Mental health PHP for Fort Lauderdale — inpatient density, home at night.

RECO Health's Delray Beach campus is 40 minutes north of Las Olas on I-95 — close enough for Fort Lauderdale clients to commute to PHP without relocating, far enough for genuine separation from the environments tied to active illness. The mental health Partial Hospitalization Program runs 30-plus clinical hours across five days, with weekly psychiatry, a named primary therapist, and in-house access to TMS and ketamine when interventional treatment is clinically indicated. The primary therapist who runs point in PHP follows the client into IOP at step-down, so the clinical relationship does not restart. Placement is structured by LOCUS and CALOCUS-CASII, and progress is tracked weekly with PHQ-9, GAD-7, and disorder-specific scales.

For clients in Las Olas, Victoria Park, Coral Ridge, Rio Vista, and Wilton Manors, RECO Health’s Delray Beach campus sits 26 miles north on I-95 — a 40-minute drive that keeps Fort Lauderdale residents close to home while placing the clinical work at genuine remove from the people and routines tied to active illness. The mental health Partial Hospitalization Program runs Monday through Friday at 30-plus clinical hours per week, structured for major depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, PTSD, OCD, and complex dual diagnosis presentations. PHP is the level of care between inpatient hospitalization and IOP: inpatient-density clinical work with home or supported housing at night.

Who belongs in PHP versus IOP versus inpatient

PHP is indicated when acute inpatient risk has resolved but the client requires substantially more clinical contact than a handful of weekly outpatient hours can provide. Typical presentations include active suicidal ideation without imminent plan or intent, severe functional impairment (unable to work, sustain activities of daily living, or maintain safety without structure), an unstable medication regimen requiring frequent adjustment, or step-down from inpatient hospitalization following acute stabilization. LOCUS and CALOCUS-CASII placement instruments structure the level-of-care decision, with the ASAM Criteria dimensions applied when co-occurring substance use is present.

Clients who do not meet PHP criteria — typically those with mild-to-moderate symptom acuity, intact functional status, and stable housing and supports — step directly into IOP at nine clinical hours per week. Clients who present with imminent risk (active plan, means, and intent; acute psychosis with dangerousness; medical instability during withdrawal) are stabilized in an inpatient setting first, then transferred laterally into PHP once acute risk has abated. The intake team runs a full biopsychosocial assessment, PHQ-9, GAD-7, PCL-5 where indicated, and the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale before placement is confirmed.

For co-occurring substance use, CIWA-Ar and COWS scores drive detox decisions upstream of PHP. PHP begins after medical clearance and, when relevant, after stabilization on medications for opioid use disorder (buprenorphine, extended-release naltrexone) or alcohol use disorder (naltrexone, acamprosate, disulfiram in selected cases).

What 30 hours a week actually covers

The PHP clinical week combines psychiatric medication management, a weekly individual therapy hour with a named primary therapist, and daily group programming across evidence-based tracks. Groups are not open discussion — each has a written curriculum and a defined clinical target. CBT for depression addresses cognitive distortions and behavioral activation; DBT skills groups cycle through mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness modules; trauma processing groups draw on cognitive processing therapy and EMDR-informed protocols; dual diagnosis programming aligns cognitive-behavioral relapse prevention with concurrent psychiatric treatment.

Disorder-specific psychoeducation covers bipolar mood monitoring, OCD (with YBOCS-guided targets and exposure and response prevention where indicated), ADHD (with ASRS baselines), and eating disorder co-occurrence when relevant. Motivational Interviewing and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy appear throughout the week and are used explicitly in ambivalence-heavy groups. Experiential modalities — yoga, expressive art, somatic and body-based work — are additive rather than substitutive; they supplement the cognitive-behavioral core rather than replacing it.

Progress is measurement-based. PHQ-9, GAD-7, and disorder-specific scales are re-administered weekly and drive treatment adjustments. If a client is not moving, the clinical team says so and changes something — the medication, the modality, the group placement, or the level of care.

Integrated psychiatry and interventional access

PHP clients are seen by psychiatry weekly at minimum. Frequency escalates when medication changes require monitoring — initiating lithium and titrating to a therapeutic level, cross-titrating from sertraline to venlafaxine, augmenting with aripiprazole for treatment-resistant depression, or introducing quetiapine or olanzapine for acute mood stabilization. Prescribing is protocol-driven and metrics-anchored; the target is measurable remission, not indefinite maintenance on the first agent tried.

Because TMS and ketamine services operate in-house, PHP clients who become candidates for interventional treatment do not have to leave the program to access them. rTMS is delivered on the standard high-frequency protocol — 3,000 pulses per session at 120% of motor threshold, five days per week over a four-to-six-week course — scheduled around the PHP group day. Intranasal esketamine (Spravato) and IV racemic ketamine are available for treatment-resistant depression and severe suicidal ideation, with psychiatry staging the treatment and coordinating with the group schedule. Response is tracked with PHQ-9 and MADRS at defined intervals.

The clinical value of the in-house structure is continuity. TMS or ketamine started in PHP is managed by the same psychiatrist who has been seeing the client through the level of care, not handed to an external interventional clinic that has no context.

Step-down into IOP with the same therapist

PHP clients typically step down to IOP after three to six weeks, depending on measurement-based response, functional recovery, and the stability of the medication regimen. The primary therapist who has been holding weekly individual sessions in PHP continues as the primary therapist in IOP — the clinical relationship does not restart with a new person. That continuity is a load-bearing feature of the outcome data, not an administrative preference.

IOP runs nine clinical hours per week across three days, structured so the client can resume work or school around treatment. The medication regimen established in PHP continues; psychiatric follow-up shifts from weekly to biweekly or monthly as stability holds. Group programming remains evidence-based and curriculum-driven, with DBT, CBT, and dual diagnosis tracks continuing from PHP.

Discharge from IOP into standard outpatient care is planned rather than abrupt. A written relapse prevention plan, updated crisis plan, and warm handoff to community psychiatry — or continued RECO psychiatry, at client preference — are set up before IOP ends.

What to expect on your first day

Day one begins with an intake conference — a review of records from the prior treatment episode (if any), the biopsychosocial history, and the working diagnostic formulation. The client meets the primary therapist and the psychiatrist that day; medication reconciliation and initial or continued prescribing decisions are made at first psychiatric contact. Baseline PHQ-9, GAD-7, C-SSRS, and any disorder-specific measures (YBOCS, ASRS, PCL-5) are administered so response can be tracked from day one.

Groups begin the same day rather than the following week. Clients receive a printed weekly schedule with the curriculum for each group, the location, and the expected clinical work. Nothing is opaque — clients know what they are being asked to do and why. Supported housing is available for clients who need structured living during PHP; commuting from Fort Lauderdale is standard for those with a stable home environment.

Insurance and admissions from Fort Lauderdale

RECO Health is in-network with Florida Blue, Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and BCBS plans, which covers most Fort Lauderdale residents with commercial coverage. The admissions team verifies benefits before admission and returns a concrete out-of-pocket estimate — remaining deductible, coinsurance percentage, and prior authorization status — rather than a vague statement about coverage. Prior authorization for PHP is common and is handled internally, with peer-to-peer review by a RECO psychiatrist when required by the payer.

Admissions from Fort Lauderdale typically move from first contact to first clinical day within 24 to 72 hours, depending on records collection from the prior treating team and any inpatient step-down coordination. Transport from Las Olas, Wilton Manors, or Coral Ridge can be arranged when driving is not clinically or logistically feasible.

Serving residents of: Las Olas, Victoria Park, Coral Ridge, Rio Vista, Wilton Manors.