IOP · Orange County

Intensive outpatient programin Orange County

Half days in Laguna Beach for mental health and substance use. Same clinic as PHP. Nights at home or at Truth House.

Located in Laguna Beach, California

(949) 670-9345
Talk to admissionsVerify insurance
  • Week3–5 days
  • DayHalf day
  • NightsHome or house

What IOP is

The same clinic. A shorter day.

An intensive outpatient program in Orange County is the middle intensity at Exist — more than weekly 1:1, less than a full PHP day. Three to five half days a week in Laguna Beach. Group therapy, 1:1, the body, the mind, the brain. Then you go home, or to Truth House. The evening is still the rehearsal. We hear it in the morning and the plan moves. IOP is also available virtually, on a secure video call.

You keep part of the afternoon. The work still happens in the room.

Call (949) 670-9345

A day in IOP

Half the clock. The whole model.

Each IOP day runs Body, Mind, and Brain — shorter than PHP, not a different philosophy. Group therapy. A session with your therapist. Skills you can use that night. A doctor when medication is part of the plan.

  1. A person lying back on a dune at dusk, sky going mauve over the Pacific.

    Body

    Breath, yoga, the nervous system that will not stand down. The half day still starts in the body when the mind can’t.

  2. A person looking out over Laguna water at last light.

    Mind

    The automatic thought, the decision, the story. Group and 1:1 in the same week — not a later referral for “the mental health piece.”

  3. Wind in grass on a Laguna bluff at dusk.

    Brain

    What sits under the pattern — trauma, personality, and use read as one history. Dual diagnosis is the default, not a hallway.

  4. A one-on-one outpatient session by a window overlooking the coast.

    Skills & 1:1

    Distress skills, then your own clinician. Relapse prevention that names the relief without shame. Then the door.

Virtual IOP

IOP is also available virtually.

Exist now offers a virtual IOP for adults in California. You join half days of group therapy and 1:1 sessions on a secure video call. Call admissions and we will say honestly whether virtual or in-person IOP fits your week.

Ask about virtual IOP
Format
Half days
Sessions
Group and 1:1
Where
Secure video call
Who
Adults in California

Who holds the week

Every IOP half-day is her model. Not a 12-step hallway.

Dr. Courtney Tracy · Founder and chief clinical officer

Half days in Laguna Beach run on one plan. Trauma, personality, and use sit with one team.

  • Founder

    Dr. Courtney Tracy

  • In the room

    LCSW · PsyD · CCTP

  • Clinic

    Joint Commission PHP / IOP

The clinical model

What we treat

Treated here. Together.

Most people arrive with more than one of these. IOP holds the overlap — not a diagnosis hallway.

All we treat

  1. Trauma

    Safety first, then a timeline. What happened is still in the body.

    • PTSD
    • C-PTSD

  2. Personality

    Distress skills, then relationships — in a half day, not a hallway.

    • Borderline
    • Other patterns

  3. Depression

    A half day when the bed almost won. Same chair as trauma and use.

    • Depression
    • Grief

  4. Anxiety

    The body first — breath, walking — then the thought that will not stop.

    • GAD
    • Panic
    • OCD

  5. Substance use

    The use sits in the same week as the trauma under it.

    • Alcohol
    • Prescriptions

  6. Dual diagnosis

    Mental health and substance use in one intensive outpatient program.

    • Co-occurring
    • Both conditions

Truth House

Sleep at Truth House if home isn’t the night yet.

The house is in Laguna Canyon, for people already in Exist PHP or IOP. A room, a kitchen, staff on site. Insurance does not cover the house.

  • Single or shared rooms
  • Co-ed environment
  • On-site night staff
  • Food in the house
  • Fitness and yoga studio
  • Two miles from the beach
  • Free trolley to downtown
  • House bikes
The Truth House
Laguna Canyon at dusk from The Truth House.
The kitchen at The Truth House.
The yoga studio at The Truth House.
A bathroom at The Truth House.
A bedroom at The Truth House in Laguna Canyon.

Who’s in the room.

The team
  • Headshot of Mikaela Karpinski, executive director at Exist Centers.

    Mikaela Karpinski

    Executive Director

    LCSW · trauma and personality

  • Headshot of Maggie Scotto, somatic practitioner at Exist Centers.

    Maggie Scotto

    Somatic practitioner

    RADT · RYT-500 · yoga and breath

  • Headshot of Dr. Randall Turner, medical director at Exist Centers.

    Dr. Randall Turner

    Medical director

    DO · psychiatry

  • Headshot of Dr. Nathan Ngo, medical director at Exist Centers.

    Dr. Nathan Ngo

    Medical director

    Psychiatry · dual diagnosis

IOP and PHP are the same clinic.

The day

IOP

Half day, three to five days.

PHP

Full clinical day, five days.

Nights

IOP

Home or Truth House.

PHP

Home or Truth House.

The work

IOP

The same model, a shorter day.

PHP

Body, mind, brain — four groups.

When

IOP

The day has to stay partly yours.

PHP

Weekly isn’t holding.

How you pay.

We verify IOP benefits and write back within one business day. Verification is free and is not a guarantee of coverage. Benefits vary by plan.

Verify insurance
  • Aetna
  • Blue Shield of California
  • UnitedHealthcare
  • Optum
  • Magellan Health
  • Cigna
  • Anthem Blue Cross
  • Kaiser Permanente

  • In-network

    Aetna, Cigna, Blue Shield of California, UnitedHealthcare, Optum, Magellan.

  • Out-of-network

    Many other plans still reimburse part of IOP. We map that before you start.

  • Private pay

    If insurance isn’t the path, admissions will talk through a plan. No invented copays on this page.

Starting is one conversation.

  1. 01

    Reach out

    Call or send the form. You talk to the clinic — not a call center.

  2. 02

    We verify

    We contact your insurance and map PHP, IOP, and outpatient.

  3. 03

    A start date

    We recommend an intensity — and a room at Truth House if you’re coming from out of town.

(949) 670-9345

Questions we actually get.

Yes. Exist runs an intensive outpatient program in Laguna Beach for mental health and co-occurring substance use. Same clinic as PHP. Call (949) 670-9345.

Something we didn’t cover? Call (949) 670-9345 — you talk to the clinic, not a call center.

Come for the half day.

Call Exist. We’ll see if an intensive outpatient program in Orange County is the intensity — or if PHP, 1:1, or a referral is more honest.

Clinically reviewed by Dr. Courtney Tracy, LCSW, PsyD · Reviewed September 2026

Talk to admissions(949) 670-9345
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