How Does Holistic Treatment Help Mental Health Recovery?

Summary: Many mental health experts believe holistic treatment helps mental health and addiction recovery because holistic treatment includes all aspects of health without prioritizing one component of health over another.

Key Points:

• Mental health recovery is about more than the absence of symptoms.
• Addiction recovery is about more than the absence of alcohol or drug use.
• Focusing on the absence of disease only prevents individuals from complete healing and growth.
• Both mental health and addiction recovery are most successful when treatment addresses all aspects of health.

Why Does Holistic Health Matter?

To fully heal your mind and body completely from the negative consequences of addiction and or a long-term, serious mental illness, it’s essential to receive comprehensive, integrated, holistic treatment that addresses the entire person, including all mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. Holistic health – and by extension, holistic treatment – is part of a generational sea change in healthcare, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO):

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

The days when we see the doctor just to get a diagnosis and a prescription – unless that’s really all we need – are fading fast in our collective rearview mirror. We now know that social factors, structural factors in society, and the conditions we grow up in – i.e. our early experiences – influence our health for our entire lives.

Here’s how the WHO applies this philosophy to mental health:

“Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders. It’s an integral part of health; indeed, there is no health without mental health. Mental health is determined by a range of socioeconomic, biological and environmental factors. It’s a state of well-being in which an individual realizes their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and contribute to their community. There is no health without mental health.”

For the rest of this article, we’ll discuss how holistic health can not only help mental health and addiction recovery but also function as a core feature of the healing and growth necessary to achieve total health. And that – according to the definitions we share above – means an individual who’s thriving and living a full life, beyond the absence of symptoms or symptoms of disease.

Holistic Health and Mental and Behavioral Disorders

When it comes to mental health and addiction, i.e. mental and behavioral disorders, there’s always more than meets the eye. In other words, a mental health disorder is almost never about just the symptoms themselves, and addiction is almost never just about the substance of misuse itself. A view below the surface shows both are almost always about something deeper. That means that in order to achieve full recovery, it’s necessary to address the deeper issues, no matter how uncomfortable the process may be.

Without addressing these deeper issues, you run the risk of getting stuck without making progress, which can be very frustrating.

Holistic therapies and treatment approaches allow you to heal core issues at the heart of your mental health or addiction problems, rather than simply addressing what’s on the surface. They help change counterproductive behaviors by introducing you new ways of thinking that allow you to learn more about yourself and give you the tools you need to overcome the challenges you face.

Holistic healing approaches help you identify what you need most out of treatment and in life, then give you useful daily tools to help you meet those goals and live and thrive in the life you choose for yourself, rather than a life dictated by the symptoms of a mental health disorder or cravings for alcohol and/or drugs. When you can meet your mental, physical, and spiritual needs, you’re far less likely to seek out things that cause harm, i.e. alcohol/substance use, and you’re much more likely to engage in activities that promote healing and connection, i.e. behaviors that promote positive mental health.

Holistic Treatment Approaches That Help Mental Health and Addiction Recovery

There are a wide variety of holistic treatment approaches that help mental health and addiction recovery. Whether you’re in treatment for mental health disorder or an alcohol/substance use disorder, there are three main categories of treatment required for a treatment program to be considered truly holistic.

These categories and treatment approaches include mental health, physical health, and spiritual/emotional health. We’ll discuss these below, starting with mental health.

Category 1: Mental Health

Treatment approaches that help build your mental wellness include modalities such as:

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Motivational Interviewing (MI)
• Group therapy

For people in addiction treatment, strengthening mental well-being helps improve other areas of life, and helps patients unearth the root cause of how and why they developed an addiction/substance use problem.

For instance, if and addiction disorder developed to mask symptoms of depression, then therapy for depression – in addition to addiction counseling – can reduce likelihood of relapse or ongoing use. The same is true for an underlying condition like anxiety. If and addiction disorder developed to mask or manage the symptoms of anxiety, then therapy for anxiety, when included alongside addiction counseling, can help reduce risk of relapse and prevent ongoing use.

