I’ve been to two main-day treatment programs over the duration of my four years in recovery. I wouldn’t call the OCD-Institute a day program, as I would stay there overnight, even if it wasn’t a locked unit (which, having been to about three locked units or psychiatric hospitalizations before then, was a very strange concept to me) which is why I’ll be making a separate article in this series all about that (and mentioning the use of support groups).
Day treatment programs are psychiatric treatment programs you go to during the day but come back to your place of residence at night. So, they aren’t hospitals, but rather places filled with therapists—which is pretty amazing if you think about it.
The first day program I went to was in a more well-funded hospital chain that I landed in around June 2015. This hospital stay coincided with an anti-psychotic that they started me on for OCD, which gave me a tight jaw. Later, when I attended their day program for a couple of weeks, I actually, at the end of it, attempted suicide again for the second time with the medication they gave me to help with the tight jaw. Most of my suicide attempts were made outside of the hospital, and only one of them did I get hospitalized for (it was a moderate attempt).
Besides that, I’ve since been able to go to this particular hospital a few other times over the years. I remember, during my first stay there, there was a nurse they sent in to talk to me, as he also lived with severe OCD for a time, and they thought I could take some inspiration (which I did) from that and his recovery.
This particular hospital’s day program lasted only for a couple of weeks, and shorter amounts when repeating it again (as in, I had 2 weeks in 2015 but 1 week in 2017). They were set up with two different tracks (A and B) and had some psychoeducation groups, therapy groups, and the like from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. To be honest, although I do still have notes about this, I haven’t reviewed them since I wrote them, and I don’t completely remember the specifics for this particular day program. One of the therapists there actually helped me to break away from saying “my OCD” to “the OCD,” if you remember my old article on “OCD and Identity.” Additionally, this is the same day program that first told me to put the OCD, and all its flattering thoughts “on a shelf.” I literally looked at the woman who told me this like she had three heads. They also brought up the idea that maybe my writings and artwork about OCD were compulsions (as even these articles are repeatedly questioned by many of my treatment providers).
However, Passages, my current day program I can speak about more at length! This one is rarer these days as long-term day programs are more difficult to find (although they’re incredibly helpful and amazing if you can find them!). As clients, we all have a state insurance that pays for us to be there. Sometimes finding the right amount of treatment that one can actually afford can be difficult, although I’ve been pretty lucky in this regard myself. 
Since attending Passages, I’ve been able to make myself comfortable and stable over these last nine months. Passages holds a partial program which is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a day program from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.—the latter is the one I’m in; for perspective, I did one week in the partial program five days a week and then transitioned to the day program three days a week.
They offer a *lot* of DBT at the day program, CBT, art groups, psychoeducation, addiction education, group therapy, self-esteem, communications, and some game-related groups. The lunch period counts as a group called social support. Passages is essentially a house full of therapists, and we’re all there for treatment for one thing or another, at different places in our recoveries.
They offer a DBT-intensive program that is a six to eight–month commitment (what I’m in). If you’ve read my other articles, this information will look familiar and overall. Passages is an excellent opportunity for a lot of psychological work to come through and be a place of positivity and light. I’ve definitely gotten comfortable with being there and being my authentic self and even having my articles be read over by my therapist at Passages.
It is a lot of work, though, and it’s so, so worth it. Getting treatment has given me my life back and made life worth living again. Recovery doesn’t end, and, like acceptance, it is an ongoing, active process; they are continual choices to be better, to be healthy, and to thrive. We all have bad days, and it’s how we respond that matters most.