If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health problems, you might be curious about the effects of holistic addiction treatment and whether it will work for your situation.
What is Holistic Addiction Treatment?
A holistic approach to addiction refers to any treatment that isn’t standard Psychotherapy or group therapy. Holistic addiction recovery brings with it many benefits and is backed by a multitude of studies. Most people who are unfamiliar with a holistic approach to addiction wonder about the authenticity or legitimacy of this method and whether it works.
Holistic addiction treatment brings with it the same potential to help with recovery as other evidence-based practices. However, holistic substance abuse treatment emphasizes treatment for the mind and the body as one rather than only focusing on the physical signs of addiction or only focusing on addressing childhood trauma.
Is Holistic Addiction Treatment Effective?
Holistic addiction recovery can include things like walks along the beach or in nature. Being outside has been proven to help people increase their focus, and creativity and decrease anxiety or depression. Scientific studies show that just being outside in nature can positively impact your mind and body. A simple walk in the park can lower blood pressure, decrease harmful stress hormones like cortisol, and put you in a more relaxed state.
Yoga in all its forms proves an incredibly useful form of holistic addiction treatment by retraining your mind to accept temporary discomfort while you hold a physical post, knowing that that discomfort will pass. This powerful meditative tool can be applied to the ongoing drug addiction process, accepting cravings or withdrawal symptoms, knowing that they are short-term and will eventually pass.
Other studies have shown that meditation can be a very useful part of your holistic substance abuse treatment. Meditation can reduce stress, improve stress-related health problems, promote better mental health, reduce anxiety and depression, help control pain, and improve sleep. These are all issues that people suffer from to some degree when going through addiction rehab, which is why a holistic approach to addiction can be so useful.
- Meditation comes in many forms, including Mantra meditation, where you think of a calming word or phrase and say it over and over, whisper it, or just think about it.
- It can also include mindful meditation, where you notice your mind wandering and bring it back to the present kindly. Many practitioners refer to mindful meditation as trying to put a puppy on a potty training pad; you know the puppy will wander off and pee in the corner at some point, and your job is just to pick it up and put it back on the pad.
- Tai Chi and yoga are technically forms of meditation where you integrate breathing exercises or mantras into physical movements. Tai Chi is a very gentle form of movement that can help you keep your mind focused.
Art therapy is one type of holistic treatment that can take many forms, such as painting, coloring, working with clay, and more. Art therapy can help patients manage pain, deal with stress, and reduce anxiety regardless of the form it takes.
Who Can Holistic Treatment Help?
Holistic treatment can help anyone. You don’t need to be struggling with opioid addiction or alcoholism to benefit from holistic treatment.
Holistic treatment can help parents overcome the stress of child-rearing or family obligations. It can help people who have hectic work schedules. It can help individuals who are trying to lose weight or fight the effects of aging. It can also help people who are struggling with addiction at any point in their recovery.
How to Find Holistic Addiction Treatment
Holistic addiction treatment is most beneficial for addiction recovery as a part of ongoing aftercare. No matter where you are in your stage of recovery, integrating things like being in nature, going for a walk, taking a yoga class, or meditating can help you manage the stress of everyday life, cravings, emotional triggers, environmental triggers, or any other stage of your recovery.
If you are ready to integrate a holistic approach to addiction, the first step is finding a treatment center specializing in holistic treatment. You might not know which type of holistic treatment you prefer, but you can still sit down with a Southern California rehab facility like Ocean Coast and ask about what options are available and how they might help you. Every facility will vary in terms of what they offer.
Our team specializes in developing personal rehab programs for inpatient treatment. If you are ready for holistic substance abuse treatment, we can help you find a combination of classes or therapies that will work best.
Contact Ocean Coast Recovery today for more information about our Huntington Beach addiction treatment programs.
