A Home Away From Home: IOP Explained By Experience

When I first walked through the doors of Beit T’Shuvah, it wasn’t to live there—but I was definitely there to heal, whether I realized it or not. At the time, I had done my own version of “residential treatment” by moving back into my parents’ house with my two children during the COVID pandemic and an incredibly painful divorce. I was a shell of myself. My former career had dissipated. My role of wife, which had dictated much of my existence—gone. I had no steady income, and though I had gone back to school, I wasn’t sure who I was anymore. I didn’t know my purpose, what I was meant to do, or how I was going to take care of my beautiful—and, honestly, scared—children.

When I first began my therapeutic journey with Beit T’Shuvah, it started with just a few hours a day, a few days a week.  But that quickly grew into nearly eight hours a day, every day—by choice. No one pushed me into it; I simply began to feel different and love the version of myself while I was there. 

I felt like I belonged. 

The people, the residents, the staff, and the entire community lit a spark in me that I thought had gone out forever.

It might sound cliché, but connection is what saved me. And that’s exactly what I found at Beit T’Shuvah. A connection to the people there and a connection to myself.

This place was unlike anywhere I had ever worked or been before—and I’d worked in multiple treatment centers, nursing homes, hospice, charitable organizations, even overseas in many healing environments. And while each of those experiences was meaningful in its own way, Beit T’Shuvah was something entirely different. Everyone there—staff, residents, and community members—operated from a place of deep gratitude and purpose. They genuinely cared about how people were feeling, recovering, and growing, and they were vulnerable, open, honest, raw, and always doing their own healing work regardless of their years sober, life stability, or job status. It was very inspiring to be around each day. 

Starting an outpatient program feels so special to me because, like me, I know there are many people who can’t live at Beit T’Shuvah full-time. I had two small kids, two dogs, and a life that didn’t allow me to step away completely. Beit T’Shuvah gave me something incredible: a home away from home. A place that made me a better mother, daughter, friend, person—and helped me reconnect with my soul. That connection made me more present and whole with the people who loved and needed me most.The inspiration behind this program is to offer others what I was given: a place to be held in safety and connection, outside the chaos, needs, and demands of everyday life. Not to escape it, but to strengthen the self that returns to it—more healed, more grounded, and more graceful…one day at a time. My hope is that others can experience the same renewal and connection that transformed my life both on the inside and out.