Teen & Adolescent Behavioral Health Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)
Deciding to enroll your teen in a partial hospitalization program (PHP) can be a significant yet empowering step for both your child and your entire family. A PHP can be an ideal starting point for teens seeking help with behavioral, emotional, and mental health concerns — or it can provide essential support following medical detox and/or residential treatment. At Guardian Recovery, our adolescent partial hospitalization program provides a secure, structured, and supportive atmosphere where teens don’t just recover — they discover who they truly are, build confidence they didn’t know they had, and develop the skills to create a future filled with possibility. Our focus extends far beyond addressing surface-level symptoms. We encourage young people to delve deep into the underlying factors contributing to their struggles — because issues such as trauma, challenging home environments, and mental health disorders often lie at the heart of behavioral concerns, which can manifest as aggression, disengagement, substance use, and more. We believe that teenagers heal best when they’re engaged, challenged, and connected — not just sitting in a chair talking about their problems.
That’s why our PHP combines clinical excellence with dynamic, youth-focused programming that addresses the whole person: mind, body, and spirit. Through our holistic, evidence-based PHP, we assist teens in overcoming immediate challenges while simultaneously equipping them with the skills they need to build lasting resilience and emotional strength. If you’re ready to support your teen on this pivotal journey — or if you’d like to learn more about our programs — reach out for a free and confidential conversation. Explore how our all-encompassing behavioral health services can offer the guidance and resources your child needs to reclaim their health and well-being. A new path is possible, and Guardian Recovery can walk with you and your teen every step of the way.
What Is a Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)?
A partial hospitalization program (PHP) is a step down in care from inpatient/residential treatment. However, depending on various factors, some teens may enter our PHP as a first point of care if they don’t require detox. Guardian Recovery’s adolescent PHP enables teens to live at home or within our adolescent sober housing option. With both choices, teens participate in a host of treatment options multiple days a week for several hours per day as part of an intensive and structured program.
What makes our adolescent PHP exceptional:
Accredited Academic Programming with a dedicated educator who ensures your teen stays on track with school, turning treatment time into an opportunity rather than a setback. We work closely with each student’s home school district to support attendance credits and align with their academic programs. Our committed educators offer individualized support and targeted interventions to assist your child in achieving or maintaining strong academic performance. In addition to therapeutic activities, we dedicate time each day for educational pursuits, which includes two hours of structured academic and physical education activities.
Individual Therapy with licensed clinicians who specialize in adolescent development, trauma, and substance use — building trust and addressing root causes in a safe space.
Group Therapy Sessions with peers facing similar challenges, fostering connection, accountability, and the realization that they’re not alone.
Family Therapy and Programming to repair relationships, improve communication, and equip you with tools to support your teen’s recovery at home. Both in-person and virtual sessions are available to serve in- and out-of-state clients.
Psychiatric Care and Medication Management to address co-occurring mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, or ADHD.
Functional Integrated Therapy including fitness activities like boxing, movement-based therapies, and physical challenges that build confidence, release stress, and teach discipline.
Nutritional Support from a dedicated nutritionist who helps restore your teen’s physical health and establishes healthy eating habits.
Life Skills Development including emotional regulation, healthy communication, decision-making, and relapse prevention strategies.
Holistic Healing Opportunities such as mindfulness, yoga, meditation, creative expression through art and music therapy, outdoor activities, and other engaging experiences that make recovery feel empowering rather than punishing. Along with employing evidence-based strategies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and motivational interviewing (MI), our PHP doesn’t just treat the symptoms of behavioral and substance use issues — we empower teens to examine the reasons behind their actions and emotions and to take the time to address them. This approach is built on the fact that behavioral challenges, substance use, and mental and emotional health issues frequently intersect, with each aspect influencing the others.
Our PHP allows teens to explore these interconnected areas more thoroughly, helping them gain insight into the underlying factors that contribute to their behavior. Guardian Recovery’s adolescent PHP also focuses on the family as a source of strength and support. Along with ongoing communication with parents and guardians, we foster family involvement and growth via family therapy, workshops, and parent support groups. Both in-person and virtual sessions are available. Every teenager is unique, and so is their journey through Guardian Recovery’s levels of care. We tailor each treatment experience to meet your child’s specific physical, mental, and emotional needs, ensuring a personalized approach that considers their individual preferences and goals. Before your teen transitions out of our program, we develop a thorough aftercare plan that facilitates a smooth shift from our intensive treatment to a less intensive option such as our intensive outpatient program (IOP) and/or one of our outpatient models that include virtual care options.
