Substance Abuse Treatment: A Well Rounded Approach to Recovery

Many substance abuse drug rehabs and mental health treatment programs are beginning to recognize that addressing mind, body, and spirit in their treatment programs provides clients with a well-rounded and comprehensive protocol for sobriety and recovery. Very few treatment facilities have incorporated a philosophy that incorporates all four of these principles simultaneously. However, in order to adopt a true holistic philosophy and address the client's healing in the fullest spectrum of an addict's life, the substance abuse treatment protocol must be taken a step further than what is traditionally offered by treatment facilities to include the client's environment and the environment in general.

When clients are taught to heal the environment around them as part of their therapeutic recovery process while in a residential setting, they have the opportunity to practice raising their consciousness. By this, they help to heal themselves in a mindful and purposeful way. In addition, using a treatment methodology that utilizes intensive small group therapy, individual psycho-therapy sessions, and treatment plans and clinical protocol that integrates mind, body, spirit, and environment often yields a significantly higher success rate for clients who experience substance abuse as well as psycho-emotional disorders.

To understand how the process of mind, body, spirit, and environment works, it is imperative to understand the basics behind each of these methodologies. Healing the mind incorporates group and individual therapies, written and reading assignments, as well as study. Healing the body includes a comprehensive physical fitness program of exercise that is designed for each individual client to address his or her specific fitness deficiencies. Healing the spirit encompasses assisting each client to reconnect with their "self" and adopt and practice a spiritual exercise which could include: meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi, or some other spiritual practice which best suits the client's specific orientation. Healing the environment promotes an understanding and consciousness of proactively healing the client's personal living environment as well as becoming aware of the global environment in general.

Although many drug abuse and psycho-emotional treatment programs incorporate mind, body, and spirit, they lack the fully holistic approach which includes the environment. The purpose of including the environment in the total healing philosophy and process, particularly for drug and alcohol abuse clients and those suffering from depression and other emotional problems, is for the client to understand that by healing one's own environment and building a consciousness of caring for and healing the planet they help to heal themselves.

By incorporating the environment into the healing process, treatment facilities are able to assist their clients in elevating their thinking to a heightened awareness. This is beneficial because scholars in the medical and psychiatric fields have concluded that as an individual's thinking changes, the behavior will change by itself, since thinking produces behavior.

Another important aspect that mind, body, spirit, and environment substance abuse treatments support is changing a clients thinking by utilizing therapeutic programming which is achieved by using indirective and metaphorical techniques. The best therapeutic result is usually achieved when a client is brought to his or her own conclusions. Rather than employing a directive and controlling approach that may produce a defensive attitude by the client and hamper the change process, the indirective and metaphorical techniques allow the client to come to his or her own conclusion. This yields a more productive therapeutic result, not only in the clients' behaviors but also in their thinking, sobriety, and recovery. Since this is the philosophy that mind, body, spirit, and environment is based on, these treatment facilities are able to provide clients with a well-rounded approach to recovery.

Although many treatment facilities have incorporated a philosophy that incorporates mind, body, and spirit simultaneously; in order to adopt a true holistic philosophy and address the client's healing in the fullest spectrum of an addicts life, the substance abuse treatment protocol must be taken a step further than what is traditionally offered by treatment facilities to include the client's environment and the environment in general. Clients that are taught to heal the environment around them as part of their therapeutic recovery process while in a residential setting have the opportunity to practice raising their consciousness and have a greater chance at successful recovery.

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