Akron Children’s program expanding intensive outpatient behavioral health to Boardman
Akron Children’s wants Mahoning Valley patients to know how to access the soon-to-be expanding Intensive Outpatient Program at the Boardman campus.
Christine Curry, the clinical operations supervisor for Intensive Services and Outpatient Therapy in the Eastern Region, said it’s part of Akron Children’s efforts for expanding access to behavioral health care for Mahoning Valley children and adolescents.
Intensive outpatient program expanding in 2025
Curry said adolescents 12 to 18 years old with depression and anxiety might feel so overwhelmed they’re unable to complete daily tasks and functions.
“Good candidates for this program are adolescents who are stepping down from our inpatient behavioral health unit or Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) or those who need a higher level of care than outpatient therapy,” said Curry. “They could be stepping down from having safety concerns [such as] suicidal ideation or really working to integrate back into their daily functioning.”
Treatment will be focused on short-term stabilization to help at-risk youth improve functioning and develop healthy coping skills.
“IOP uses evidence-based interventions like dialectical behavioral therapy,” Curry said. “Each day, participants work on a different set of skills that may focus on anything from interpersonal communication to regulating emotions or improving distress tolerance. Sessions include yoga to focus on mindfulness and physical wellness and art and other expressive therapies to give participants various outlets for self-expression.”
The Mahoning Valley IOP program is located in Building E at the Boardman campus at 6614 S. Southern Blvd.
The program is currently offered to patients from 1:15 to 4:30 p.m. Starting in January; the program will transition to an after-school schedule, from 3:15 to 6:30 p.m. time slot on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
It usually takes four to six weeks for patients to complete the program.
Parents can request an assessment or self-referral by calling the intake line at (330) 543-5015. Select option one and let them know you’re calling for “Mahoning Valley IOP.”
More mental health treatment options
The hospital has the Psychiatric Intake Response Center (PIRC) in its Emergency Room for children and teens in a behavioral health crisis and in need of evaluation.
In addition, the campus offers outpatient therapy, medication management and PHP, which is a full-day, intensive program designed to keep teens out of the behavioral health inpatient unit or transition them back to home after discharge from the unit. Like IOP, the goal is to help participants develop lifelong skills.
In addition to these programs, Akron Children’s has mental health therapists located within its 44 pediatric primary care offices to offer a “warm hand-off” to patients needing a referral and remove barriers and stigma to behavioral health services.
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