What Is Holistic Addiction Treatment?

Holistic addiction treatment is designed in such a way that it uses non-medical/medicinal methods of recovery to help a substance user overcome their addiction. In such a program, you might be able to receive a wide variety of holistic or alternative treatment methods until you recover from your drug and alcohol abuse. The goal of treatment is to bring the spirit, body, and mind into alignment.

Understanding Holistic Addiction Treatment

The NCCIH - the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health - reports that over 30 percent of all American adults use holistic medicine in one form or the other. This trend has also been expanding over the past few years.

But what is holistic addiction treatment? Essentially, it is a form of recovery service that reviews the integrated spiritual, mental, and physical model for dealing with a substance use disorder. In many cases, these techniques are also referred to as complementary or alternative treatments. Additionally, they are often based on certain practices that are close to or derived from nature and cultural traditions.

Some of the most commonly used forms of holistic addiction treatment include:

  • Acupressure
  • Acupuncture
  • Art therapy
  • Biofeedback
  • Counseling
  • Different types of energy work
  • Guided meditation
  • Herbal medicines
  • Massage therapy
  • Meditation
  • Neurofeedback
  • Nutritional therapy
  • Proper nutrition
  • Reiki
  • Routine exercise
  • Spiritual therapy
  • Tai chi
  • Yoga

However, these are not the only types of treatments that are described as holistic addiction treatment. The main similarity between all of them is that they come with the primary goal of treating you as a whole person and not simply dealing with certain elements of your behavior or symptoms.

The core belief of holistic addiction treatment is that rehabilitation should address you as an entire individual without simply looking at the behavioral aspects of your substance use disorder. Through this form of treatment, the program will try to address all the reasons underlying your substance abuse, as well as those that caused you to start engaging in this destructive behavior.

The primary focus of holistic addiction treatment is on your overall health and wellness. However, many of these programs will also try to deal with the psychological, physical, and behavioral symptoms of your substance abuse as well as alleviate any adverse withdrawal symptoms that arise.

The treatment centers that offer this type of therapy will also use nutrition, meditation, and exercise to help you overcome your substance use disorder.

Objectives of Holistic Addiction Treatment

Most of the holistic therapy programs that are available for addicts will feature highly personalized methods of addiction treatment and recovery that are not based on medical practices. You will also get to work with holistic therapists to try and treat the psychological and physical symptoms of your addiction as well as correct any nutritional and emotional imbalances that might be promoting your substance abuse.

Some of the potential obstacles that holistic therapy will try to overcome include emotional stress, poor diet, and lack of sleep - because they believe that this could help you deal with your substance abuse.

The plans provided through holistic addiction treatment will also be flexible so that they can cater to your particular needs and preferences. Additionally, this type of addiction recovery will come with some main objectives that have to be met before you can overcome your substance use disorder:

  • Identifying all the causes underlying your substance abuse and addiction
  • Increasing your self-confidence
  • Promoting physical fitness
  • Reducing the appeal that alcohol and drug use holds over your life
  • Strengthening resistance to drug cravings
  • Types of Holistic Therapies

There are many aspects of healthy living that will be involved in holistic addiction treatment and therapy - from meditation and yoga to exercise and healthy diets. The main therapies used, however, include:

a) Nutritional Therapy

Holistic therapists believe that you need a healthy body to overcome your substance abuse. They will, to this end, help you focus on improving your nutrition so that you can get a fresh start by giving your body the nutrition that you require to deal with your addiction.

b) Recreational and Exercise Therapy

Similarly, holistic addiction treatment uses daily exercise to help patients build routine, strengthen their bodies, and relieve stress. Exercise is also considered a crucial part of ongoing recovery. This is why you are likely to engage in activities like horseback riding, hiking, canoeing, swimming, and rock-climbing, among others.

c) Meditation

To deal with your substance use disorder, you need to develop a clear and uncluttered mind. Holistic therapists will typically use guided mediation, tai chi, and yoga as the meditative practices that could help you improve the clarity of your mind and your ongoing focus.

d) Acupuncture and Massage Therapy

Massage therapy and acupuncture are both useful because they are effective at relieving stress. They can also relax the body as well as restore its balance after a period of extended drug and alcohol abuse.

More on Alternative Approaches

Through these holistic or alternative approaches to addiction treatment, you can deal with some of the factors that have been contributing to your ongoing substance abuse and addiction. Some of these aspects include but are not always limited to:

  • A lack of firm spiritual grounding, which makes it more likely that you will find drugs desirable
  • Emotional imbalances that cause you to abuse drugs and alcohol
  • Energetic imbalance that can only be treated through a body-energy manipulation technique like Reiki
  • Environmental contaminants and toxins that cause you to feel a deep need for intoxicating substances
  • The physical symptoms of your substance abuse and addiction
  • Unhealthy eating habits that often result in neurochemical imbalance
  • Withdrawal symptoms

Holistic and Conventional Care in Combination

Today, many experts have been agreeing that it is important to combine both traditional and holistic addiction treatment methods to ensure that patients have the highest chances of success.

Further research shows that conventional detoxification and ongoing addiction treatment that is provided on an inpatient basis could potentially support and ensure that you sustain your recovery. It is for this reason that NIDA - the National Institute on Drug Abuse - has been recommending a combination of both holistic and traditional treatment methods.

In the same way, studies have been reporting that the most effective recovery programs use holistic treatment that is built upon traditional treatment and rehabilitation methods. For instance, you will require medical supervision to manage the withdrawal symptoms that arise when you give up alcohol and drugs. After that, you can undertake other aspects of holistic addiction treatment to ensure your ongoing recovery and sobriety before enrolling into 12 step groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous to receive the emotional support that you need after you overcome your addiction in a holistic center.

Your Treatment May Be Covered By Your Health Insurance!

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