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What Is the Treatment Process in a PHP Program?
At Guardian Recovery, we recognize that each child is unique, which is why our adolescent PHP is specifically tailored to meet each child’s individual needs and preferences. The treatment process begins with a thorough evaluation of your teen’s medical and mental health history. Our experienced professionals engage with both you and your teen to collect vital information that informs the creation of a personalized treatment plan, addressing aspects such as the recommended duration, medications, therapies, and more. The treatment regimen includes:
Individual Therapy
One-on-one sessions with licensed clinicians who specialize in adolescent development, trauma, and substance use are the cornerstone of your teen’s PHP experience. These sessions build trust and address root causes in a safe space.
Focus areas include:
- Understanding the root causes of your teen’s substance use and behavioral challenges
- Processing trauma, grief, shame, and difficult emotions common in adolescence
- Identifying and changing unhelpful thinking patterns
- Developing personalized coping strategies
- Setting concrete, achievable recovery goals
- Building self-awareness and emotional intelligence
- Preparing for life after treatment — including returning to school, family, and social settings
Your teen’s therapist becomes their advocate, their guide, and the person who helps them understand themselves in new ways.
Group Therapy
In addition to one-on-one sessions with counselors, teens engage in group therapy with peers facing similar challenges, providing them with opportunities to connect, work through conflicts, and share their experiences and achievements. These group settings foster a supportive atmosphere where participants are encouraged to express their emotions and uplift one another — building connection, accountability, and the realization that they’re not alone.
Types of groups your teen will experience:
Process Groups: Share experiences, receive feedback from peers, learn they’re not alone, practice interpersonal skills, and build authentic connections.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Identify negative thought patterns that drive substance use and behavioral challenges, learn to challenge and reframe distorted thinking, and develop healthier cognitive habits.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Master skills for emotional regulation, learn distress tolerance techniques, improve interpersonal effectiveness, and practice mindfulness.
Relapse Prevention: Identify personal triggers and high-risk situations, develop comprehensive relapse prevention plans, learn to recognize warning signs, and build resilience for long-term sobriety.
Trauma-Focused Therapy: Address adverse childhood experiences or trauma, understand the connection between trauma and substance use, and begin healing old wounds in a safe environment.
Recovery Integration: Explore age-appropriate recovery principles, work through foundational recovery concepts with guidance, and connect with recovery community resources.
Life Skills Groups: Develop practical skills including emotional regulation, healthy communication, decision-making, financial basics, healthy relationships, time management, and self-care — equipping your teen for independence and long-term success.
Family Therapy and Programming
Families also embark on their own journey of growth. Family therapy and programming repair relationships, improve communication, and equip you with tools to support your teen’s recovery at home. In addition to joint therapy sessions with their teens, family members can join parent support groups and workshops, available through both in-person and virtual formats.
Family involvement includes:
- Family education sessions about adolescent substance use and recovery
- Family therapy sessions (in-person or via telehealth) to repair relationships and improve communication
- Communication skills training for healthier interactions at home
- Addressing family trauma and dysfunctional patterns
- Building a supportive family recovery plan
- Equipping parents and guardians with tools to support their teen’s recovery
- Preparing the entire family for your teen’s transition to less intensive care
Functional Integrated Therapy
Our PHP goes beyond traditional talk therapy. Functional Integrated Therapy includes fitness activities like boxing, movement-based therapies, and physical challenges that build confidence, release stress, and teach discipline. These dynamic, youth-focused experiences engage the whole person and make recovery feel empowering rather than punishing.
Holistic Healing
The treatment regimen is integrated with holistic practices that address mind, body, and spirit:
- Mindfulness and Meditation: Learn to stay present, manage racing thoughts, and find inner peace
- Yoga and Movement: Reconnect with the body, reduce stress, and build physical strength
- Art Therapy: Express emotions creatively, process trauma non-verbally, and discover new outlets
- Music Therapy: Use music for emotional expression and healing
- Creative Expression: Explore identity and emotions through engaging, age-appropriate activities
- Outdoor Activities: Build confidence and connection with nature
- Fitness and Recreation: Develop healthy outlets for stress and enjoyment
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Academic Programming
Accredited academic instruction is an integral part of our PHP. A dedicated educator ensures your teen stays on track with school, turning treatment time into an opportunity rather than a setback. We dedicate time each day for educational pursuits, including two hours of structured academic and physical education activities. This comprehensive approach emphasizes healing the whole person while also cultivating essential life skills, communication abilities, and coping strategies that promote lasting growth and recovery.
