The use of holistic therapies in rehab is a highly debated topic. While some experts claim that holistic therapies are the missing piece of effective treatment, others say these alternative therapies lack scientific backing. Still, as modern addiction treatment progresses, these practices are employed more and more in rehabs worldwide. Here, we’ll take a look at what holistic therapy options are available, how they work and the research that speaks to their effectiveness in treating addiction.

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Tequesta, Florida, United States

Futures Recovery Healthcare

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Futures of Recovery Healthcare specializes in treating adults 30 years and older suffering from substance use, mental health disorders, and co-occurring disorde...

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Vail Valley, Colorado, United States

All Points North Lodge

All Points North Lodge is a comprehensive wellness and personal development campus specializing in addiction, trauma, and mental health.

$49,000-$200,000

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Malibu & Los Angeles, California

Oro House Recovery

Oro House provides compassionate treatment focused on connection and a full continuum of services. Voted California's Best Addiction Treatment Center of 2021 by...

$30,000-90,000/month

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Canton, Massachusetts, United States

Bedrock Recovery Center

(1)

Located on 6 acres of greenery, Bedrock Recovery Center is a hotel-style rehab providing trauma-informed and evidence-based treatment plans for adults.

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San Clemente, California, United States

Chapters Capistrano

Located in sunny Southern California, Chapters Capistrano provides holistic, evidence-based treatment for substance abuse and addiction.

$39,500 (Insurance Accepted)

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Los Angeles, California, United States

Hollywood Hills Recovery

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Nestled in the private hills of Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills Recovery is a boutique substance abuse treatment center offering holistic care.

$30,000+/month (Insurance Accepted)

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Houston, Texas, United States

J. Flowers Health Institute

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J. Flowers Health Institute provides personalized, concierge care, for busy professionals, adolescents and young adults, and highly complex individuals.

$49,500 - $129,000

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Raymond, Illinois, United States

Lincoln Recovery

Located in the countryside, Lincoln Recovery takes an evidence-based approach to treatment, offering onsite detox, individualized programming and luxurious priv...

$25,000 - $35,000

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Dana Point, California, United States

Monarch Shores

Monarch Shores offers luxury housing with beautiful ocean views and individualized addiction treatment in Southern California.

$34,500

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Malibu, California, United States

Rise in Malibu

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A 5-star Yelp-rated Luxury Treatment Center in Malibu, offering a majestic ocean view, 1-1 doctorate-level therapy sessions, and private ensuite rooms.

$90,000 (Insurance Accepted)

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Tucson, Arizona, United States

Sierra Tucson

Using an innovative treatment program called The Sierra Model, Sierra Tucson has been rated one of the region’s top-ranking hospitals by U.S. News.

$20,000-$45,000

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Newport Beach, California, United States

Sierra by the Sea

With multiple facilities strategically located on magnificent Newport Beach, Sierra by the Sea provides gender-specific, primary and long-term treatment.

$16,500-$33,000

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Ashby, Massachusetts, United States

Spring Hill Recovery Center

A 70-acre secluded retreat offering tailored treatment plans, evidence-based therapies, and a family-like atmosphere in the Massachusetts woodlands.

$22,000 - $31,000 (Insurance Accepted)

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Florida, USA

Tikvah Lake Recovery

Tikvah Lake Recovery is an extremely personalized executive treatment center for those who seek the ultimate in treatment, privacy, and luxurious comfort.

$60,000–$85,000 per month

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Hollywood, Florida, United States

United Recovery Project

A multi-structured program that offers gender-specific residential housing and personal treatment plans.

$30,000-$60,000 (Insurance Accepted)

What Are Holistic Therapies?

Holistic (also known as alternative, complementary or unconventional) therapies are designed to treat a person as a whole—body, mind and spirit. In rehabs, holistic therapies help address issues that both lead to and result from an addiction. Rather than targeting a specific issue, they’re designed to address your overall mental, physical and spiritual wellness.

