Do you ever wonder if holistic treatments work? If so, what makes them essential for addiction recovery? The word “holistic” is used to mean the entire person. Rather than focusing on a narrow issue, holistic methods consider a wider spectrum of health outcomes, including physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions. Healed together, these different aspects of well-being can help people thrive sustainably. Laguna Shores Recovery Center helps you connect with the best resources.
What Are Some Common Holistic Treatment Methods?
Holistic treatments also take after the name of an integrative approach to recovery. It uses a combination of methods and techniques to best address a recovering individual’s needs. Health professionals do so based on the assumption that a whole person’s well-being is not just physical health. Addiction recovery needs to consider the complexity of a person’s intersecting systems, such as the mind and body connection.
The most common holistic treatment methods include mind-body therapy (e.g., body scan, muscle relaxations, mindfulness meditation), somatic therapy, yoga, guided imagery, biofeedback, acupuncture, and Tai Chi. Many of these techniques have deep spiritual traditions. Take yoga and Tai Chi for example. They are known to foster wellness through low-impact exercise and lowering stress hormones in the body. If you work with guided music, these exercises may strengthen your connection with a spiritual source of peace and power.
What Symptoms Do Holistic Methods Address?
Holistic treatment methods can treat several physiological and psychological conditions. Apart from substance addiction, they are effective in alleviating anxiety, depression, mood disorders, chronic stress, trauma, and other mental health conditions. Because the integrated approach advocates for using a combination of treatments, holistic therapy is often used for dual diagnosis treatment.
Holistic methods are highly applicable in life. They also work in addiction prevention or the preventing of mental health illnesses. Some have gradually been accepted as popular self-care methods. Rather than waiting for a health problem to emerge, people are encouraged to integrate some of these self-care techniques into daily life so that their overall well-being can be maintained.
Are Holistic Methods as Effective as Psychotherapy?
You probably believe in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or other traditional therapies that are used as gold standards in most addiction treatment facilities today. But is it really necessary to add holistic methods to your treatment plan? Are they considered evidence-based? In fact, more and more scientific research has demonstrated the effectiveness of holistic methods, such as yoga, mindfulness, and meditation.
Take mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for example. This is a modified treatment method based on traditional mindfulness programs and cognitive therapies. Research shows that MBCT and mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) are both highly effective for users with substance addiction, including alcohol, cocaine, and opioids. The reasons are simple. Through practicing focused attention and sensory visualization, the brain enters into a higher state of awareness.
Holistic methods work because they have positive effects on brain healing by utilizing the powerful mind-body connection. As you engage the body in peaceful and focused movements, the mind will also experience positivity. In this sense, all traditional and holistic treatment methods are mind-body connection methods.
What Are Some Core Principles of Holistic Therapy?
The deep beliefs and core principles behind holistic therapy cannot be over-emphasized. They are as important as the techniques. First of all, holistic therapy believes that all individuals have innate healing powers. They just need to be awakened. Secondly, an individual is a whole person who should not be defined by a health condition or an illness. These two underlying assumptions help restore agency and empower the person in recovery.
Equally important, holistic therapy believes in collaboration. Both the recovering individual and a team of health professionals need to work together to address all aspects of health needs. When doing so, recovery experts need to talk with mental health specialists because they address the multilayered needs of one person. Lastly, holistic therapy tries to get to the root causes of a condition, not just alleviate the symptoms on the surface level.
How to Find Good Holistic Treatment?
For a rehab center to provide a high-quality holistic treatment, they need to have a team of experts, including medical doctors, mental health therapists, chiropractors, and spiritual practitioners. You need to look into their licensing before choosing a team to work with. Even before that, you should do some homework about what types of holistic methods can match your conditions.
Every treatment method has its limitations. This is also true with holistic methods. On the one hand, their advantages lie in the emphasis on the uniqueness and complexity of each individual and the mutuality of the doctor-patient relationship. On the other hand, holistic methods also require more time and patience before achieving visible effects. Some health professionals tend to think that holistic medicine is more of an attitudinal approach than some particular techniques. Even with evidence-based holistic methods, it is often considered better to integrate them with other traditional methods. Consult with Laguna Shores Recovery Center for a new beginning.
Holistic methods are also evidence-based. Many treatment facilities offer them as an integrated approach. Some common treatment methods, such as mindfulness meditation, have proven to be one of the most effective holistic approaches. If you choose holistic therapies, be prepared to work with a team of recovery experts across different fields. Laguna Shores Recovery Center has a professional team who offers high-quality holistic care. You will find both experienced mental health professionals and compassionate staff. Whether you need to distance yourself from unhealthy habits or relearn self-care methods for success, we can help. We integrate clinical and holistic healing methods. Call (866) 774-1532 to discover how you can be part of our strong recovery community.