Nutritional Support
A dedicated nutritionist helps restore your teen’s physical health and establishes healthy eating habits that support recovery. Substance use takes a toll on a young person’s body, and proper nutrition is essential for both physical healing and emotional stability.
Additional benefits of our teen PHP include:
Ongoing Intensive Therapy — Teens participate in individual, group, and family therapy sessions employing evidence-based care including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), motivational interviewing (MI), trauma-informed care, eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR), and more. Individual therapy is provided by licensed clinicians who specialize in adolescent development, trauma, and substance use — building trust and addressing root causes in a safe space.
Access to Psychiatric Services — Our PHP offers psychiatric care and medication management to address co-occurring mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, or ADHD, including one-on-one meetings with a licensed, on-staff psychiatrist as needed.
Safety and Inclusion — Our safe and nurturing environments, specifically designed for adolescents, offer healing, a sense of community, and the opportunity for transformational growth. Our staff are passionate about working with young people and know how to build genuine connections that inspire real change.
Gradual Transition to New Normal — Guardian Recovery’s full continuum of adolescent care allows teens to progress at their own pace and fosters gradual transitions between levels of care. We empower teens to step down to lower levels of care after they’ve built the skills and acquired the coping tools necessary to successfully integrate into their new normal.
Relapse-Prevention Training — Teens learn to identify and work through their personal relapse triggers, developing comprehensive relapse prevention strategies that account for both substance use triggers and mental health warning signs.
Life Skills Development — Our PHP focuses on instilling teens with the life skills they need to thrive on their own — mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually — once treatment comes to an end. This includes emotional regulation, healthy communication, decision-making, and relapse prevention strategies.
Family Growth and Healing — Along with regular updates on your child’s progress, we equip families with tools and techniques required to help strengthen relationships, build trust, and promote growth. In addition to psychoeducation and individual and family therapy, we offer engaging family workshops and supportive parent groups to foster continued growth. Recovery is a family journey, and we’re here for all of you.
Academic Growth — Our accredited academic programming with a dedicated educator ensures your teen stays on track with school, turning treatment time into an opportunity rather than a setback. Our educators regularly communicate with your child’s school to ensure your teen maintains academic progress and can seamlessly transition back to school at the completion of formalized care. Our dedicated educators provide personalized attention and critical interventions to help your child regain or maintain good academic standing. We strive to reignite your child’s passion for learning and set them up for long-term success.
Functional Integrated Therapy — Fitness activities like boxing, movement-based therapies, and physical challenges build confidence, release stress, and teach discipline — engaging your teen’s whole self in the recovery process.
Nutritional Support — A dedicated nutritionist helps restore your teen’s physical health and establishes healthy eating habits that support recovery and overall wellness.
Dual Diagnosis Care — Mental health and substance use disorders often occur concurrently, a phenomenon known as co-occurring disorders or dual diagnosis. Given the complex interrelationship between the disorders, best practice is to treat both conditions at the same time. Guardian Recovery offers a host of dual diagnosis treatment options that treat conditions such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD, and trauma alongside substance use disorders.
Peer Support — Group therapy sessions with peers facing similar challenges foster connection, accountability, and the realization that they’re not alone. Teens have the ability to offer one another peer support, encouragement, and advice based on their personal experiences. Teens also hone their communication skills and develop healthy friendships with one another.
Holistic Healing — Mindfulness, creative expression, outdoor activities, and other engaging experiences make recovery feel empowering rather than punishing, addressing the whole person: mind, body, and spirit.
Teen Mental Health in a Substance Use PHP Treatment Program
Mental health challenges, behavioral issues, and substance use often intertwine, creating a complex cycle that can exacerbate each condition and lead to a downward spiral. This is especially concerning for adolescents, who face heightened vulnerability during this critical stage of brain development. As their brains mature, the circuits responsible for executive functions — like impulse control and decision-making — are among the last to fully develop, making teens particularly susceptible to both mental health disorders and substance use issues. Research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse reveals that adolescents struggling with substance use disorders frequently experience co-occurring mental health conditions, a phenomenon known as dual diagnosis. Moreover, developing a substance use disorder can increase the risk of mental illness later in life, establishing a troubling connection that can persist across time. While the challenges associated with dual diagnosis can feel daunting, there is hope. At Guardian Recovery, we specialize in dual diagnosis care that addresses both mental health and substance use issues simultaneously.
