You’re ready to end your dependence on drugs. You want to regain control over your body and mind. You want to make decisions for yourself, feel better and break free. You want your health and your life back. So where do you begin?
Where to Begin
You begin your recovery by ending your physical dependence on drugs and alcohol. Detox is a natural process, and it starts as soon as you stop using a drug. You will experience discomfort and other withdrawal symptoms at this time, but remember that detox is temporary. It is a sign that your body is rebalancing itself. It is relearning how to work without drugs present.
Holistic Detox Options
You can choose holistic treatment options for detox. Holistic medicine helps you find balance in life. WebMD explains that holistic medicine, “considers the whole person — body, mind, spirit, and emotions — in the quest for optimal health and wellness.” It turns out that these priorities of holistic medicine are similar to the priorities of any comprehensive addiction treatment program.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) explains that “Effective treatment attends to multiple needs of the individual, not just his or her drug abuse. To be effective, treatment must address the individual’s drug abuse and any associated medical, psychological, social, vocational, and legal problems. It is also important that treatment be appropriate to the individual’s age, gender, ethnicity, and culture.”1 Any form of addiction treatment should recognize you as a whole person and help you find health and healing in all areas of life.
What Does Holistic Detox Involve?
Holistic detox has its roots in evidence-based, proven treatment options. It supplements this care with alternative and complimentary services. These services may include meditation, acupuncture, and more.
Meditation can be a powerful tool in your recovery. There are different ways to meditate, but most begin by asking you to focus your attention and awareness. This is a first step in changing how you see the world around you and how you relate to your own thoughts and feelings. Meditation can change how you perceive pain, discomfort, and stress. It can change how you react to these and other potential relapse triggers.
Acupuncture may be a part of your detox and recovery. Slim needles or lasers are used to stimulate certain parts of the body and reestablish balance. Medscape explains that acupuncture, “has been widely practiced for the treatment of many functional disorders including substance abuse and mental illness in Eastern countries through diverse methods such as manual acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, and acupoint nerve stimulation. Importantly, acupuncture has become a standard procedure in many detoxification programs for drugs worldwide.”2 Like meditation, acupuncture can help you find immediate relief and long-term recovery support.
What Comes Next?
No matter what type of detox you choose, know that detox is just a first step. It is not recovery in and of itself. NIDA explains, “Medically assisted detoxification is only the first stage of addiction treatment…Although medically assisted detoxification can safely manage the acute physical symptoms of withdrawal and can, for some, pave the way for effective long-term addiction treatment, detoxification alone is rarely sufficient to help addicted individuals achieve long-term abstinence. Thus, patients should be encouraged to continue drug treatment following detoxification.”
When you choose holistic detox services, you can begin some of the work of recovery at the same time. However, detox is never a substitute for addiction treatment. If you choose holistic detox services through an integrated treatment provider, you can shift seamlessly from the early stages of recovery to the ones that will support your long-term wellness.
How Do I Begin My Recovery?
When you are ready to begin your recovery or simply to learn more about your options, call Michael’s House. We offer integrated, holistic treatment services. Find physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual freedom. Reach out, and call us at 760.548.4032 today.
Sources
1 “Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment.” National Institute on Drug Abuse. Jan. 2018.
2 Yang, Chae Ha, et. al. “A Possible Mechanism Underlying the Effectiveness of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Drug Addiction.” Medscape.com. 2008.
