Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) in Los Angeles County, CA
When outpatient therapy isn’t enough and you need intensive, daily clinical support without overnight hospitalization, our Partial Hospitalization Program provides the highest level of outpatient care available. Designed for Los Angeles County residents managing severe or acute mental health symptoms, PHP provides structured treatment 5 days per week, approximately 6 hours per day — giving you the clinical intensity of inpatient care while you continue sleeping at home.
Whether you’re transitioning from inpatient or residential treatment, experiencing a mental health crisis that requires immediate stabilization, or dealing with symptoms too severe for IOP to manage, PHP gives you the comprehensive daily structure and clinical attention to stabilize, build foundational coping skills, and prepare for the next phase of your recovery.
“I was barely functioning — couldn’t get through a workday, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t stop the panic attacks. My therapist told me I needed more than weekly sessions but I didn’t want to be hospitalized. PHP was the middle ground I didn’t know existed. Six hours a day felt like a lot, but having that structure every day was exactly what I needed to get stable. By the time I stepped down to IOP, I felt like a different person.”
A Conversation Can Change Everything
Contact us to connect with our team. We are here to provide the answers and support you need.
Who Is the Partial Hospitalization Program For?
PHP is our most intensive outpatient program. It’s designed for people who need daily clinical structure and monitoring but don’t require 24-hour inpatient care. This is not maintenance-level treatment — it’s active crisis stabilization and intensive therapeutic work.
PHP may be the right fit if:
Your symptoms are severely impacting your ability to function — you’re unable to work consistently, your relationships are deteriorating, you’re experiencing persistent suicidal ideation without active plan, you’re having panic attacks multiple times per day, or your depression has made basic self-care feel impossible. You’re stepping down from inpatient hospitalization or residential treatment and need intensive daily support to maintain the stability you achieved. You’ve been in IOP or outpatient therapy but your symptoms have escalated to a point where that level of care is no longer sufficient. You’re experiencing an acute mental health episode — a major depressive episode, a manic or hypomanic episode, severe PTSD flashbacks, or a psychotic break — and need immediate stabilization. You have a dual diagnosis (co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder) that requires intensive, coordinated daily treatment.
PHP may not be the best fit if:
Your symptoms are moderate and you’re still functioning in daily life — in that case, our Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) provides the right level of intensity without the full-day commitment. If your symptoms are manageable and you need ongoing maintenance support, our Outpatient Program (OP) is designed for that level of care. If you’re in immediate danger of harming yourself or others, inpatient hospitalization is the appropriate level of care—call 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) or go to your nearest emergency room.
What a Day in PHP Looks Like
PHP runs 5 days per week, approximately 6 hours per day. That’s roughly 30 hours of structured clinical treatment per week—comparable to a full-time job, and intentionally so. When your symptoms are severe, you need treatment that matches that severity in both intensity and consistency.
Daily Schedule Overview
Time Block | Duration | Activity |
Morning | 30 min | Check-in, symptom monitoring, mindfulness/grounding exercise |
Mid-Morning | 90 min | Core group therapy: CBT, DBT, trauma processing, or psychoeducation |
Late Morning | 60 min | Skill-building workshop: emotional regulation, distress tolerance, or interpersonal effectiveness |
Midday | 30 min | Lunch and informal peer connection |
Early Afternoon | 60 min | Process group: guided discussion, peer support, real-world application of skills |
Afternoon | 60 min | Specialized component: individual therapy, medication management, wellness activity, or family session |
Close | 30 min | Daily reflection, goal-setting for evening, safety planning if needed |
This is a representative schedule. Your actual day is structured around your treatment plan and may vary. Telehealth PHP follows the same schedule via a secure video platform.
What Each Component Involves
Morning check-in and symptom monitoring
Every day starts with a structured check-in where your clinician assesses how you’re doing—sleep quality, mood, anxiety levels, any crises since the previous session, medication side effects, and overall stability. This isn’t a casual “how are you”—it”’s clinical monitoring that allows your team to adjust the day’s approach in real time and catch warning signs early.
