Suicide Care Crisis Recovery Intensive Outpatient Program

Launching in September, 2025

This 12-week virtual Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) is specifically designed for people who are having intense thoughts about wanting to die by suicide or are recovering after a recent suicide attempt or crisis. It is intended to help stabilize the suicide crisis, strengthen suicide coping, and increase hope. With DBT at its core, we combine the best state-of-the-art approaches for supporting people who are struggling with thoughts of suicide. This IOP offers all components of standard outpatient DBT (including phone coaching) in a more intensive format – three days a week from 10:00 am to 1:00pm (M, W, Th). In addition to nine hours of group sessions each week, clients meet with an individual therapist for an hour at a mutually convenient time, and separately with a skills coach for 45 minutes. Individual and coaching sessions are held weekly for the first six weeks, then gently taper through Week 12.

PDBTI’s Suicide Care Crisis Recovery Intensive Outpatient DBT is designed for adults 18 years and older who struggle with:

• Acute suicidality
• Recovering from a suicide crisis (e.g., discharging from a hospital visit or admission for suicidality)
• Experiencing a near acute suicide crisis with high suicidal ideation
• Stepping down from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization for suicidality
• Engaging in non-suicidal self-injury and in crisis

Suicide Care Crisis Recovery IOP Treatment Plan

The Suicide Care Crisis Recovery IOP is a 12-week fully virtual IOP is provided over 12 weeks. It emphases getting through the suicide crisis, identifying and working to initially resolve those factors that are contributing to the suicide crisis, building resilience to weather extreme distress, and fostering hope for the future. This IOP includes the following treatment components:

• Individual Therapy. With DBT at its core, clinicians draw on other evidence-based approaches, including CAMS (Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality) and Crisis Stability Planning, to deliver exceptional care. 
• DBT Skills Training. Provided three days per week, three hours per class for all 12 weeks. DBT skills classes will emphasize managing extreme and daily distress, accepting reality, regulating difficult emotions. DBT mindfulness will be woven throughout teaching all other skills.
• Phone Coaching. Consistent with full fidelity DBT, patients access their treatment team outside the session for phone coaching in DBT skills.
• Skills Coaching. These 45-minute individual meetings are intended to practice skills as well as help link clients to available community resources. 
• Jaspr Health Digital Tools. All digital tools are scientifically validated and designed by and for people who are suicidal. Jaspr tools include Jaspr-at-Home, a companion mobile app, that contains dozens of videos of people with lived experience sharing their wisdom, insights and hope (“Shared Stories”) and teaching DBT and other behavioral skills to help manage suicide crises, distress, and improve coping.

Suicide Care Crisis Recovery IOP Schedule

Treatment occurs over 12-weeks. Clients may step down to a DBT Enhanced Skills Training program after completing this IOP, depending on their need, to help solidify and maintain gains made during intensive treatment. In some cases, clients may continue in full program, depending on therapist availability and client need. The three-days a week schedule for the Suicide Care Crisis Recovery IOP is detailed below.