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Find help / By level of care

Find help by level of care.

The level of care that fits your teen is rarely obvious. This finder explains the levels and helps you locate each one.

Levels of care exist on a spectrum from "weekly therapy with a private clinician" to "locked psychiatric inpatient unit." Most teens never need the most intensive levels. Some teens need them and don't get them in time.

This page organizes the spectrum and helps families locate programs at each level. The level of care your teen needs is a clinical question that should be answered by an evaluation, not by a search engine — but understanding what each level is helps you ask better questions and recognize when a program is suggesting more or less intensity than fits.

From least to most intensive

The full spectrum

Levels of care are typically described in this order. Most teens move within a narrow range; very few use all of them.

Level 1

Outpatient therapy

Weekly or biweekly individual therapy with a licensed clinician.

Coming soon →
Level 2

IOP — Intensive Outpatient

9–15 hours per week of group and individual therapy. Teen lives at home.

Coming soon →
Level 3

PHP — Partial Hospitalization

6+ hours per day, 5 days per week of structured programming. Teen lives at home.

Coming soon →
Level 4

Residential treatment

24-hour care in a non-hospital setting. Length of stay varies widely by program.

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Level 5

Acute inpatient psychiatric

Hospital-level psychiatric care, typically 3–10 days, for stabilization.

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Specialized

Wilderness & adventure programs

A controversial subset of residential. Read carefully before considering.

Coming soon →