Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for Adolescents
OCD & Anxiety Colorado’s Adolescent Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) is a specialized, evidence-based program for adolescents ages 12–17 struggling with OCD, anxiety disorders, and related concerns.
Our neurodivergent-affirming IOP is grounded in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and provides adolescents with a supportive environment to practice facing fears, reducing avoidance and compulsions, and building greater independence in their everyday lives. Our 3-hour sessions incorporate clinician-supported exposure practice, psychoeducation, goal setting, peer connection, and process time.
Who Might Benefit From IOP?
IOP may be a good fit for adolescents whose OCD or anxiety is significantly interfering with daily life or who need more support and treatment intensity than traditional weekly outpatient therapy can provide. This may include adolescents who are:
Spending significant amounts of time engaging in compulsions, reassurance seeking, avoidance, or anxiety-driven behaviors
Struggling to attend or remain in school because of OCD, anxiety, panic, or avoidance
Experiencing increasing difficulty with friendships, family relationships, activities, independence, or daily routines
Avoiding important activities, places, situations, foods, sensations, or responsibilities because of fear or anxiety
Having difficulty completing exposures or making progress with ERP in once-weekly therapy
Experiencing symptoms that have continued to worsen despite outpatient treatment
Stepping down from a higher level of care, such as residential or partial hospitalization treatment, and needing continued structure and support
In need of more frequent, clinician-supported opportunities to practice ERP and generalize treatment skills into everyday life
Each adolescent also participates in a weekly individual therapy session with their assigned clinician, allowing treatment to be personalized around their specific symptoms, goals, strengths, and needs.
Families can access additional wraparound services through OAC, including family therapy, Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE)-based parent support, medication management, occupational therapy, and academic support.
Adolescent IOP meets Monday through Thursday from 12:00–3:00 PM. With small group sizes, individualized treatment planning, family involvement, and a strong emphasis on aftercare, our goal is to help adolescents build meaningful skills and make sustainable progress that extends beyond the program.
Additional Services & Supports Alongside IOP
Our Adolescent IOP is designed to provide comprehensive, individualized care that extends beyond group programming. In addition to IOP sessions, adolescents and their families can access additional services and supports through OAC to address individual treatment goals, family dynamics, school functioning, executive functioning, and other areas that may impact recovery.
Individual Therapy
Each adolescent participating in IOP also attends a weekly individual therapy session with their assigned OAC clinician. Individual sessions allow the clinician and adolescent to develop personalized treatment goals, build an individualized Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) plan, and target symptoms or challenges that may need more focused attention outside of the group setting.
In addition to ERP, clinicians may integrate complementary approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). ACT can help adolescents build psychological flexibility, practice making room for uncomfortable thoughts and emotions, and take meaningful action based on their values. CBT can provide additional tools for understanding patterns of thinking and behavior that contribute to anxiety and OCD.
Family Therapy & Parent Support (SPACE)
Because OCD and anxiety often affect the entire family system, parents and caregivers can participate in family therapy and parent-focused treatment using Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE).
SPACE is an evidence-based, parent-focused treatment developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and OCD. Rather than requiring the child to participate directly, SPACE helps parents change how they respond to their child's anxiety and OCD.
Parents learn how to identify and gradually reduce family accommodations—such as providing repeated reassurance, participating in rituals, changing family routines, or helping a child avoid anxiety-provoking situations—while increasing supportive responses that communicate both empathy and confidence in their child's ability to tolerate distress and build independence.
Executive Functioning Support & Academic Mentoring
Adolescents can also work with Scott for individualized executive functioning support and academic mentoring. This service can be particularly helpful when OCD, anxiety, ADHD, avoidance, perfectionism, or executive functioning challenges are interfering with school or daily responsibilities.
Support can focus on areas such as organization, planning, time management, task initiation and completion, breaking down overwhelming assignments, establishing sustainable routines, navigating school demands, and building greater independence with academic responsibilities.
Together, these services allow our team to address not only an adolescent's OCD and anxiety symptoms, but also the individual, family, and academic factors that can influence treatment and long-term recovery.
