether PHP is appropriate.
Ongoing Reassessment
Substance use, psychiatric symptoms, medications, participation, cravings, safety, housing, and progress should be reviewed throughout treatment rather than assuming the original placement remains appropriate indefinitely.
Transition
Patients may step down to IOP or outpatient treatment when they need less structure, remain at PHP when the current intensity is still appropriate, or move to higher care if risks increase.
Does insurance cover addiction PHP programs?
Coverage depends on the insurance plan, diagnosis, medical necessity, provider network, authorization requirements, and the type of facility delivering treatment.
Commercial Insurance
Many private plans include intensive behavioral health or substance-use treatment benefits, but deductibles, coinsurance, networks, authorization, and approved treatment duration vary.
Medicaid
Medicaid addiction-treatment benefits and provider networks vary by state. Confirm whether the specific PHP is enrolled with the patient’s state Medicaid plan and whether authorization is required.
Medicare
Medicare has a defined partial hospitalization benefit for qualifying structured psychiatric outpatient treatment. Its eligibility and facility requirements should not automatically be assumed to apply to every program marketed as an addiction PHP.
Questions to ask before admission
- Is the program in network with the insurance plan?
- Does PHP require prior authorization?
- What deductible or coinsurance applies?
- How often does the insurer review continued medical necessity?
- Are physician and psychiatric services billed separately?
- Are medications included or filled through a pharmacy benefit?
- Is recovery housing a separate expense?
- What happens financially if insurance stops authorizing PHP?
How can families support someone attending PHP?
PHP creates a different family situation than residential treatment because the patient may return home every afternoon or evening. Families can become part of the recovery environment without becoming responsible for delivering treatment themselves.
Family sessions can help clarify medication plans, household expectations, transportation, warning signs, communication, substance access in the home, and what to do if the person returns to use.
- Understand the weekly treatment schedule
- Know which medications are being continued at home
- Keep alcohol, illicit substances, and unsecured medications out of the recovery environment when appropriate
- Learn overdose and crisis warning signs
- Participate in family sessions when invited and appropriate
- Know who to contact after treatment hours if problems develop
Partial Hospitalization Program Access
Compare intensive daytime addiction treatment, medication services, dual diagnosis capability, schedules, insurance, recovery housing, IOP, and continuing care by location.
Compare the Actual Program
PHP labels can describe different schedules and clinical capabilities. Ask how many treatment days are provided, who delivers medical and psychiatric care, and what happens outside program hours.
How do you compare addiction PHP programs?
Look beyond the PHP label. A useful admissions conversation should explain the actual clinical program, what risks it can manage, and how care is adjusted when a patient’s needs change.
Ask about the weekly schedule
Confirm which days the program operates, the usual arrival and departure times, how much programming is clinical treatment, and whether weekend services are available.
Confirm medical capability
Ask who handles medical assessment, withdrawal concerns, medication problems, chronic medical conditions, and urgent issues that develop during the treatment day.
Ask about addiction medications
Confirm whether buprenorphine, medications for alcohol use disorder, psychiatric prescriptions, and other clinically appropriate medications can be prescribed or coordinated.
Evaluate dual diagnosis care
Ask which mental health conditions the program treats, how often psychiatric providers are available, and what happens if symptoms become too severe for PHP.
Review the living environment
Determine whether the person can safely return home after treatment or whether supportive housing or a recovery residence should be considered alongside PHP.
Plan the next level early
Ask which IOP, outpatient therapy, medication management, psychiatric care, recovery support, and housing services are normally arranged when PHP ends.
PHP addiction treatment questions
Common questions about partial hospitalization schedules, housing, medications, detox, mental health treatment, insurance, and how PHP compares with other levels of addiction care.
What does PHP stand for in addiction treatment?
PHP stands for partial hospitalization program. It is a highly structured outpatient form of treatment in which patients attend substantial clinical programming during the day but generally do not live at the treatment facility overnight.
Is PHP inpatient or outpatient treatment?
PHP is generally an outpatient level of care because the patient is not admitted for a 24-hour stay. It is considerably more intensive than standard outpatient counseling and usually more intensive than an IOP.
