Holistic Addiction Treatment: What Is It and How Does It Help in Recovery?

Written By

Dominic Nicosia

May 13, 2021

Let’s start with some vocab! What exactly does “holistic addiction treatment and recovery” mean? Simply put, holistic care means treating the whole person as an individual; not merely a collection of symptoms. It means addressing mental and social factors for optimal health outcomes, rather than just the symptoms of the disease, and considering who the patient is, where they come from and how they got to where they are.  These factors are critical in understanding a person’s diagnosis journey and their care needs to provide the best possible treatment outcomes and long-term success in all diseases, and can be especially important in addiction care. The American Hospital Association is just one of many of many organizations that recognizes the need for a whole-person treatment approach in healthcare. Whether you need addiction treatment in Nashville, New Jersey or Neptune, holistic treatment can help you.

Using A Holistic Approach to Addiction Treatment

So, what does holistic treatment have to do with addiction? Well…pretty much everything when you consider just how much of your or your loved one’s life is impacted by your drinking or drug use. This disease spares nothing. It impacts your physical and mental health, your family dynamic, your job and financial stability, your independence and, in some cases, even your capacity to retain basic life skills.

Addiction recovery is more than just about avoiding drugs or alcohol; it’s about recognizing why you gravitated toward substance use in the first place and addressing those factors in a healthy way. It’s also about repairing the damage that has occurred in all areas of your life because of your substance use, whether it’s a negative health diagnosis, legal trouble, job loss, family dysfunction or anything else. A quality holistic addiction treatment center must address the before, during and after of substance abuse:

• The Before – What happened? Why do you think you turned to drinking or drug use? Was it trauma? Was it a matter of family history? Anxiety? Depression? Something else? Successful long-term recovery means focusing on the origins of your substance use and recognizing them as triggers. Holistic addiction treatment helps you unearth issues you may not even knew you were having and gives you a framework to manage them without using drugs or alcohol.
• The During – Active substance use can take you to some of the most dangerous, desperate and undignified places there are, and these journeys can cause permanent damage. Maybe you’re struggling with serious, life-threatening withdrawal symptoms; maybe your health has suffered because of unsafe needle use; maybe chemical dependency has created lasting changes in your brain that have caused long-term mental health issues. Holistic addiction treatment offers intuitive and personalized clinical and behavioral care to address your immediate medical and psychological needs through detox and rehab.
• The After – This is where the real work in long-term recovery begins. Getting clean is only the beginning. In order to sustain recovery, you or your loved one have to be able move through day-to-day life feeling, safe, valued, stable and supported. This means developing a support system of loved ones on whom you can rely and to whom you’re accountable  and cultivating other areas of your life that have suffered in the wake of your substance use: your health, your job, your financial stability, your independence, etc. Holistic recovery provides a long-term path to getting your life back on track, with resources like sober housing, life skills development, transportation and logistical assistance and more.

The holistic addiction treatment program you choose should be focused on addressing your specific clinical care needs and lifestyle. For example, you may need the flexibility of an outpatient program so you can continue to look after your family. On the other hand, you may not in-depth care that is best provided in a residential program.

Connecting the The 8 Dimensions of Wellness with Holistic Treatment

Now that you know a little more about holistic addiction treatment, let’s talk about how it can be useful in everyday and long-term recovery. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has developed what are called the Eight Dimensions of Wellness as a roadmap for a healthy and fulfilling life in recovery, and in general. They include eight elements of health and quality of life, which are:

• Physical
• Emotional
• Social
• Emotional
• Environmental
• Spiritual
• Financial
• Occupational

While everyone’s care and lifestyle needs will be different, and some people will have to work more on certain core elements than others, these are universal factors that everyone must navigate to live a balanced and healthy life. Holistic addiction treatment dovetails perfectly with these elements, and helps you prepare to live with balance and mindfulness.

Holistic Care at Recovery Unplugged

Recovery Unplugged is fully mindful of the importance of treating the whole person, and we offer holistic addiction treatment in Nashville. Our Tennessee rehab center offers a full continuum of care, including detox for withdrawal symptoms; all levels of behavioral rehab (inpatient, outpatient, residential, etc.); and a specialized dual-diagnosis program for those struggling with co-occurring addiction and mental illness. In addition to our rehab center in Music City, we have multiple locations across the country offering different levels of care.

If you or your loved one are among the thousands who need addiction treatment in Nashville, Brentwood or the rest of Tennessee, Recovery Unplugged is ready to help you take your life back. The admissions staff at our Nashville addiction treatment center are ready to guide you toward peace of mind and lasting recovery.

Dominic Nicosia

The Senior Content Writer here at Recovery Unplugged, Dominic Nicosia oversees the maintenance of our online blog while also handling and overseeing all written communications within Marketing. He also writes articles, thought leadership pieces, and basically everything written regarding web content. Dominic has over seven years of writing experience in the addiction care field and a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing from the University of Arts in Philadelphia. Dominic has been writing and playing music for years and is the proud owner of a Jack Russell/Pitbull mix named Jack. His favorite books are The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre, and Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.