Beyond 12 Steps, Holistic Treatment Programs Provide Better Outcomes
Recovery methods change in the treatment of substance abuse, misuse, and addiction over the years, just as medical treatments often change. These changes often improve the outcomes people experience and improve their prognosis. With substance disorders, the physical aspects have long been understood.
Today, the psychological aspects of such habits are now also considered important to the ability of patients to recover. Long-term recovery rates are always sought after, and anything that can improve the length of a person’s recovery without relapse remains a crucial aspect that recovery specialists should never disregard as frivolous or fringe science.
The benefits from these types of programs have proven to be far-reaching, highly effective, and also enjoyable. In the past, many patients viewed some treatments as tedious, unwanted, and a waste of time. Changing the way providers look at these treatment options needed to occur before it became acceptable to invest the time, energy, and finances into learning how they worked and then implementing them into their own program offerings.
Patients have typically been more receptive to utilize these more enjoyable treatment options, even if the underlying purpose was not well understood by the patient. When holistic drug treatment options are offered, patients might not be familiar with them and their purpose. These options might seem to hold more entertainment value for more affluent patients in an effort to make an addiction treatment center more attractive.
There are several reasons why you should consider holistic addiction treatment for yourself or a loved one. These options are for everyone suffering from addiction, regardless of their financial status.
The most important reason to choose a holistic treatment option is that these methods work. They reduce the tension and stress patients feel and allow them to concentrate on their recovery. Forming new habits and practicing ways to avoid the expected temptations once out of the program form new patterns in a person’s life in the absence of feelings of stress.
Yoga exercises and stretches, the creation of original art pieces, meditation, and touch therapy in the form of massage can all increase a person’s awareness while reducing stress. After leaving the recovery center, continuing these activities can form a solid anchor that individuals can rely on to increase the likelihood they succeed in remaining substance-free.
Yoga is finally accepted as not only a way to de-stress but also as a means to keep fit. This is particularly true for those individuals who may not get much exercise. It can provide a safer entry into exercising routines. Yoga can also help an individual become more accepting of themselves and their body.
Creating art can help relax while giving a person a safe way to address trauma that continues to be a source of stress, leading to the use of substances. While some materials like paint might cost more than other consumable materials used in creating art, this option remains highly effective and flexible. Instead of painting, recycling different materials into a new piece of art can provide equally positive results as seen with more expensive materials.
Meditation requires no additional costs to set up and can occur without any additional or special accommodations. Relaxing music, high quality recordings of nature, such as waterfalls, birds singing, rain falling, and waves crashing on rocks can help increase self-awareness. Recordings like this might cost significant sums to develop a sizable library if purchased, but meditation practitioners can download many recordings found online for their own personal use. A cell phone and a pair of headphones is all that this would require.
Most likely the most expensive option to implement in a treatment center would include massage therapy. Some touch therapy includes the lightest strokes on covered skin. These are barely perceptible and can create a highly relaxed sensation. While shock therapy is rarely, if ever, used today, electrical stimulation still holds a place when it comes to relaxing tense muscles that do not seem to respond to other methods. A TENS unit can provide relief in an almost pleasant manner. However, the equipment and the training needed to provide this type of treatment can increase patient costs initially. Massage and electrical stimulation can be highly cost-effective in the long run, though because traditional massage combined with the use of a TENS unit can produce very effective results that impact patients positively, and for a long time.
Ensuring treatment plans and programs help patients recover from addiction means they must address the causes behind the behavior. Addressing such behavior requires a look into a patient’s mindset and self-reflection. This can be painful for many patients, making it undesirable to do. Reducing stress can make it more feasible for patients to discuss openly and this allows for new habits to be developed.