Core group therapy
The longest and most intensive block of the day. Groups are clinician-led and structured around evidence-based modalities: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for identifying and restructuring distorted thought patterns, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for emotional regulation and distress tolerance, trauma-informed care and processing for clients with PTSD or complex trauma, and psychoeducation about your specific diagnosis so you understand what’s happening neurologically and psychologically. The 90-minute format allows for deep work—not just learning a concept, but practicing it, discussing obstacles, and problem-solving in real time.
Skill-building workshops
Dedicated time to develop practical coping tools: mindfulness and meditation for managing anxiety and staying grounded, emotion labeling and regulation techniques, interpersonal effectiveness skills for navigating difficult conversations and relationships, crisis survival strategies for managing acute distress without escalation, and relapse prevention planning. These aren’t lectures—they’re active workshops where you practice skills in a supported environment.
Process group
After the structured skill work, the process group gives you space to discuss how the day’s material connects to your real life. Members share what they’re struggling with, what’s working, and what they’re afraid of. This peer support component is clinically significant—realizing others share your experience reduces isolation, and hearing how peers are applying skills gives you practical ideas you might not generate on your own.
Individual therapy and specialized components
PHP includes weekly individual therapy sessions with your primary therapist, addressing personal issues that aren’t appropriate for group settings. Medication management consultations with our psychiatric team ensure your medications are optimized as your symptoms change. Family therapy sessions are available for clients whose family dynamics are part of the clinical picture. Wellness activities, including guided movement, breathwork, and structured relaxation, support your physical health alongside your mental health.
Daily closing and safety planning
Each day ends with a structured reflection: What did you learn today, what are you going to practice tonight, and what’s your plan if you feel destabilized between now and tomorrow’s session? For clients managing suicidal ideation, self-harm urges, or acute anxiety, your clinician reviews your safety plan daily and updates it as needed. You don’t leave without a clear framework for managing the hours until the next session.
What a Typical Week in PHP Looks Like
Here’s a sample week showing how PHP builds cumulative therapeutic momentum:
Day | Primary Focus |
Monday | Stabilization and assessment: weekend check-in, symptom review, CBT cognitive restructuring, week goal-setting |
Tuesday | Emotional regulation: DBT skills training, distress tolerance techniques, chain analysis of recent episodes |
Wednesday | Trauma and anxiety: mindfulness-based interventions, grounding techniques, trauma processing (for applicable clients) |
Thursday | Interpersonal skills: communication strategies, boundary-setting, family dynamics, relationship repair |
Friday | Integration and planning: week review, progress assessment, relapse prevention, weekend safety planning |
Individual therapy and medication management sessions are woven into the weekly schedule based on your needs. This sample reflects telehealth and in-person formats.
How PHP Differs from IOP and Inpatient Care
PHP occupies a critical space in the treatment spectrum — more intensive than any outpatient program, less restrictive than inpatient hospitalization.
PHP vs. IOP:
PHP provides approximately 30 hours of treatment per week compared to IOP’s 9–15 hours. PHP includes daily clinical monitoring, daily safety planning, and a more comprehensive therapeutic schedule. IOP is designed for clients whose symptoms are moderate to severe but who can manage several hours between sessions without clinical oversight. PHP is for clients who need near-continuous therapeutic contact during the day to remain stable.
PHP vs. Inpatient hospitalization:
Inpatient care means staying at the facility 24/7 with constant supervision. PHP provides the same caliber of daily clinical treatment but you go home each evening. You sleep in your own bed, maintain contact with your family, and begin practicing coping skills in your real environment from day one — which actually accelerates the transition to lower levels of care. PHP is appropriate when you’re not at imminent risk of harming yourself or others but your symptoms are too severe for part-time treatment.
The clinical advantage of PHP:
Because your team sees you for 6 hours every day, they have a level of insight into your patterns, triggers, and progress that no other outpatient setting provides. Medication adjustments happen faster because side effects and responses are observed daily. Treatment plan changes happen in real time. And the daily group cohort builds a therapeutic community that provides support, accountability, and normalizing of the recovery experience.
How PHP Fits Into Your Treatment Journey
PHP is typically the first intensive step—or the step right after inpatient care—in a continuum that moves toward increasing independence.