Our psychiatric care and medication management ensure co-occurring conditions like anxiety, depression, ADHD, or PTSD are properly diagnosed and treated from day one — because untreated mental health conditions can derail even the most committed recovery efforts. By employing evidence-based strategies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and motivational interviewing (MI), we empower teens to develop strong coping skills and cultivate a genuine desire for change. Research consistently shows that treating both conditions concurrently is more effective than addressing them separately. By providing a seamless recovery journey, we help adolescents navigate their challenges and lay a solid foundation for lasting recovery.
Common co-occurring disorders we treat:
- Depression and substance use disorder
- Anxiety disorders and addiction
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and substance use
- Bipolar disorder and addiction
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and substance use
- Eating disorders and addiction
- Behavioral disorders and substance use
This is true dual diagnosis care. We don’t tell your teen to “deal with mental health later” — we treat the whole person from day one.
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Is a PHP Program a Good Fit for My Child?
The decision to enroll your child in a PHP should be based on a combination of your teen’s specific needs, the level of support they require, and the insights of professionals involved in their care. If your teen needs medical detox, this is typically your first step in the treatment process. Following or in lieu of detox, teens often proceed to inpatient care or a PHP. Guardian Recovery’s PHP is available with or without housing. The former enables teens to participate in intensive care while also living in an environment free of triggers and past stressors. This separation better enables some teens to break their destructive habits and patterns of thinking, providing them with a fresh start.
PHP may be right for your teen if:
They Need Intensive, Structured Treatment:
- They require more support than outpatient treatment provides but don’t need 24/7 residential care
- They benefit from several hours of daily therapeutic engagement multiple days a week
- They need a highly structured environment with professionals who know how to build genuine connections with teens
They’re Stepping Down from Residential Treatment:
- They’ve completed inpatient/residential treatment and need continued intensive support
- They’re stable but need robust clinical care as they transition back to daily life
- They benefit from continued group therapy, individual therapy, and psychiatric services
They’re Entering Treatment for the First Time:
- They don’t require medical detox but need intensive intervention
- Their substance use, behavioral issues, or mental health challenges have become unmanageable
- They need a comprehensive evaluation and personalized treatment plan
They Have Co-Occurring Mental Health Conditions:
- They’re struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, ADHD, or other mental health disorders alongside substance use
- They need integrated treatment that addresses both conditions simultaneously
- They benefit from psychiatric care and medication management
They Need Complete Immersion with Flexibility:
- They can live at home or in our adolescent sober housing while attending intensive daily programming
- They need separation from triggers during treatment hours but can safely return home in the evenings
- Their family can provide a supportive environment outside of treatment hours
The best way to determine if a PHP is right for your teen is to reach out for a free and confidential conversation. Our staff can answer your questions and discuss our full continuum of treatment options. Additionally, they can provide a brief assessment that can help you determine which level of care might be the best place to start.
A Message for Parents and Guardians
This program is designed to meet teenagers where they are — not where adults think they should be. Our staff are passionate about working with young people and know how to build genuine connections that inspire real change. Your teen will be surrounded by professionals who believe in them, peers who understand them, and a structured environment where growth happens naturally. We know you’ve been through a lot to get here. You may have experienced denial, anger, fear, grief, or exhaustion — sometimes all in the same day. Please know that seeking help for your teen was an act of profound love, even if your teen can’t appreciate it yet. We’ve seen families transformed by this process, and we’re committed to supporting not just your teen, but your entire family. Our team will keep you informed and involved throughout your teen’s stay. You’ll receive regular updates, participate in family programming, and have direct access to our staff whenever you have questions or concerns.
Recovery is a family journey, and we’re here for all of you. Your teen has a chance to rewrite their story — to become the person they were always meant to be before substances got in the way. We’ve seen it happen countless times, and we believe it can happen for your child too. Our treatment advisors are available 24/7 via chat or phone. Thank you for trusting us with your teen’s care. We don’t take that responsibility lightly, and we’re honored to be part of your family’s healing journey.