If you have anxiety or depression, for example, you may find your symptoms decrease after engaging in mental health treatment. Tending to your mental health in this way ensures you can handle whatever life throws at you without getting overwhelmed.

Now let’s look at the second essential component of a holistic approach to mental health and addiction treatment: physical health.

Category 2: Physical Health

Engaging in activities that address physical needs is vital for successful treatment and recovery. This may not seem obvious a first, but it’s true: a consistent routine of daily activity improves outcomes for people in mental health and addiction recovery. For people who lead a sedentary lifestyle and/or haven’t gotten much exercise in years, this could be intimidating – but it doesn’t have to be.

Here’s what the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says about physical activity, exercise, and health:

Every bit counts. A little is better than none, something is better than nothing, and it’s perfectly fine to start exactly where you are and build slowly, one day at a time.

For a good article on starting small and building over time, please read the following article on our blog:

Can 5 Minutes of Exercise a Couple Times a Day Make a Difference if I’m Way Out of Shape? – Crownview Co-Occurring Institute

Examples of treatment approaches that address physical health in the context of mental health and addiction treatment include:

• Nutrition classes
• Yoga
• Exercise classes
• Basic health information classes
• Experiential, nature-based therapy
• Outdoor activities
• Sleep hygiene

When we ignore our bodies, they can become weak and unhealthy.

This is common when a person has a serious mental health or addiction disorder.

In order to handle the very real demands of recovery, an effective treatment program should consistently identify and address the physical needs of each patient. This means recognizing problems that exist and preventing the escalation of problems due to inactivity. In most cases, simple physical problems can be reduced with exercise, eating nutritious food, and getting enough sleep. Manage any additional physical needs or ailments, such as arthritis, diabetes, or other chronic conditions may take more focused approaches, but they must be addressed during recovery. When our bodies fee healthy and strong, and all our conditions or issues are managed the best they can be, it makes meeting the demands of recovery a more practical goal.

Now let’s look at the second essential component of a holistic approach to mental health and addiction treatment: spiritual and emotional health.

Component 3: Spiritual or Emotional Health

Like physical health, the importance of spiritual/emotional wellness in recovery may not seem vital at first glance, but it plays a tremendous role in how we view ourselves and the world around us, which impacts how we view recovery, and can ultimately affect treatment outcomes.

Some modalities that involve spiritual ad spiritual emotional health include:

• Art therapy
• Group therapy
• Equine therapy
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Yoga
• Breath work classes
• Meditation classes

Recognizing and attending to spiritual needs does not have to involve religion, although it can for people who actively practice an organized religion, or people with a history of organized religious or spiritual practices.

Caring for spiritual/emotional needs means finding peace and fulfillment within ourselves.

It means taking a break from the constant stream of thoughts and emotions that fill our heads every day. When we find peace within – through spirituality or otherwise – we reduce the need to seek outside sources for fulfillment because we know we have everything we need within ourselves and within our spiritual practices.

This is a vital part of the healing process. Spirituality can help us leave pessimism and doubt behind and guide us toward long-term happiness. Without hope, we have little chance of success. With hope – and a good treatment team – we can accomplish any treatment goal we set for ourselves.

Find a Treatment Team That Knows Everything is Connected

These holistic elements are connected to one another, just like connected within all of us. That’s why it’s important to find a treatment center that offers comprehensive, holistic, integrated treatment. The mind, body, and spirit are parts of a whole: treating one without the others means none will truly and fully heal. Comprehensive, integrated, holistic treatment gives us the tools we need to recover in a way that helps us grow and thrive in recovery and in life.

Holistic Health for Recovery: Finding the Path Forward

Holistic healing methods are vital for a complete recovery experience. This means tending to all aspects of your needs, not just reducing mental health symptoms or achieving abstinence from alcohol or drug use. For total recovery, we need to address our mental wellness, physical wellness, and our spiritual and emotional wellness through targeted and specialized treatment modalities. That’s how we ensure we get to the root of our mental health or addiction issues, and promote genuine, sustainable recovery.