How many hours a day is PHP?
Schedules vary by facility, clinical need, state requirements, and insurance rules. Programs frequently occupy a substantial portion of the treatment day. Medicare describes its covered psychiatric PHP benefit as generally involving about four to eight hours of care per day and at least 20 therapeutic hours per week, but that Medicare requirement should not be treated as a universal definition for every addiction PHP.
Is PHP the same as ASAM Level 2.5?
PHP has historically been closely associated with ASAM Level 2.5. In the Fourth Edition of the ASAM Criteria, ASAM uses the term High Intensity Outpatient for Level 2.5 and states that PHP itself has not been eliminated.
Can you live at home while attending addiction PHP?
Yes, many patients live at home while attending PHP. Others stay with supportive relatives or use recovery housing. The living environment should be considered during placement because the patient spends evenings, nights, and other non-program hours outside treatment.
Can PHP replace medical detox?
Not automatically. Someone with significant alcohol, benzodiazepine, opioid, or polysubstance withdrawal concerns should receive a clinical assessment to determine whether withdrawal can be managed safely in an outpatient setting or requires a more medically intensive level of care.
Can PHP provide Suboxone or other medications?
Some PHP programs prescribe buprenorphine and other addiction medications directly, while others coordinate with outside medical providers. Methadone for opioid use disorder is provided through certified opioid treatment programs. Ask how medication treatment is handled before admission.
What is the difference between PHP and IOP?
Both are outpatient levels of addiction treatment, but PHP generally provides more weekly treatment time and greater daily structure. IOP may fit someone who still needs coordinated intensive treatment but can safely manage with fewer scheduled clinical hours.
Can PHP treat dual diagnosis conditions?
Many PHP programs treat co-occurring substance use and mental health conditions. Capabilities differ, so ask whether psychiatric evaluation, medication management, trauma treatment, crisis procedures, and integrated addiction treatment are provided.
How long do people stay in PHP?
Treatment length varies. The team should reassess whether the person still needs PHP intensity, can safely step down to IOP or outpatient treatment, or requires a higher level of care. Treatment should be based on clinical needs rather than a fixed number of days alone.
Does insurance pay for PHP?
Many insurance plans cover intensive behavioral health treatment when their requirements are met, but network rules, medical-necessity criteria, prior authorization, deductibles, coinsurance, and approved treatment duration vary. Verify benefits with both the insurer and treatment provider.
What happens after PHP?
Many patients transition to IOP, standard outpatient therapy, medication management, psychiatric care, peer recovery support, recovery housing, or a combination of services. Continuing-care planning should begin before the final days of PHP.
Compare other addiction treatment options
Learn how PHP fits between residential treatment, intensive outpatient care, detox, and other addiction services.
Residential Treatment
Compare live-in addiction programs with 24-hour recovery environments.
Intensive Outpatient
Learn how IOP provides structured outpatient treatment with fewer weekly hours than PHP.
Detox Centers
Compare withdrawal-management services before beginning ongoing addiction treatment.
Dual Diagnosis
Learn how addiction and mental health conditions can be treated within a coordinated plan.
Evidence and guidance used for this PHP guide
This page provides general information about addiction treatment. PHP schedules, licensing, insurance requirements, medication services, and clinical capabilities vary by provider and location. Individual placement decisions require assessment by qualified healthcare professionals.
- American Society of Addiction Medicine: ASAM Criteria, Fourth Edition
- American Society of Addiction Medicine: Criteria FAQ and Level 2.5 Terminology
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: Treatment for Substance Use Disorders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Evidence-Based Alcohol Treatment
- SAMHSA: Substance Use Disorder Treatment Options
- SAMHSA: Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders
- Medicare: Partial Hospitalization Coverage and Service Definition
- SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov: Behavioral Health Treatment Locator
Find a partial hospitalization program for addiction treatment
Compare PHP programs by treatment schedule, substance-use services, medication access, psychiatric capability, housing options, insurance, location, and the plan for continuing care after PHP.