Eating Disorder Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)

The Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) at Eating Recovery Center empowers patients to take ownership of their recovery and become active participants in their lives. Our Intensive Outpatient program is a flexible eating disorder treatment program that allows patients to work, go to school, or care for children during the day and sleep at home at night.

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Find a path to healing as unique as you are

Reaching out for help for an eating disorder can be difficult. This is why Eating Recovery Center (ERC) offers flexible care options to match you with the level of support you need right now. In our eating disorder intensive outpatient program (IOP), you’re able to stay at home and be involved in your life at work, school or home. Three- to four-day-per-week programming provides you with nutritional support, individual and group therapy, family therapy and more. Show up as you are and find the healing you deserve.

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What does ERC’s IOP include?

  • Programming three to five hours per day, three to four days per week
  • Supervision by experienced registered dietitians and mental health therapists specializing in eating disorders
  • Eating disorder recovery skill building with individual therapy and interactive group therapy sessions
  • Individualized meal planning, nutritional support and education
  • Evidence-based eating disorder therapies, including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), emotion-focused family therapy (EFFT) and more
  • Weight-inclusive, trauma-informed and gender-affirming care and LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC support
  • Robust aftercare support
  • Free virtual support groups for caregivers
  • Both in-person/on-site and virtual/at-home IOP options available
View our nutrition program

Find Recovery with Evidence-Based Therapies

Start With a Free Screening
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Child and adolescent IOP

Find support from our comprehensive care team. Our eating disorder IOP for children and adolescents is designed to meet the unique needs of young people ages 8-17.* Participants can stay actively involved with school, friends and extracurricular activities as they make progress in recovery in our child-friendly centers. Programming takes place three to four days a week, three to five hours per day.* 
*Ages and hours vary by location.

Child & adolescent treatment
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Adult IOP

Take ownership of your recovery and stay active in your life. Our eating disorder IOP can serve as a step-down level of care to help you transition from a residential or partial hospitalization program. You can also admit directly into IOP treatment to gain more support and skill building than outpatient therapy can provide. Benefit from working with a compassionate care team that knows your story and is there for you every step of the way. Find meaning and purpose as you align your values with your goals.

Adult Treatment
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We’ll show you the best ways to support your loved one in recovery

When a loved one has an eating disorder, the entire family is often affected and deserves support. This is why we educate and empower caregivers and family members to support their loved one. Through continued involvement, education and support, we will equip you to help your loved one during treatment and after discharge. Feel more confident as you build your knowledge about eating disorder recovery through our many family resources such as:

Family Support
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Comprehensive alumni and aftercare support

After you or your loved one completes care at ERC, you’ll benefit from ongoing education, resources and support groups. Our community outreach liaisons dedicate their days to supporting alumni and their family members throughout the recovery journey. Follow-up phone calls, emails, events and support groups provide you with the resources you need.

Meet the team
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Discover Eating Recovery At Home: Virtual IOP

We are pleased to offer patients our convenient, award-winning virtual IOP program: Eating Recovery At Home. This online eating disorder IOP for adults, teens and children is just as effective as our in-person IOP.

ERC’s in-person and virtual IOP both use the same evidence-based curriculum and include nearly identical programming. Fitting easily into your daily life, start healing from the comfort of home with nine hours or more of weekly programming:

  • Individual and group therapy
  • Nutritional and meal guidance
  • Family therapy and education
  • Alumni support, groups and events

Recognized by top publications as the Best Online Therapy Service in 2022, 2023 and 2024, and covered by most major insurers, discover virtual IOP and take recovery home today.

Virtual IOP

Why Chose ERC?

Think of ERC’s continuum of care as a “golden thread” providing you with smooth transitions and consistency throughout treatment. ERC’s continuum of care team has been intentionally and carefully trained to:

  1. Get to know who you are as a whole person
  2. Provide consistent support that moves with you
  3. Reduce the risk of relapse during treatment
  4. Eliminate your stress in having to tell your story again and again
  5. Ensure access to medical and psychiatric experts in the eating disorders field
  6. Offer education and support to families and caregivers
  7. Increase the likelihood of insurance approving or extending your care
  8. Make sure that you have access to ongoing education, events and support groups after discharge
  9. Create seamless transitions with each level of care change
  10. Ensure uninterrupted connections with school (for child and adolescent patients)

Our continuum of care model ensures that you will be connected with the right support at the right time, from the initial assessment all the way through to aftercare.

