Holistic Drug Rehab

When a family or individual is looking for drug rehab, they have dozens of different choices. For a person to get the result from rehab that they really want, it’s important to scrutinize the available choices carefully. The goal of that rehab should align with their personal goals and values. One choice that many people look for is a holistic drug rehab.

The Definition of Holistic

Holistic treatment considers the whole person along with their concerns, health, life situations and abilities or disabilities. When considering a recovery program for a loved one, looking into holistic drug rehab makes sense because most people who are addicted need to address a range of factors, not just drug use in isolation. These factors include aspects of their social and family lives along with issues related to the body, mind and spirit.

“But addiction is more than just compulsive drug taking— it can also produce far-reaching health and social consequences…”

The National Institute on Drug Abuse addresses this point very specifically in its guidebook, Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment.¹ This guide states, “But addiction is more than just compulsive drug taking— it can also produce far-reaching health and social consequences. For example, drug abuse and addiction increase a person’s risk for a variety of other mental and physical illnesses related to a drug-abusing lifestyle or the toxic effects of the drugs themselves. Additionally, the dysfunctional behaviors that result from drug abuse can interfere with a person’s normal functioning in the family, the workplace, and the broader community.”

Later in this guide, NIDA states, “To be effective, treatment must address the individual’s drug abuse and any associated medical, psychological, social, vocational, and legal problems.” In short, a program that simply gets a person off the drugs and then sends them home without these other factors being properly addressed is likely to be inadequate. There would be a greater likelihood of the person needing another trip to rehab in the future.

A Gradual Approach to Sobriety and Recovery

No one who goes to drug rehab is ready to face the totality of the changes they need to make on their very first day. Recovery must be approached on a gradual basis. The degree of challenge should be gentle to start and then increase when a person gets deeper into the program.

In this gradual way, it is possible to address changes in each person’s life without their being overwhelmed. “Holistic” refers to the whole of a person, organization or even ecological system. A holistic drug rehab program will guide a person through improvements in body, mind and spirit. When a person becomes less burdened in body and mind, it will be easier for them to connect with their own spirituality and spiritual beliefs, even if there is no spiritual component to the rehab program.

First, Clearing Away the Effects of Drugs

A person must start their return to sobriety by breaking free from the immediate effects of drugs. At most drug rehab programs, this step consists of going through a supervised drug detox, during which time the drugs they were taking are neutralized by their bodies. Once each person has withdrawn from the drugs they were using and they are finally sober, they can begin to consider the changes they need to make.

Narconon drug rehabilitation program includes a second, deeper detoxification step. The New Life Detoxification Program combines time in a low-heat sauna, nutritional supplementation known to aid detoxification and moderate exercise. Day by day, exercise and sweating address drug residues stored deep in the cells.² Once these toxins are washed away in the sweat, many people say they feel brighter and more positive. Some people say they sleep better and stop having bad dreams.

These improvements may help provide some people in this holistic rehab program relief from Post-Acute Withdrawal Symptoms (PAWS).³ Lingering PAWS symptoms that can last as long as two years include:

• Difficulty with memory, learning or problem-solving
• Periods of anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Difficulty maintaining relationships with friends and family
• Apathy
• Cravings for the drugs that were being taken
• Low, bleak attitude
• Poor sleep
• Sensitivity to stress

At one time, these negative effects were just accepted as inevitable. But now many people can find a solution to these harsh effects.

The Narconon New Life Detoxification can improve and ease these symptoms for many. Relief from PAWS is an excellent way to begin one’s new, sober life.

Next, Learning to Live in the Present

Anyone who has spent much time in an addicted lifestyle suffers trauma and pain. They routinely experience guilt for the harm they have done to themselves and their families. They may have seen friends die or may have been injured or nearly died themselves. It’s not easy to be optimistic about the future when one is burdened with these memories.

To build a sober future, there must be a way to find relief from this guilt and pain. A drug rehab with a holistic focus will provide group or individual counseling, or offer some other way to alleviate this spiritual pain. They may offer yoga classes or wilderness experiences, or encourage community contributions.

Whatever method is used, it is essential that a person in rehab learns to focus on the present rather than the past. At a Narconon rehab, this improvement to mind and spirit is aided by a series of unique exercises that focus one’s attention on the here and now. At the end of this series, each person can achieve a more stable grasp of their current environment. Living in the present provides greater freedom from the pain and guilt of the past.

Building Life Skills in a Holistic Drug Rehab

Finally, it’s vital to help each person develop healthy life skills. Some people may never have developed these life skills before they became addicted. Others were addicted for so long that they may have lost them. Whichever it is, it’s necessary for each person to adopt new social, emotional and behavioral habits. They must know how to make the right decisions when challenges or setbacks arise.

The best changes come from the inside out, from an increase in each person’s ability and awareness. A good drug rehab imposes a certain discipline on those in care to bring these upgraded abilities and awarenesses about. But in the end, it’s up to the individual to truly learn how and why to make better choices. A holistic drug rehab program will ensure each person realizes these self-improvements.

What abilities should a person ideally learn before they go home?

• Recovering one’s own personal integrity and self-esteem
• Knowing how to choose the right friends and associates
• Being able to restore relationships with family, friends and employers
• Living and communicating honestly
• Knowing how to solve problems and weather setbacks
• Having the ability to make the right decisions to maintain sobriety, even when it’s difficult
• And much more.

Whether these skills result from counseling or life skills training in a classroom, they are essential for long-term sobriety.

At Narconon drug rehab, the life skills training component has a restorative effect on both the mind and the spirit. As the skills listed above are learned, each person’s ability to live a sober, productive life improves. With these kinds of improvements, a formerly addicted person can become more whole again, after years or decades of feeling utterly broken.

Sobriety After Graduation

Aftercare is just as important as all the earlier steps of a holistic drug rehab program. For the first days, weeks or months back in the world, even a person who has successfully completed a holistic drug rehab program needs support.

With this support, they have someone who guides them as they apply the skills and improvements to body, mind and spirit they were able to achieve in rehab. Like many other holistic drug rehabs, the Narconon drug rehab has staff who monitor the reintegration of their graduates with their former lives.

Drug rehab should not have too narrow a focus. Simply getting a person off drugs or maintaining them on pharmaceutical products is not enough to provide a holistic recovery from addiction.

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