Holistic Rehab Therapies: Do They Work for Addiction?
Mar 11, 2023
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“Holistic”, the word is a big buzz these days, but very few people know what it means. In treatment for substance abuse, holistic rehabilitation therapies have risen to become a focal point to treat a wide range of ailments. Rehabs around the world use holistic therapies for substance abuse and addiction treatment. For example, holistic drug rehabs in the UK provide traditional treatments, such as one-on-one therapy and group rehab therapy, along with holistic approaches, including yoga, meditation, acupuncture, and more. But the question is – do they really work for addiction? To know the answer, keep reading this article.
What is Holistic Rehab Therapy?
Holistic therapy refers to treating a whole person, including the mind and the body. It is an approach that works on the patient’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. A recent breakthrough in health care interventions, holistic rehab therapy creates a feeling of calm and balance, which inspires patients to take responsibility for their well-being. Though most rehabs use alternative therapy for addiction treatment, holistic therapy helps patients eliminate addiction problems completely and show maximum recovery rates. Also, holistic treatment approaches teach you healthy practices, such as attention to nutrition, sleep patterns, exercise, and stress management, to prevent relapse. All these aspects are crucial in the recovery process.
A few holistic treatment approaches that are widely used by rehabs include:
Yoga
Yoga is a form of exercise that allows you to be kinder to your body. A compilation of stretches and postures, yoga helps people reduce anxiety, and depression, control negative emotions, strengthen the body, and stay fit, above all. In addition, once a person learns how to manage, their feelings may reduce the risk of relapse after the addiction treatment. The three main components of modern yoga are as follows:
- Meditation
- Breathing in specific sequences
- Maintaining different postures through movement
Hence, various rehabs use yoga as a holistic therapy for addiction.
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness is a practice that helps you focus on the present moment rather than getting overwhelmed by emotions and distractions. You can practice mindfulness in various motions; by walking, moving, sitting, or even standing. The most well-known mindfulness practice includes meditation. It encourages you to build focus, identify positive or negative thoughts during exercise, and bounce back to focus. In addiction treatment practices, meditation help patients reduce stress and negative behaviours and manage cravings, intense emotions, and other triggers. In short, mindfulness meditation is a guided process where you learn to identify your emotions and urges and apply healthy coping skills.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, or EMDR, is an evidence-based intervention that taps into the natural ability of your brain so that you can heal from distressing experiences. It is practised by rehabs to ease the symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and others. Because the traumatic events in your life activate the flight or freeze response in your body, you fail to distinguish if your feelings are real or just a hallucination. Hence, EMDR is referred to as a trauma therapy that works on diminishing the arousal and distress tied to past trauma. Though it doesn't delete the traumatic memory, it will teach your mind and body to feel safe when it arises. Also, in EMDR therapy, the specialist helps you to find that traumatic memory that has been messing with you for so long and discuss negative beliefs around the event. As a result, you will be encouraged to create positive thoughts.
Fitness and Exercise
Health is wealth is a proverb we have known for all our lives. And exercise is a one-way ticket to achieve positive outcomes. In addiction treatment, exercise plays a vital role as it helps ease depression and anxiety symptoms in an individual. In addition, exercise is a great way to channel all your emotions and can be used as a relapse prevention tool for addicts. It boosts the dopamine levels in the brain and depletes the chemicals that urge you towards drug or alcohol use. Exercise also allows you to follow a structured schedule, which is crucial for the early stages of recovery.
Biochemical Restoration
Substance abuse highly impacts the brain's reward centre and leads to physiological imbalance. The affected elements include hormones, blood sugar, adrenaline, amino acids, and nutrition. It happens because toxic substances build up in the body and takes time to flush out during addiction treatment. Most rehab clinics run laboratory tests to determine if you need nutritional support, such as vitamins, minerals, etc. If a body is diagnosed with fewer dietary deficiencies, the cravings become less frequent and intense, reducing the risk of relapse.
Acupuncture
In the early stages of addiction treatment, you may experience withdrawal symptoms because it takes time for your body to restore balance. Acupuncture is a rehab therapy program that helps ease the withdrawal symptoms, such as body pain, headaches, irritability, and nausea. It is done by placing one to five needles on specific points in the ear. The process is comfortable and runs for about 30 minutes. Known as NADA ear acupuncture, this method improves energy, increases positive feelings, and decreases substance use.
Do Holistic Therapies for Addiction Really Work?
Holistic therapy is a topic that is widely argued. The holistic treatment may attract those who overlook conventional medicines and rehabilitation therapies; however, holistic therapy is not an adequate replacement for proven therapies, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing, etc. But, it definitely enhances addiction treatment by complementing them. Also, holistic rehab therapy comes from a whole-person perspective and addresses how addiction has impacted you, including your physical, mental, and spiritual health. But unfortunately, there is not so much evidence-based research on holistic therapy for addiction; those that exist are inconclusive. Hence, it is hard to answer whether holistic therapies work or not.
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