Adult Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) in Atlanta

Daily DBT-Based Structure For Adults And Young Adults Who Need More Support Than Weekly Therapy Or IOP Without Overnight Hospitalization.

Adult PHP is a full-day, five-day-a-week DBT-based program for adults 18+ (including young adults) who need more consistent support across the day than IOP or weekly therapy provides, without stepping away from home at night. (See our general PHP overview → for how partial hospitalization works and who it’s for.)

You may still be trying to work, parent, study, care for others, or just keep up but it’s not just the week that feels hard anymore. It’s the day. Emotions escalate faster than you can manage, and what used to hold you steady through weekly therapy or IOP isn’t carrying you through anymore.

At RecoveryDBT, Adult PHP gives you daytime structure and clinical support while you continue sleeping at home and staying connected to the people around you.

We offer an Adult track, and all groups are gender affirming.

Adult PHP in Atlanta

What Is an Adult Partial Hospitalization Program?

An adult PHP is a structured outpatient mental health program that provides full-day treatment several days a week, while you return home each night. It sits between weekly therapy or IOP on one side, and inpatient or residential treatment on the other daily structure and support, without stepping fully away from your life.

Unlike programs built around hospital-level supervision, RecoveryDBT’s Adult PHP is DBT-led first: the goal isn’t just stabilization, it’s building skills you can actually use when emotions rise, at the intensity they actually rise.

Who Adult PHP Is For

Adult PHP may be the right next step if:

What We Treat:

Depression is affecting your daily functioning
Anxiety or panic is disrupting your routines
Emotions escalate quickly across the day
Self-harm urges or suicidal thoughts are harder to manage
Relationships feel unstable or reactive
Work, school, parenting, or caregiving feels difficult to maintain
Weekly therapy or IOP isn't enough anymore
You're stepping down from inpatient, residential, or hospital-based care
You're stepping up before symptoms become unsafe
You don't need to wait until things become a crisis. Adult PHP is often most helpful before symptoms escalate further when you still need to function day to day, but need daily structure to do it safely.

Adult PHP for Depression, Anxiety, and Emotional Dysregulation

Adult PHP isn’t limited to one diagnosis.

It may support:

Depression and anxiety affecting daily functioning

Trauma-related distress

Emotional dysregulation and rapid mood escalation

Borderline personality disorder (BPD)

Self-harm urges or behaviors

Suicidal thoughts or safety concerns

Eating disorder concerns

OCD, through our OCD X DBT track when appropriate

For depression or anxiety, PHP provides more structure than IOP while helping you practice skills as symptoms show up during the day, not just once a week. For emotional dysregulation or BPD, DBT-led PHP focuses on noticing escalation earlier and building stable responses in real time.
For self-harm urges or suicidal thoughts, treatment focuses on safety, skills, and daily structure around the moments that feel hardest to manage.

If you are in immediate danger or may act on suicidal thoughts, call 988, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room.

Young Adult PHP Support

Young adulthood often brings several pressures at once college or early-career stress, independence, identity, family expectations, relationships, and emotional overwhelm, sometimes on top of returning home after a crisis or hospitalization.

Young Adult PHP at RecoveryDBT helps you build daily structure and DBT skills while navigating that stage of life, without needing to have everything figured out first, and without stepping away from work, school, or your own independence to get it.

What Treatment Looks Like

Adult PHP provides support across the entire day, so you’re not left managing difficult moments alone. You attend full-day treatment five days a week in a consistent environment, with your week built around what’s happening clinically:

DBT skills groups and individual therapy

Eating disorder support, when appropriate (Marietta)

OCD treatment (exposure-based and DBT-informed), when appropriate (Marietta)

RO DBT for overcontrol, perfectionism, or emotional restriction, when appropriate (Marietta)

Psychiatric support and medication management, when needed

Real-time skill guidance as emotions rise during the day

This reduces the gaps where symptoms tend to intensify and helps create a more predictable baseline care delivered by licensed clinicians and DBT-trained therapists, with psychiatric support available when needed.This reduces the gaps where symptoms tend to intensify and helps create a more predictable baseline care delivered by licensed clinicians and DBT-trained therapists, with psychiatric support available when needed.

A Day in Adult PHP
Can Look Like

Your exact schedule is built during intake, based on your clinical needs and goals.

Is Adult PHP or IOP the Right Fit?

The clearest signal is how much of your day is actually manageable right now.

