Originally written on: Tuesday, 12 January 2016 Last edited on: Wednesday, 03 July 2019

What Does Holistic Drug Rehab Centers Mean?

Holistic treatment clarified

In order to clarify holistic addiction treatment, its best to begin with what does holistic mean. The word Holistic as per the Webster dictionary means: relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts. Now depending on what you want to handle with regards to substance abuse your addiction treatment can deal with just the addiction problem, or a series of specific aspects of your alcohol abuse or drug consumption.

Many traditional treatment programs will help the addict with their detox portion, or the actualities of taking drugs and the triggers related to them; some other addiction treatments will deal with the immediate drug issue but will also help with support and follow-up but may not deal with other issues like anger management, depression, anxiety, fear, loneliness, etc., etc. Drug addicts and alcoholic will in the great majority have associated with their substance abuse issues a dozen or so underlying issues that must be addressed in order to function successfully in society.

Looking back at the definition of Holistic; relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts; we see immediately that holistic addiction treatment deals with a whole complete system. If you or someone close is struggling with cocaine addiction, Crack, methamphetamines or even prescription drugs or alcohol wouldn’t you want a complete program? Research has demonstrated that when the addiction treatment center addresses only partial aspects of addiction, the percentage of reversion is increased proportionally to what wasn’t addressed.

All holistic drug or alcohol addiction programs are focused on three sectors of addiction; body, mind and soul or spirit. In focusing on the body, drugs, and alcohol, being poisons, after all, have damaged the body's muscle tissue, bone structure, and nerve channels. The body’s ability to reconstruct these is weak with drugs and alcohol abuse. Holistic treatment will replenish the body with nutritional supplements, and healthy dietary food sources. As the body increases in nutrients, minerals, and proteins, it can again have the strength for proper exercise on a gradient to build back muscle mass and strong nerve channels so communication from mind to limb is not hindered or blocked.

With a functioning body, one can then address the mind; the mental aspects that have been damaged by drugs or alcohol such as short and long-term memory loss, differentiation, identification, basic deduction of problem-solving and other similar mental abilities. Drugs and alcohol addiction slow reaction time, cause the mind to think one thing when in actuality, it’s another and a whole series of disconnected and often complex unrelated thought processing. With established all-natural concentration and mental exercises, the holistic addiction treatment will increase IQ, speed up reaction time and generally bring about a heightened awareness and perception of the person’s surroundings and ability to think.

Finally, the holistic addiction treatment also includes a means for every addict to reconnect with one’s inner self, the spiritual part of your existence. Any person that had some form of religious upbringing will tend towards prayer or offerings to a higher power for support and guidance.

Others with a different background in spirituality will be more inclined to personal reflection or meditation connecting to universal energy. In all cases, drugs or alcohol will have affected one’s moral judgment and cause wavering in belief. Poisonous substances taken in large quantity or over a lengthy period of time will begin to deteriorate a person’s spirituality. This is the stuff that makes you, you; an individual. It’s what gives you a sense of immortality or a sense of belonging and creates worthy goals or purposes to achieve. It’s that mysterious and wonderful thrust to survive. This too is addressed in holistic treatment programs.

Each holistic center will have its own list of services offered to address all the aspects mentioned above. And in many of these addiction treatments, they will also offer tailored programs that are designed with your life situations in mind. Normally you will be given a general assessment and then proposed a series of treatments to address all aspects of your addiction. You and your counselor can review and amend the various services to be more oriented to your needs and situation based on you.

You can see why holistic addiction treatment centers are gaining popularity with family members of those struggling with addiction. It’s hard not to agree with a complete treatment program.

How are holistic treatment centers beneficial? What are some of the treatment processes used?

For many addicts being administered more drugs to get off of and stop using their current drugs of choice is not always a viable option. A holistic treatment center provides a truly drug-free environment with a program that will focus on the mind and body. These types of treatment facilities utilize numerous different natural approaches to helping heal the body, along with providing whole foods and vitamin and mineral supplementation. Their treatment processes are normally cognitive based therapy, along with some twelve-step models.