Coming from inpatient or residential care:
If you’re being discharged from a hospital or residential program, PHP provides the intensive daily structure to maintain the stability you achieved while transitioning back to daily life. The step-down is less jarring than going directly from 24-hour care to weekly therapy—you still have daily clinical contact, but you’re practicing independence each evening.
Entering treatment for the first time:
Some people’s first contact with mental health treatment happens during a crisis. If your symptoms are severe enough to require daily treatment but you don’t need inpatient hospitalization, PHP can be your entry point. Our clinical team will assess whether PHP is the right starting level during your initial evaluation.
Stepping up from IOP or OP:
Sometimes symptoms escalate despite treatment. If you’re currently in our IOP or OP and your clinical team determines you need a higher level of care, transitioning to PHP is seamless. No new intake, no retelling your story, no waiting for an opening at another facility. Your team already knows you.
After PHP—stepping down to IOP:
When your symptoms have stabilized and you’re consistently applying coping skills, your team will plan a step-down to IOP. This transition is gradual—we may reduce PHP days before fully transitioning, and your IOP clinician will often be someone you’ve already worked with. From IOP, you’ll eventually step down to OP and then aftercare. The full path: PHP → IOP → OP → independent management with an aftercare plan.
What Progress Looks Like in PHP
Progress in PHP is often the most visible and rapid of any outpatient level because of the daily intensity. Here’s what clients and clinicians typically observe:
Days 1–5: Stabilization and assessment. The first week is about creating safety and structure. Your treatment team conducts thorough assessments, establishes your baseline, and begins building your treatment plan. You’re getting acclimated to the schedule and group dynamic. If you’re in crisis, the immediate goal is stabilization—reducing the intensity of acute symptoms so deeper therapeutic work can begin.
Weeks 2–3: Active intervention. Once stabilized, the real work begins. You’re learning and practicing core coping skills daily—CBT techniques for thought distortion, DBT for emotional regulation, mindfulness for anxiety, and trauma processing as appropriate. Because you’re practicing these skills every day and reporting back the next morning, progress compounds quickly. Your clinician is adjusting your treatment plan based on daily observations.
Weeks 3–4: Consolidation and testing. Skills start becoming more natural. You’re managing evenings and weekends with less distress. The group dynamic deepens as members build trust and hold each other accountable. Your team begins discussing step-down readiness—not rushing it, but identifying the indicators that you’re ready for less intensive care.
Weeks 4–6+: Transition planning. You and your treatment team collaboratively plan the step-down to IOP. This includes reducing PHP days gradually, building your aftercare framework, establishing which coping strategies are most effective for you, and ensuring your medication regimen is stable. Some clients complete PHP in 3–4 weeks; others need 6–8+ weeks. Duration is based on clinical readiness, not a calendar.
Telehealth and In-Person Options for LA County Residents
We understand that committing to a 6-hour daily program from LA County requires logistical flexibility. That’s why telehealth is a core delivery option for PHP, not a compromise.
Telehealth (available for all PHP sessions):
Attend the full PHP program from home via our secure, HIPAA-compliant video platform. You participate in every component—morning check-in, group therapy, skill-building, process groups, and individual sessions—from wherever you are in LA County. This eliminates the commute entirely, which is especially important when you’re in a fragile state and a 60-90 minute drive could be destabilizing. Ideal for residents across all of LA County—Long Beach, Pasadena, Glendale, Santa Monica, the Valley, Torrance, Pomona, and beyond.
In person at our Tustin facility:
15991 Red Hill Ave, Suite 101, Tustin, CA 92780. A structured, clinical environment designed for intensive daily treatment. Some clients prefer the physical separation between treatment and home—leaving the house signals “this is my treatment time” and reduces distractions. Accessible from southern LA County via the 5, 605, or 710 freeways.
Hybrid approach:
Many PHP clients start with telehealth when symptoms are most severe and transition to in-person sessions as they stabilize or alternate between the two depending on daily capacity and logistics. The clinical experience is consistent across both formats because you’re working with the same team and same group.