Adult IOP

A few hours of group therapy, several days a week treatment added around your day.

USUALLY ENOUGH WHEN

Learn more about Adult IOP →

Adult PHP

Full days, five days a week treatment replaces most of your day for a period.

THE BETTER FIT WHEN

Inpatient care is for moments when you need 24-hour safety support or stabilization that can’t happen at home.

If you’re not sure whether PHP or IOP fits better right now, our admissions team can help you decide.

When Adult PHP May Not Be the Right Fit

RecoveryDBT provides Adult PHP for adults and young adults across the metro area, including Marietta, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, Decatur, Buckhead, Brookhaven, Dunwoody, and Smyrna. Our Marietta → location runs the full range of PHP-level groups; if you’re closer to Alpharetta →, our admissions team can confirm the best way to build a full PHP schedule for you, which may include a combination of in-person and virtual groups.

Adult PHP in Atlanta, Marietta, Alpharetta,
and Nearby Communities

testimonials

Real Progress, From People Who've Been There

Choosing a program is easier when you can hear how it’s worked for others including adults who found daily structure and safety without stepping away from work, family, or independence.Choosing a program is easier when you can hear how it’s worked for others including adults who found daily structure and safety without stepping away from work, family, or independence.

“Recovery DBT is a wonderful IOP program. Ann Guzman, the owner, is incredible. It is a pleasure to collaborate with this highly skilled team for the eating disorder IOP program.”

Rebecca

Local Guide

“The absolute best care I’ve ever received from any therapist. I feel so seen and their attentiveness truly helped me tremendously. Thank you so much for all you do” 

Natasha

Google Review

“After countless IOP’s told me they couldn’t help me, I found Recovery DBT. When they say they specialize in clients that have been turned away from other treatment centers, they really mean it.”

-A

Google Review

Cost, Insurance, and Paying for Adult PHP

Cost varies depending on your clinical needs, recommended schedule, and insurance benefits. You don’t need to understand your coverage before reaching out our team verifies benefits and explains your options, with no pressure to commit. We work with most major insurance carriers, including Oscar Health, ValueOptions, First Health Network, Beacon, Meritain, Molina Healthcare, and Florida Blue.

We Work With Most Insurance Carriers

How to Start Adult PHP

You don’t need to have everything figured out before reaching out.

We accept:

Self-referrals

Therapist or doctor referrals

Hospital referrals

PHP or residential step-down referrals

We’ll help with a confidential assessment, insurance verification, and if Adult PHP is a fit, your start date and next steps. Reaching out does not mean committing to treatment.

Common Questions About Adult PHP

What makes RecoveryDBT's Adult PHP different from other Atlanta programs?

Many programs treat PHP as a generic day-treatment schedule. At RecoveryDBT, Adult PHP is DBT-led first, so the goal isn’t just stabilization; it’s building skills you can use when emotions rise, at the intensity they actually rise.

How do I know if RecoveryDBT is the right fit, compared to other programs I'm considering?

The clearest way to find out is a direct conversation. Our admissions team will walk through your specific situation and tell you honestly whether Adult PHP is the right level of care, or whether IOP or another program would serve you better.

Will you tell me if RecoveryDBT isn't the right fit for me?

Yes. If your needs are better served by inpatient care or a program with a specialty we don’t offer, we’ll say so and help point you toward the right option. We’d rather point you in the right direction than keep you in a program that isn’t working.

Can I switch to RecoveryDBT if I've already started treatment elsewhere?

Yes. Many clients come to us after starting somewhere else another PHP, a hospital program, an outpatient therapist and finding it wasn’t the right fit. We review where you are, talk through what didn’t work, and build a plan that picks up from there.

What are your therapists' credentials?

Care is provided by licensed clinicians and DBT-trained therapists combining thousands of clinical hours and leadership experience from institutions including Kaiser Permanente and Northwestern University, with psychiatric support available when needed.

Do you work with my existing therapist or psychiatrist?

Yes, when helpful. Many clients continue seeing an outside therapist, psychiatrist, or primary care doctor alongside PHP, and we coordinate care directly if that’s part of your plan.

You Don't Have to Decide Alone

You don’t need to know whether adult PHP, adult IOP, weekly therapy, inpatient care, or virtual support is the right fit before reaching out.

Most people start with a simpler question: something is getting harder to manage, what kind of support makes sense now?

That’s enough reason to begin the conversation.
If getting through the day feels harder than it used to, this can be a place to start.