Overview

Halle Empowerment Affirmation Legacy (HEAL) Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for Pregnant and Parenting Women

The HEAL Intensive Outpatient Program for Pregnant and Parenting Women is an innovative 12-week multidisciplinary outpatient program to support women, infants, and families through substance recovery.

The program focuses on building and maintaining physical, mental, and relational health. Services include prenatal, delivery, and postpartum support to mothers, babies, and families in all aspects of pregnancy, infant bonding, parenting, and recovery from substance use. The program is trauma-informed and integrates behavioral health, child development, and wellness.

A hallmark of the HEAL program is an inclusive, interdisciplinary treatment approach developed through collaboration among the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Family Medicine, Behavioral Health, and Addiction Medicine at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix and the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. Developmental pediatricians, nurse practitioners, nutritionists, and other health care specialists provide regular consultations and services.

Program Benefits

  • Pregnant women with a diagnosis of opioid use disorder (OUD) who are or need to be on medications for addiction treatment (MAT) can be referred to the program for continuity and coordination of OB and Behavioral health care services.
    • Each program is offered over 12 consecutive weeks, Monday through Friday. Participants will have at least two hours per day of therapy, coaching, structured lessons, and homework to encourage movement/physical activity, manage stress, build support and resilience, and prevent relapse.
    • Addiction and OB specialist clinical visits with individual follow-up and group classes will prepare mothers for delivery, breastfeeding, and the postpartum phase.
    • A Wellness Advocate will lead therapeutic movement, meditation training, stress management, and life skills classes.
  • Classes will focus on healthy nutrition and exercise, budgeting and meal planning, wellness, bonding, skill development (e.g., cooking, meal preparation, mindfulness, communication), and stress management techniques to help nurture mothers, infants, and families.
  • Partners and co-parents will be involved in supporting mothers and learning positive parenting techniques to bond with and support the baby’s brain and physical development.
  • Peer supports — women who have already walked this path — will provide practical strategies, support, and inspiration as women navigate pregnancy, the postpartum period, and the first year of parenting while moving beyond personal trauma and opioid use.
  • A HEALing reward program will allow participants to earn gift cards and other rewards as they achieve personal and program goals.
  • Interpreter services for over 100 languages will be available virtually.
  • Medical students, residents, and fellows from multiple specialties will provide additional services, education, and support to help build a community medical home.
    • Students interested in obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, family medicine, culinary medicine, internal medicine, and addiction medicine — who want to prevent intergenerational trauma and empower program participants — will contribute through service learning and elective coursework.
  • Excellence in treatment will be measured through regular assessment, IRB-approved research, participants’ satisfaction, and analysis of health outcomes for mothers and infants enrolled in the program.

The program is led by Maria Manriquez, MD, Krista Labruzzo, MD, Sonica Brunson, DNP, and Gina Touch, PhD, as well as a staff of clinical social workers, nurses and a support team. It is sponsored by the Bruce & Diane Halle Foundation and housed at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix. The program is part of the State Opioid Response grant from AHCCCS.

For more information or to make a referral to this program, please contact HEAL staff at the Women’s Health Institute, Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix, 602-521-5632.