IOP serving Miami — clinical intensity that fits a real life.

For clients coming from Brickell, Coral Gables, or Aventura, the hour-plus drive to RECO's Delray Beach campus is part of the clinical value — geographic distance from the people and places tied to active use in Miami. RECO's IOP keeps the same primary therapist across PHP, IOP, and aftercare, so there is no clinical handoff at each step-down, and medication-assisted treatment continues uninterrupted through the level-of-care transition.

From Brickell, Coral Gables, or Coconut Grove, the drive north to RECO Intensive’s Delray Beach campus is roughly 50 miles up I-95 — about an hour and five minutes without traffic, longer during the Miami morning rush. That distance matters clinically. Most Miami clients we work with don’t commute daily for an Intensive Outpatient Program; they combine IOP with structured sober-living housing on or near campus, which puts geographic space between them and the bars in South Beach, the social calendars in Brickell, and the people and places tied to active use. For many South Florida residents in Aventura or Pinecrest, that hour of separation is part of the treatment, not an inconvenience around it.

RECO’s Intensive Outpatient Program runs approximately 15 clinical hours per week, scheduled across three to five days. The same primary therapist who saw you in partial hospitalization or residential care continues to follow your case through IOP — there is no transfer to a new clinician at each level-of-care change. That continuity is a deliberate program design choice, because the therapeutic relationship is one of the most consistent predictors of outpatient engagement.

Where IOP fits in the continuum

Intensive Outpatient Programming sits between higher-acuity care — PHP, residential, or medically managed withdrawal — and standalone outpatient therapy or aftercare. For most clients arriving at RECO from Miami-Dade County, IOP is a step-down: a structured next phase after completing 30 to 60 days of residential treatment or PHP. For a smaller group of clients who present with lower severity on the ASAM dimensions (particularly Dimensions 3 through 6, covering emotional/behavioral conditions, readiness, relapse potential, and recovery environment), IOP can be the starting level of care.

The ASAM placement criteria are not a marketing checklist; they are the framework our clinical team uses to determine whether someone genuinely needs IOP versus a higher or lower intensity. A client who has been stable in PHP for several weeks, who has stable housing arranged, and who is showing consistent engagement in group typically transitions to IOP. A client who is still in early withdrawal stabilization or who has significant co-occurring psychiatric symptoms generally needs a higher level of care first.

What 15 hours per week actually covers

The IOP schedule is built from several treatment components rather than a single long block. Group therapy makes up the largest share — psychoeducation groups on the neuroscience of addiction and relapse, process groups focused on real-time emotional content, relapse-prevention skills groups drawn from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and distress-tolerance and emotion-regulation work drawn from Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Motivational Interviewing techniques are woven throughout because ambivalence about change does not disappear at IOP; it shifts shape.

Each week also includes an individual session with your primary therapist, where deeper trauma work — including EMDR or Trauma-Focused CBT when clinically indicated — is more appropriate than the group setting. Psychiatric appointments are scheduled as needed for medication management. For clients with alcohol use disorder, that may include ongoing naltrexone (oral or Vivitrol injection) or acamprosate. For opioid use disorder, buprenorphine maintenance is fully supported through IOP — there is no expectation that medication-assisted treatment ends when the level of care steps down. You can read more on our alcohol treatment page and opioid treatment page about how MAT continues across levels of care.

Some weeks include family sessions, often by video for relatives still in Miami or further away. Other weeks include experiential components — somatic work, expressive therapies, or structured outdoor programming — depending on what is clinically indicated for the individual.

Compatible with work, school, and family life

IOP at RECO is offered in morning and evening tracks, which is what makes it compatible with the kinds of routines that typically resume during this phase of treatment. Many clients in IOP are working part-time — some remotely, some in person — finishing a semester of school, or stepping back into parenting responsibilities. The lower clinical load (15 hours instead of the 30+ in PHP) is what creates room for those reintegration tasks.

For Miami-based clients, this is often when the question of returning home comes up. Some clients commute from Delray-area sober-living to RECO for IOP and stay in South Florida for the full duration. Others, particularly those with strong family support in Coral Gables or Pinecrest and a clean recovery environment at home, begin a slower transition — extending visits home on weekends, then eventually relocating while continuing IOP via a hybrid in-person and telehealth model when clinically appropriate.

The transition to aftercare and alumni programming

Stepping down from IOP is gradual rather than abrupt. The final weeks of IOP shift focus toward discharge planning: identifying an outpatient therapist (in Miami, in many cases), confirming psychiatric follow-up, mapping out 12-step or alternative recovery meeting schedules, and writing a concrete relapse-prevention plan that names specific triggers — specific neighborhoods, specific people, specific times of year — and specific responses.

After IOP, clients move into aftercare and alumni programming. RECO’s alumni network runs monthly events, peer support, and structured check-ins. For Miami alumni, that includes both Delray-area gatherings and connections to recovery community resources closer to home. Staying engaged with people who knew you in early treatment is one of the more reliable protective factors in the first year of recovery.

Insurance, admissions, and starting from Miami

RECO is in-network with most major commercial insurance plans serving South Florida, including Aetna, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and several others. Our admissions team handles the verification of benefits directly — usually within a few hours — so you have a clear picture of what your plan covers before any clinical commitment. You can begin that process through our insurance verification page or by calling (866) 396-2008.

For families in Miami considering RECO for a loved one, the first conversation is usually a clinical assessment by phone. That call covers substance use history, prior treatment, psychiatric history, current medications, and the practical questions about housing, transportation, and work. From there, our team makes a level-of-care recommendation grounded in ASAM criteria — which may or may not be IOP as a starting point, depending on what the clinical picture actually shows. If IOP is appropriate, admissions can typically arrange a start date within a few days.

Serving residents of: Brickell, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Aventura, Pinecrest.