New Adolescent IOP Offers Mental Health and Substance Use Support for Lowcountry Teens

BLUFFTON , SC, UNITED STATES, September 3, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Southern Sky Recovery is opening Rising Tides, an adolescent intensive outpatient program for teens ages 13 to 17, at its Bluffton office in September 2026. The program runs 12 weeks and meets three evenings a week, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, from 4:30 to 7:30 PM.

The 4:30 p.m. start allows teens to remain in school and maintain after-school commitments while receiving treatment, with intentionally small groups giving the clinical team the ability to provide individualized attention within a supportive peer setting. Building on Southern Sky Recovery’s established adult intensive outpatient model, Rising Tides adapts that structure to meet the unique mental health and substance use needs of adolescents, with a strong emphasis on family involvement throughout the 12-week program. Each teen receives an individualized treatment plan designed around the challenges they are experiencing at home, at school, and in their relationships, with a practical focus on developing coping skills, emotional regulation, healthier relationships, and real-world tools they can use when challenges arise in everyday life.

For Southern Sky Recovery Founder and CEO Nathan Shepard, the launch of Rising Tides represents both a natural expansion of the organization’s mission and a response to a growing need he has witnessed among adolescents and families throughout the Lowcountry.

“Over the past four years, Southern Sky Recovery has shown me just how much can change when people are given the right help at the right time. We’ve built our programs around meeting people where they are, treating the whole person, and creating a path forward that is both compassionate and effective. Rising Tides is the next step in that work.

We are seeing young people in our community struggle with anxiety, depression, substance use, and other challenges at an age when early intervention can completely change the direction of their lives. Too often, families know their child needs help but don’t know where to turn or have to leave the community to find the level of care they need. Our vision for Rising Tides is to change that—to give adolescents and their families access to meaningful, evidence-based mental health and substance use treatment right here at home. If we can intervene earlier, support the entire family, and help a young person build the skills they need before these problems follow them into adulthood, the impact extends far beyond one patient. It strengthens families and, ultimately, our entire community.”

Rising Tides extends Southern Sky Recovery’s outpatient work to adolescents across the Lowcountry and coastal Georgia, including families in Beaufort, Hilton Head, Ridgeland, Savannah and Jasper County. Admissions for the September cohort are open. Parents who are unsure whether an intensive outpatient program is the right level of care can call for a consultation without committing to treatment.

About Southern Sky Recovery

Southern Sky Recovery is an outpatient addiction and mental health treatment provider based in Bluffton, South Carolina, serving families across the Lowcountry and coastal Georgia. The practice offers individual, group, family, trauma and holistic therapy alongside its outpatient levels of care, and works from personalized treatment plans built around each client. Rising Tides, its adolescent intensive outpatient program, opens on September 17th 2026 for teens ages 13 to 17. For more information, call 843-949-4848 or visit www.southernskyrecovery.com.

Reagan Daly
Southern Sky Recovery
+1 912-536-9248
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