Perinatal Mental Health – Intensive Outpatient Program
PHOENIX – ARIZONA
Opening May 2026
The most ordinary thing in the world.
An extraordinary moment in your life.
We offer a place to be cared for while you’re caring for someone new. Where becoming a mother and finding yourself again happen at the same time.
About the Program
Billions of women have become mothers. That shared experience holds something sacred — a thread connecting you across generations, cultures, and time. And yet, when it’s happening to you, it is singular. Unprecedented. Nothing quite prepares you for who you become when someone else entirely depends on your becoming.
Our perinatal intensive outpatient program was designed for that exact in-between: the place where the ordinary and the extraordinary meet. At its core is group therapy — the experience of healing in community with other women who are in it too, babies welcome. Where anxiety, intrusive thoughts, sadness, anger, or simply feeling unlike yourself are not signs that something is wrong with you, but signs that you are moving through something significant, and could use real support.
You don’t have to be at a breaking point. You just have to be ready for more than you’ve been carrying.
Babies Welcome
Your baby is welcome here — always. Time is built into the program to support bonding and to help you actually enjoy being with them, not just manage.
Group Therapy
Group therapy is the heart of this program. Being in a room alongside other women who truly understand what you’re moving through is something no one-on-one session can replicate. Group therapy offers healing through shared experience.
Coordinated Psychiatric Care
Psychiatric support is available for those who want or need it.We partner with experienced perinatal psychiatric providers in the community, and we coordinate seamlessly with any prescriber you’re already working with.
Individual Therapy
One-on-one sessions with a perinatal mental health specialist, woven into your care alongside group work for deeper, personalized support.
Family & Couples Therapy
Becoming a parent reshapes every relationship in the household. Family and couples sessions are available as part of your care, for when the work you’re doing here is ready to include the people you’re doing it with.
Flexible Payment Options
We accept a range of insurance plans, including both in-network and out-of-network benefits, and offer private pay options as well. Our team will work with you to understand your coverage and navigate the financial side of care
What to Expect at Held Mom & Baby IOP
Intensive support.
Because this season deserves it.
This isn’t a program you enter because everything has fallen apart. It’s a program you enter because you know you deserve more than just getting through the day — and because you’re experiencing symptoms like anxiety, intrusive thoughts, depression, anger, or trauma that deserve real, skilled attention.
01
Connection Over Isolation
The feeling that no one really understands what you’re going through is one of the heaviest parts of this season. This program brings you into community with women who do — and with clinicians who have dedicated their work to exactly this.
02
Whole-Person Care
Individual therapy, psychiatric coordination when needed, and family support work together — because your wellbeing doesn’t exist in isolation from your relationships, your body, or your history.
03
Room for Joy, Too
Healing isn’t only about reducing symptoms. Intentional time is built into this program to help you actually be present with your baby — because that matters too, and that’s worth protecting.
Who the program is for
Held Mom & Baby IOP welcomes any woman-identifying or birthing person who is pregnant or postpartum, as well as any woman who is the primary caregiver of an infant at the time of admittance. We accept participants ages 16 and older and we welcome babies 12 months or younger. If you are experiencing moderate to high levels of anxiety, intrusive thoughts, symptoms of depression, anger, or trauma — this program was designed with you in mind. You belong here.
You don’t have to wait till you’re falling apart to ask for professional support.
You’ve found exactly what you were looking for.
You’ve been searching for something that takes this season of your life seriously — that meets the depth of the transformation you’re in. This is it. We’d be honored to walk alongside you.
Contact Us.
Call 480-788-8466 or complete the form below and we’ll be in touch within 1 business day.
F.A.Q.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I consider a Perinatal IOP?
Sometimes weekly therapy isn’t enough to help you feel like yourself again. Pregnancy and early parenthood can intensify anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma responses, identity shifts, and relationship strain. When symptoms start interfering with sleep, bonding, daily functioning, or your sense of confidence as a parent, a higher level of care may be helpful.
Our Perinatal Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) offers compassionate, evidence-based, and dare-we-say joyful mental health support while allowing you to stay connected to your baby, your family, and your daily life.
Our program strengthens core capacities that support you and your child/ren: emotional regulation, flexibility, self-compassion, and connection.
You might benefit from a Perinatal IOP if:
- A weekly therapy session isn’t enough.
- Your anxiety, depression, OCD symptoms, or trauma responses feel overwhelming.
- You feel isolated or disconnected from yourself, your baby, or your support system.
- You’re struggling with shame or fear about your parenting.
- You’d like more community and support from other parents.
- You want access to more daytime structure and mental health tools while still living your life.
