What Is Holistic Therapy and How Does It Work for Patients?
December 5, 2019 | Posted In Home
Holistic therapy is one that the rehab industry is torn on. While the argument can be made that holistic therapies offer things that are missing in conventional therapies, the counter argument is that they therapies aren’t as effective. Regardless of the stance of holistic therapies, it is appearing as an option in more rehab centers and recovery homes as time goes on.
What Is Holistic Therapy?
Holistic therapy, also known as alternative, unconventional, or complementary therapy, is a type of therapy that is meant to stimulate the patient in its entirely, from the body to the mind to the soul. These kinds of therapies are created to help address things that cause and come from addition. Instead of going after a certain problem, they’re instead made to address the physical and mental wellbeing of the patient.
In order to improve this wellbeing, holistic therapies use energy and spirituality to gradually perk patients up. People in favor of holistic therapy argue that it works to treat unwellness as a whole, rather than to just try to stop the addiction. Depression, anxiety, and other negative emotions can still affect patients, or they can appear as a result of fighting the addiction altogether. Many holistic treatments ensure that they attain positive energy and emotions so that their bodies and minds change for the better, rather than just their habits.
Types of Holistic Therapy
There are many kinds of therapies that rehab centers and recovery homes have experimented with. You might see many activities that you may consider fun, but all of them are meant to focus on healing the body in one or more ways. Some of these therapies are as follows:
- Massage
- Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, or another movement therapy
- Meditation
- Acupuncture And / Or Acupressure
- Music Therapy
- Art Therapy
- Dance Therapy
- Reiki or Crystal Therapy
- Nutritional Therapy
Many of these activities are designed for treating the underlying catalysts for addition, while also ensuring the healing the patient receives is enjoyable, meaningful, and long-lasting.
Why Is Holistic Therapy Good?
There are several benefits to holistic therapy. They are as follows:
It is a natural healing process. – Conventional treatment plans do not use natural methods and also involve prescription drugs. While medication can be considered helpful, it’s not one that many recommend if the goal is to avoid drugs altogether.
It addresses an improvement of health. – Addiction often comes with a few detriments to the body, such as poor sleeping and eating habits, leading to an imbalance in the body’s equilibrium. Holistic therapies can do a lot to restore this equilibrium so that the patient lives healthier as a result.
It encourages healthy habits. – There are many activities that patients are encouraged to do following their recovery, such as yoga and/or meditation. These activities are things that patients can still do from time to time in order to promote healthier habits and stay sober.
Finally, it works to treat the body, spirit, and mind. – It was originally called “holistic” because they are designed to treat the patient’s “whole” by tackling the patient’s issues on more than one level.
Holistic treatments are not considered replacements or substitutions of conventional rehab treatments, but rather supplements of such treatments so that patients can get each area of recovery covered. With that said, holistic therapy is considered a good compliment to inpatient or outpatient therapy programs.