How to Choose the Right PHP for Your Teen

By Lee Neagle MA, LPC| 8 Min Read | June 26, 2025

What is a PHP?
Why Setting Matters
What Teens Get out of In-Person PHP
What Parents and Families Should Consider When Choosing PHP
What We Offer at Inner Haven and Why It Matters
Key Takeaways

What is a PHP?

PHP stands for Partial Hospitalization Program. Despite the name, it’s not inpatient care — there are no overnight stays, no hospital beds, no long-term admissions. People attend during the day and return home at night. The term can be a bit confusing as “Hospitalization” makes it sound like a medical emergency or an inpatient unit, but PHPs are for people who need more support than weekly outpatient therapy without needing to stay in a hospital.

PHP offers full-day treatment, a minimum of four hours but typically around 6 hours of therapy, meals, and support. The main differences between PHP programs are in the setting, the experience, and the flexibility. The goal is intensive care that helps clients regain stability before things escalate into crisis.

Clients wake up at home, come in for treatment, then go back home in the evening. That structure matters because it helps people practice recovery in real time.

Why Setting Matters

Not all PHPs look or feel the same. Some operate inside large medical systems with a clinical atmosphere focused on medical stabilization. These programs often serve patients stepping down from higher levels of care like inpatient hospitalization. The pace is fast, the tone is medical, and the emphasis is getting symptoms under control quickly.

Other programs are standalone, intentionally designed to support emotional healing in a calmer, more relational environment. Inner Haven, for example, is a standalone program, not connected to a hospital, which allows us to focus fully on emotional recovery in a thoughtfully curated environment.

The setting is calm and quiet, often resembling a community center or wellness office more than a hospital wing. Treatment occurs in small groups and shared spaces designed to foster interaction and connection.

Groups tend to be smaller, which means more chances to speak, listen, and build relationships with therapists and peers. There’s yoga, movement, and time spent outside whenever possible.

Spaces at Inner Haven are meticulously designed to support healing — from paint color to furniture selection — reinforcing safety, comfort, and focus.

We offer the clinical oversight necessary to support kids with complex needs, including weekly nursing visits and integrated care, without sacrificing emotional connection.

What Teens Get Out of In-Person PHP

Teens struggling with eating disorders often experience intense mood swings, irritability, and a pull toward isolation. In-person PHP helps break that cycle. It doesn’t just offer therapy. It offers rhythm. It gives structure to the day. It replaces hours alone or online with movement, conversation, and shared experience.

Meals aren’t something to get through quickly before logging off. They happen in real time, around others, with support. A child eats at a table with peers. A teen hears a joke and laughs. A therapist sees their body language shift and checks in. These moments build trust little by little.

Virtual care has its place, especially for those who live far away or need flexible access. But in person, therapists and staff see what’s happening. They notice patterns. They catch avoidance before it turns into silence. No mute button. No hiding off camera.

Group dynamics matter too. Sitting in a circle, noticing someone else’s fear, speaking up anyway – that’s where healing starts to click. Kids learn they’re not the only ones. That shared experience builds a kind of connection no screen can quite match. And that connection can change the entire course of treatment.

Why Location and Home Integration Matter

Some teens attend out-of-state PHPs as a continuation of care after inpatient or residential stays, but that often means living in a hotel or temporary housing, separated from their everyday environment.

True PHP care isn’t just about attending therapy — it’s about reintegrating into life. Kids need to experience their real-world triggers and challenges while still having access to a treatment team.

That means practicing recovery at home, not just inside a treatment building. If a child can’t prepare a meal in their home kitchen, interact with family during the evening, or navigate their daily environment, then key parts of recovery go untested.

Choosing a PHP close to home allows your child to apply skills where they actually live. That integration is critical — it makes progress more transferable and sustainable.

How Treatment Models Differ

Not all PHPs use the same therapeutic model. Some programs focus on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). These programs tend to offer a highly structured, skills-based experience. The core goal is to help clients identify and challenge distorted thoughts related to food, body image, and self-worth, and then build new behavioral patterns through exposure and repetition. CBT focuses on the idea that if you change your thoughts, your emotions and behaviors will follow. ERP gradually exposes clients to feared foods or situations, helping reduce anxiety and avoidance over time. These programs often involve manualized interventions, homework assignments, and a significant amount of self-monitoring. For some clients, this approach can feel rigid or overly focused on symptom reduction, without addressing the deeper emotional or relational struggles driving the disorder.

Other programs, like Inner Haven, are grounded in third-wave behavioral therapies like Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). These programs focus on emotional regulation, values exploration, mindfulness, and relational healing. At the heart of these models is the belief that recovery isn’t just about changing behaviors — it’s about building a life that feels worth living. DBT equips clients with tools to manage overwhelming emotions, improve relationships, and navigate distress without resorting to disordered behaviors. ACT helps clients explore their core values, cultivate self-compassion, and take meaningful action — even in the presence of painful thoughts or emotions. Rather than asking clients to suppress or “fix” their thoughts, this approach teaches acceptance, mindfulness, and emotional resilience. It creates space for identity exploration, self-reflection, and deeper healing.

Clients often report feeling seen, understood, and supported in a way they haven’t before, especially if they’ve been in more rigid or performance-driven environments. The therapeutic relationship is collaborative, validating, and focused on the whole person — not just the eating disorder.

These differences manifest in tone, structure, and therapeutic relationship — one is more workbook-based and behavioral, the other more interactive, dynamic, and emotionally attuned.

Neither approach is inherently better, but they serve different needs. What matters is matching the program to your child’s therapeutic goals.

What Parents and Families Should Consider When Choosing PHP

Choosing the right PHP can feel overwhelming, but a few simple questions can help narrow the options.

Do you want your child out of bed, off screens, and around peers during the day?
Do you want daily feedback from a team that sees your child in person?
Is your insurance local or regional?
Can your family handle a daily drop-off and pick-up schedule instead of committing to full-time hospitalization?
What treatment approach would work best for your child?
Does the space feel safe and warm or cold and clinical?
Will your child be treated like a whole person and not just a patient with symptoms?

A well-designed PHP can be both intensive and human. PHP includes therapy, meals, skills groups, and medical oversight, and it can fit better into the rhythm of family life than higher level care. Kids can come home at night. Parents stay involved. Life doesn’t stop for recovery, but recovery becomes part of life. That difference makes a real impact.

What We Offer at Inner Haven and Why It Matters

At Inner Haven, we offer a community-based PHP designed to feel safe, focused, and deeply supportive for those recovering from eating disorders. Our team includes therapists, dietitians, medical providers & movement specialists who work closely together every day.

Group sizes stay small so kids and teens can build real relationships with both peers and staff. Meals happen around a table, not on a tray. Movement happens in the body, not in a checklist.

Our space was built for healing—quiet, comfortable, and designed with intention. The result is a setting where kids can feel safe enough to take emotional risks, and structured enough to build real habits of recovery. We use a blend of DBT, ACT, and process-based therapies to support not just behavior change, but emotional growth and deeper healing.

Key Takeaways

PHP stands for Partial Hospitalization Program. It offers full-day treatment without overnight stays.
The treatment setting has an impact on emotional safety, daily rhythm, and therapeutic outcomes.

Treatment models vary — ask whether the program is skills-focused or relationally integrative.

In-person PHPs help kids and teens reconnect through structure, movement, shared meals & peer support.
Parents stay involved without needing to pause work or relocate.
Inner Haven’s PHP focuses on small groups, real connection & accessible care close to home.