Schedule a 15-minute intake call

Get matched with the exact support you need.

With one conversation, our mental health professionals will help you better understand what you’re going through and what you need.

We will meet you where you are, listen to your story in a therapeutic setting, and match you with the level of support that meets your struggle.

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View our IOP eating disorder programs

Conditions we treat

  • Eating Disorders

    An eating disorder is a treatable mental illness that includes a number of different symptoms, including extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues.

    Learn About Eating Disorders

  • Anorexia

    Anorexia nervosa is characterized by an obsessive fear of weight gain and a refusal to maintain a healthy body weight.

    Learn About Anorexia

  • Atypical Anorexia

    You can’t tell if someone has an eating disorder just by looking at them. See how atypical anorexia affects people in a variety of body shapes and sizes.

    Learn About Atypical Anorexia

  • ARFID

    ARFID is a lesser known eating disorder that frequently begins as early as infancy or childhood, but adults can also suffer.

    Learn About ARFID

  • Binge Eating Disorder

    Binge eating disorder is characterized by frequent overeating – at least once a week for three months – combined with a lack of control, intense feelings of distress and several other characteristic behaviors.

    Learn About Binge Eating Disorder

  • Bulimia

    Bulimia is characterized by patterns of bingeing and purging.

    Learn About Bulimia

  • Compulsive Overeating

    Compulsive overeating can involve binge eating and weight gain, but it can also involve other behaviors.

    Learn About Compulsive Overeating

  • Diabulimia

    The term diabulimia is used to describe the diagnosis of an eating disorder in an individual with type 1 diabetes. These patients intentionally misuse insulin for weight control.

    Learn About Diabulimia

  • OSFED

    Some eating disorders do not meet all of the diagnostic criteria for specific diagnoses like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

    Learn About OSFED

  • Orthorexia

    Some people go to extremes to “eat clean” at all times. This may lead to a disordered eating pattern known as orthorexia.

    Learn About Orthorexia

View all levels of care

  • Inpatient

    Our Inpatient programming is designed to support adults, children and adolescents of all genders who are acutely ill and are experiencing medical and mood instability as a result of their eating disorder.

    Learn More About Inpatient Treatment

  • Residential

    Within ERC Pathlight's step-down model of care, the Residential eating disorder treatment program as well as the Residential mood & anxiety treatment program offer medically stable patients a highly-structured and supportive 24-hour treatment environment.

    Learn More About Residential Treatment

  • Partial Hospitalization

    Our Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) offers some of the same intensity and structure of Residential mood, anxiety, and eating disorder treatment while providing additional opportunities to practice recovery outside of the controlled eating disorder treatment environment during evenings at home or in peer-supported apartment communities.

    Learn More About PHP

  • On-Site Intensive Outpatient Treatment

    Our Intensive Outpatient program is a flexible mood, anxiety, and eating disorder treatment program that allows patients to work, go to school, or care for children during the day and sleep at home at night.

    Learn More About Intensive Outpatient Treatment

  • Virtual Intensive Outpatient - Eating Recovery At Home

    ERC is removing the barriers that can keep patients with anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders from receiving treatment. Through telebehavioral health programming, Eating Recovery At Home (our virtual Intensive Outpatient Program) offers the same proven care as our in-person treatment centers. 

    Learn More About Eating Recovery At Home

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Eating Recovery Center is accredited through the Joint Commission. This organization seeks to enhance the lives of the persons served in healthcare settings through a consultative accreditation process emphasizing quality, value and optimal outcomes of services.

Organizations that earn the Gold Seal of Approval™ have met or exceeded The Joint Commission’s rigorous performance standards to obtain this distinctive and internationally recognized accreditation. Learn more about this accreditation here.

Joint Commission Seal