- You’re transitioning from inpatient or higher-level care.
Is this program only for people in crisis or as a last resort?
No. Many moms enter IOPs because they feel overwhelmed, stuck, increasingly anxious or depressed, or are experiencing other, moderate-level mental health challenges related to pregnancy or the postpartum period, not because they are in immediate crisis or have tried everything else first.
This program is appropriate if weekly therapy hasn’t been enough (or doesn’t seem like it will be enough) to quickly improve symptoms, which are interfering with daily life, mother-infant bonding, family and friend relationships, sleep, or overall functioning. Early, well-thought-out support can prevent symptoms from worsening and promote faster restoration to balance.
If you feel you need more support than weekly therapy, this may be the right level of care.
Is this program for substance use treatment?
No. While IOPs are commonly used in substance use treatment settings, they are also highly effective for maternal mental health concerns such as:
- Postpartum depression or anxiety
- Depression or anxiety during pregnancy
- OCD and intrusive thoughts
- Birth related trauma responses
- Mood instability
- Identity and role transitions
This program is specifically designed for pregnancy and the first year postpartum and does not treat substance use disorders.
Who is excluded from the IOP?
- Male identifying individuals.
- Women who are not pregnant or do not have an infant 12 months of age or younger upon admittance.
- Women under 16 years of age upon admittance.
- Women with severe medical conditions needing immediate attention or specialized treatment.
- Women experiencing active psychotic symptoms.
- Women posing an immediate risk to themselves or others who need constant supervision.
- Women who cannot maintain safety in an outpatient setting.
- Women who have symptoms because of a recent pregnancy loss or infant loss, as these individuals may find the program very difficult given the infants in attendance for the program.
How much time does the program require? When does it meet?
The program meets in-person three days per week for a total of nine hours on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 AM to 1:00 PM. It does not meet on national holidays or between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Most women choose to be in the program for 3-6 weeks, with 8 weeks generally being the maximum covered when using commercial insurance.
While this is a meaningful time commitment, it is designed to allow you to be with your baby and connected to your daily life. Rather than disrupting your life, IOP helps calm the areas that have begun to feel overwhelming and gets you back to living your life on your terms.
If you are working or attending school, you may be able to use medical leave, intermittent leave, or other work or school-based accommodations to attend the program. Your OBGYN, psychiatrist, or other physician may be able to help you with evaluation and paperwork.
Why can’t I just increase my individual therapy sessions?
Increasing outpatient therapy sessions can help. However, IOP offers additional components that individual weekly sessions alone are not generally able to provide:
- A coordinated care team
- Peer support and helpful community of moms and babies in the same room together
- Structured skill-building across therapeutic modalities
- Somatic and mindfulness-based sessions that incorporate movement and creativity
- Attachment-focused work alongside your baby while also working on individual healing
Healing in early parenthood is relational. Being in community with other parents reduces shame and isolation while strengthening resilience.
Will my treatment be personalized?
Yes. While group therapy provides shared learning and community, each participant receives individualized attention and weekly individual therapy. Groups are small, too—we usually have no more than six moms with their babies on any given week—which gives you time to focus on your during group sessions.
Each client will have an individual treatment plan that’s written collaboratively and reflects your goals, values, culture, parenting context, and specific concerns. We do not treat diagnoses as silos — we focus on strengthening your capacities to support your overall functioning and caregiving.
What if I’m worried about shame or judgment?
Many women considering an IOP will feel guilt, fear, or shame about needing help; in reality, guilt, fear, and shame are all typical feelings in the context of a perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMAD). Our program is explicitly shame-informed and trauma-informed. We emphasize:
- Good-enough parenting
- Emotional honesty
- Compassion for yourself and your child/ren
Needing support does not mean you are failing! In fact, acknowledgement of need is prudent and helps move you toward appropriate assistance and a stable path forward.
Do I have to bring my baby?
Babies are welcome and built into the program. You are not required to bring your baby to every session, but the program is designed to accommodate infants and includes dedicated time for baby bonding as part of the therapeutic work.
What Outcomes can I expect?
While each person’s experience is unique, many perinatal IOP participants report increased emotional stability, reduced anxiety and intrusive thoughts, improved connection with their baby and other children, greater confidence in parenting, stronger communication with partners and family, and reduced isolation.
We are not treating diagnoses in isolation; instead, we are strengthening capacities that support mental health and parenting, like:
- Emotional regulation
- Psychological flexibility
- Self-compassion
- Secure attachment
- Values-based living
Symptoms may fluctuate. These capacities help protect you and your family’s mental well-being long-term.