What is Holistic Care?
Holistic care embraces medical and mental heath treatment options that are not pharmaceutical, surgical, or conventional. Based on ancient principles, holistic therapies have been around for centuries and are still used for care outside of mainstream medicine. Ambrosia Treatment’s holistic rehab centers in Florida can help you overcome dependency once and for all. Our centers, located in both West Palm Beach and Jupiter, Florida offer holistic treatment for both drug addiction and alcohol abuse.
Types of Holistic Therapies
There are countless types of holistic therapies, but the University of Michigan breaks them down into five separate groups:
- Energy therapies – Practitioners use their inner energy to help their clients, such as through treatments that include Reiki and healing touch.
- Body therapies – Practitioners use their bodies to heal the bodies of others. For example, massage therapy and chiropractic work are body therapies.
- Mind-body therapies – Practitioners teach their clients to heal and repair their bodies by developing a stronger connection to the mind.
- Biological therapies – Biological therapies include the use of herbal treatments and aromatherapy.
- Alternative therapies – Practitioners who utilize alternative medicine follow other healing systems that often originate in China and India, such as acupuncture.
What Holistic Care Treats
All therapies, no matter which group they may fall into, are designed to deliver balance between the mind, body, and spirit. While different from traditional medicine and mental health practices, holistic therapies are excellent compliments to well-rounded addiction treatment plans. One of the reasons for this is because holistic care addresses areas of one’s life that are not always addressed inside a doctor’s or therapist’s office. Your holistic treatment team also considers the following:
Emotional distress
Deep-seeded hurt from your childhood or painful memories of events experienced when actively abusing drugs or alcohol can keep you continuing to use. Without addressing emotional distress, attempting to recover from drug or alcohol addiction can be nearly impossible. Holistic care helps address their imperative aspect of your life with practices such as meditation or yoga. These practices can help you manage your emotional distress in healthier ways, freeing you from turning to the use of drugs and alcohol to cope.
Physical pain
Physical pain is a common component of one’s desire to abuse drugs or alcohol, as dealing with it on a regular basis can be highly distressing. Drugs or alcohol can feel like a quick and easy way to manage the pain. But, when engaging in holistic care, you can learn about the benefits of massage therapy, reiki, and other body therapies that can address any pain you have so you do not feel the need to drink or use drugs.
Boredom
For many people recovering from an addiction, their lives may feel boring. They may have difficulty finding out what their interests are or have a hard time transitioning into a sober lifestyle. Boredom is the enemy of recovery, which is why it is imperative to avoid regular boredom. One of the ways to do this is to utilize meditation to help calm your inner voice, allowing you to feel less compelled to use again.
Nutrition
Herbal therapies are highly effective in helping to restore balance to the body and the mind post active addiction. These therapies can help you feel stronger physically, mentally, and spiritually.
The goal of a holistic treatment program is to help you develop effective ways to manage your life post-addiction. With the implementation of these therapies, you can find success in recovery.
Holistic Services for Addiction Treatment
There are several types of holistic services available to those who want to partake in them. Some services are so widely used in addiction treatment that they are now considered mainstream. The services that are most often included in one’s recovery plan include yoga and meditation.
Yoga
The ancient practice of yoga combines the calm, inward focus of meditation with muscle movement and stretching. The earliest versions of yoga had very little to do with actual fitness or strength. Instead, practitioners utilized yoga to improve mental focus through breathing and movement. Our team of professionals uses yoga to both improve one’s mental and physical wellbeing and overall health. There are countless benefits to yoga, some of which include the following:
- Increases serotonin
- Reduces inflammation
- Adjusts blood fat levels
- Decreases cell stress
- Relieves physical pain
- Promotes healthy stress management
- Improves mood
- Benefits heart health
These are just some of the many benefits of yoga, but as you can see, even just these few benefits can be life-changing for someone in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction. Overall, yoga is designed to enhance one’s wellbeing and sense of inner peace.
Meditation
Meditation is often a practice that seems to elude people, as it can take practice to really begin benefitting from it. Most of us understand meditation’s broad strokes, such as sitting still and being quiet. But there is much more to grasp than just that, as meditation is designed to help you focus on your breath, which is beneficial in a number of ways.
Meditation can be really simple, even for those who are beginners. If you chose to participate in this type of holistic treatment, you can expect to:
- Get comfortable – You can sit on a mat or a pillow or even the floor. Wherever you are most comfortable is the perfect place to begin.
- Close your eyes – When beginning to meditate, you direct your attention inward. Closing your eyes helps to prevent distractions around you.
- Slow your breathing – Begin focusing on how you are breathing and start to slow your breaths. Make a conscious effort to slowly inhale and exhale fully.
- Focus on your breath – At this time, all that matters around you is your breathwork. Do not let any other thoughts or tasks take over your time meditating. This time is designed to help you create lasting inner peace.
Meditation and the results of it often improve over time as you continue to practice it. It may seem challenging at first, but continuing on with it can be worth the effort.
Additional mainstream holistic services outside of yoga and meditation include the following:
- Equine therapy
- Art therapy
- Massage therapy
- Aromatherapy
Based on your need in recovery, you and your team can incorporate the most appropriate holistic services into your treatment plan.
Nutrition in Recovery
Abusing drugs and alcohol can severely impact your body in a number of ways, including nutritionally. The American Dietetic Association reports that some forms of nutrient deficiency can lead to issues that include serious mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. There is no doubt then when abusing drugs and alcohol, the body takes a major hit from a nutritional standpoint. It is likely that during the height of your substance abuse, you were not sticking to a regimented, healthy diet. And, any diet you may have been trying to follow was probably negatively impacted by your consumption of mind-altering substances. So, when recovering from a substance use disorder, learning how to use nutrition as a way to stay sober can be extremely effective.
Holistic Treatment in West Palm Beach, Florida
Our holistic rehab centers in Florida have the tools necessary to help you through recovery successfully. At Ambrosia Treatment Center, our West Palm Beach and Jupiter, Florida teams will work with you to determine some of the following so that you can establish a healthy, customized diet to meet your needs:
- Health history – We gather your health history to better understand what foods may or may not be good for your diet. This includes learning if you have underlying conditions such as diabetes or celiac disease.
- Drugs of choice – Different substances create different health problems and deficiencies. We work extensively with you to learn more about your drugs of choice, how much you were using, and at what rate so we can modify your meal plans.
- Favorite foods – We want to know which foods you love so that we can include them into your meal plan in a healthy manner.
- Cooking habits – You will learn more cooking skills (if applicable) that can help you maintain a healthy diet long after you complete treatment at Ambrosia.
It is absolutely essential that during your recovery, you focus on taking care of yourself. That means mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. With the inclusion of holistic treatment into your treatment plan, you can achieve these goals and continue to utilize them in your long-term recovery. If you or your loved one are in need of help, start the admissions process today.