Conditions Treated in Our PHP
- Trauma-Related Disorders
- Dual Diagnosis
- Substance Use Disorders
Insurance and Getting Started
We accept most major insurance plans, including Aetna, Cigna, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Carelon, GEHA, Health Net, UMR, Meritain, Halcyon, Tufts, and MultiPlan.
Most insurance plans cover partial hospitalization as a medically necessary level of mental health care, particularly when clinical documentation supports the need for daily treatment.
Here’s how to get started:
- Call or reach out online. Contact us or through our contact form. Given the severity of symptoms that typically warrant PHP, we prioritize these assessments and can often conduct them same-day.
- Insurance verification. We verify your benefits and explain coverage, including any prior authorization requirements your plan may have for PHP-level care. Verify insurance online here.
- Clinical assessment. Our clinical team conducts a thorough evaluation to determine whether PHP is the right level of care or if IOP would be sufficient. This assessment considers symptom severity, safety concerns, daily functioning, and previous treatment history.
- Begin treatment. PHP admissions are expedited. Most clients begin within 24–48 hours of assessment. If you’re transitioning from inpatient care, we coordinate directly with your discharge team to ensure continuity.
Frequently Asked Questions About PHP
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How is PHP different from IOP?
PHP provides approximately 30 hours of treatment per week (5 days, ~6 hours/day) with daily clinical monitoring and safety planning. IOP provides 9–15 hours per week (3–5 sessions, ~3 hours each). PHP is designed for severe symptoms requiring daily stabilization; IOP is for moderate to severe symptoms where the client can manage between sessions. Many clients step down from PHP to IOP as they stabilize.
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Is PHP the same as inpatient treatment?
No. Inpatient treatment means staying at the facility 24/7. In PHP, you attend treatment during the day and go home each evening. You maintain contact with your family, sleep in your own bed, and begin practicing coping skills in your real environment from day one. PHP provides a comparable level of daily clinical intensity without the restriction of inpatient care.
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Can I start PHP without being hospitalized first?
Yes. While many PHP clients are stepping down from inpatient care, you can enter PHP directly if your symptoms are severe enough to warrant daily treatment but you don’t require 24-hour supervision. Our clinical team determines this during your assessment.
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How long does PHP typically last?
Most clients are in PHP for 3–6 weeks, though some require longer. Duration depends on your symptom severity, stabilization progress, and readiness to step down to IOP. Your treatment team evaluates this daily and discusses the plan with you — you’re always part of the decision.
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Can I attend PHP via telehealth from LA County?
Yes. Our PHP is fully available via telehealth. All components — group therapy, individual sessions, skill-building, medication management — are delivered through our secure, HIPAA-compliant video platform. Many LA County clients complete the entire program via telehealth.
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What happens after I complete PHP?
You’ll step down to our Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for continued treatment at reduced intensity. From there, you’ll transition to our Outpatient Program (OP) for maintenance-level support, and eventually to independent management with an aftercare plan. The full continuum — PHP → IOP → OP → aftercare — is managed by the same clinical team.
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What conditions do you treat in PHP?
Our PHP treats a wide range of severe and acute mental health conditions including major depression, severe anxiety disorders, PTSD and complex trauma, bipolar disorder, personality disorders, OCD, psychosis, dual diagnosis, and acute crisis states. For a full list of conditions we treat, visit our comprehensive LA County mental health treatment page.
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Do I need a referral to start PHP?
No referral is required, though many PHP clients are referred by their existing therapist, psychiatrist, primary care provider, or hospital discharge team. Contact us for a priority assessment. If you have an existing treatment team, we coordinate with them to ensure continuity of care.
Ready to Get Started?
If your symptoms have reached a point where daily life feels unmanageable, PHP provides the intensive daily structure and clinical support to stabilize, build your coping toolkit, and start moving toward recovery. You don’t have to choose between getting help and staying connected to your life—PHP gives you both.
Call today for a priority assessment. Or verify your insurance online to understand your coverage for PHP-level care.
For a complete overview of all our mental health programs available to LA County residents, visit our Mental Health Treatment in Los Angeles County page.
Medically Reviewed By: Shahana Ham, LCSW
Shahana Ham, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Southern California. She specializes in client-centered care for individuals facing mental health and substance use challenges, fostering a supportive environment for healing and growth.
