Holistic Drug & Alcohol Treatment

When all else fails, a holistic approach should be considered.

Holistic health is a belief of medical care that views the physical and mental aspects of recovery as closely interconnected and equally important approaches to treatment. While frequently associated with alternative medicine, it is increasingly used in mainstream drug and alcohol rehabilitation as part of a broad view of patient care.

Holistic health is not itself a method of treatment, but is an approach to how treatment should be applied. Holistic concepts of health and recovery view achieving and maintaining good health as requiring more than just taking care of the various singular components that make up the physical body. Additionally, incorporating aspects such as treating a person’s past emotional traumas or re-conditioning of one’s own belief system is a crucial component of mental and emotional recovery. The goal is a wellness that encompasses the entire person, rather than just dulling specific symptoms.

Holistic Drug & Alcohol Recovery includes

• Repairing Past traumatic events (Inability to confront and handle)
• Restoring a Healthy Belief System (Identity crisis)
• Rebalancing the Bio-Physical (Body & Brain Chemistry testing)
• Improving Stress Thresholds (Inability to cope with stress)
• Improving Relationships (Lack of communication or life-skills)

Healing and recovery is considered a process of transformation, a literal change from one state of being to another. When an underlying problem is addressed and treated, the nature of a person becomes fundamentally different and healing occurs. To re-establish balance, or homeostasis, as it is called in the medical world, an individualized program is needed with a carefully selected support team to treat the mind, body, emotions, and spirit to stimulate a patients self-healing potential. In addition to a medical doctor, who can run laboratory tests to diagnose physiological problems…

…the therapies should include:

• chemical dependency counselling
• naturopathic care
• comprehensive detoxification
• vitamin & amino-acid therapy
• orthomolecular medicine
• a psychologist to discuss unresolved events or one’s belief system
• family therapy to work through addiction behaviour-related family issues
• group therapy for peer support
• sauna flushing
• a holistically oriented nutritionist to address underlying deficiencies
• an exercise program
• chiropractic care and other bodywork
• acupuncture to promote the body’s vitality and balance
• homeopathy
• qigong, yoga, or other activity to harmonize the body and spirit
• visualization and meditation
• hypnosis to help create a positive self-image and change unwanted patterns
• EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique, or tapping, to release negative feelings and beliefs

Addiction may seem like a simple matter of willpower on the surface, but we know today that it has very little to do with willpower, and much more to do with complex inner workings of the mind, body, and spirit. Generally we find with addicts that the chemicals that they have consumed have thrown all three of these systems out of balance, and they must be re-balanced to bring harmonic health back to a patient. By treating the whole instead of the symptom, you will be making a huge leap towards not only preventing but resolving chronic relapse.