Alternative treatments use mindfulness, spirituality and energy-related work to boost your health and well-being. Supporters of this approach see addiction as a symptom of broader unwellness. They also point out it’s equally important for the negative emotional and physical side effects of addiction to be treated, in addition to the addiction itself. Holistic therapies come in many different forms; here are some of the most popular:

• Meditation
• Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, dance and other types of mindful movement
• Acupuncture and acupressure
• Massage
• Reiki, crystals and other types of energy work
• Herbal, Chinese or ayurvedic medicines
• Homeopathy
• Nutritional therapy

These therapies are designed to treat the underlying causes of addiction and promote more meaningful and longer-lasting healing. They also differ from conventional treatment in that they’re based on a more spiritual understanding of addiction.

Do Alternative Treatments Work for Addiction?

Measuring the effectiveness of addiction treatment in general is no easy task. This is even truer of holistic therapies, for a few reasons:

• Holistic treatments are almost always used in combination with conventional methods like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medication. Alternative therapies enhance and support these traditional therapies, which makes it harder to measure the success of holistic methods alone.
• Holistic therapies include a wide range of practices, as you can see from the list above. The term “holistic therapies” covers a broad scope, so blanket statements about their effectiveness aren’t entirely accurate.
• Each individual responds differently to different therapies. What works for you might not work for someone else, and vice versa.

The question, “Do holistic therapies work?” is, definitively speaking, unanswerable. But addiction experts do have some evidence of their effectiveness through clinical research.

What We Know About Alternative Therapy in Rehab

Below are some facts about the use of holistic treatments in rehab along with corresponding research for each:

Holistic Therapies Treat More Than Just Addiction

Unconventional treatments attempt to treat your well-being as an interconnected whole,¹ rather than honing in on one aspect of your physical or mental health. Some other concerns that holistic measures seek to address are

• Physical symptoms brought on by the addiction and/or withdrawal
• Emotional imbalances at the root of your addiction
• Nutritional deficiencies that create chemical imbalances in the brain
• A lack of spiritual grounding, which can contribute to feelings of loneliness and meaninglessness

These are just some of the underlying issues that may be indirectly related to (but play a significant role in) your addiction.

Wellness Therapies in Rehab Increase Chances of Program Completion

Treatment centers that use holistic measures have better program-completion rates.² A study by the academic journal Psychiatry Services found that better services in a rehab center and the client’s satisfaction levels were positively correlated to completion of the program. In other words, your comfort level in rehab is important when it comes to completing treatment. And of course, if you complete your treatment program, your likelihood of maintaining sobriety is higher.

Holistic Approaches Treat Trauma Connected With Addiction

The link between trauma and addiction has been well established. Whether your addiction brought trauma into your life or traumatic life experiences led you to addiction, the majority of addicts identify as having some form of trauma. Experts agree that healing trauma is an essential component of recovery. The impact of holistic therapies on trauma³ is quite definitive—if you struggle with trauma and are seeking help for an addiction, holistic treatment options could improve your chances of a lasting recovery.

Complementary Treatments Decrease Chances of Relapse

Once you’ve completed treatment, holistic therapies can help you prevent relapse. Specifically, one study found that mindfulness-based therapies successfully prevent relapse.⁴ Clinicians found that through meditation, recovering addicts were better able to identify potentially triggering scenarios and remain calm in stressful situations, which may have otherwise caused them to relapse. Receiving alternative treatments while in rehab can provide you with the necessary skills for a lasting recovery.

Holistic Treatments Combat the Stigma of Addiction

One of the greatest obstacles in both seeking treatment for addiction and maintaining recovery is stigma. Stigma often prevents people with addictions from seeking help and adds to the difficulty of staying sober. However, alternative treatments help addicts in recovery manage stigma more effectively.⁵ By creating feelings of inner peace and harmony, addicts are better equipped to handle the stigma that inevitably comes with addiction.

Women Respond Better to Alternative Therapy in Rehab

Studies show that alternative therapies are more effective in treating addiction in women⁶ than men. This trend may be partially attributed to the socialization of women to be more open to alternative approaches. Whatever the reason, if you’re a woman seeking treatment, it could benefit you to look for a rehab that gives you the option of holistic therapies to complement your core program.

Benefits of Holistic Therapy

Although holistic therapy for addiction remains a debated issue among researchers and clinicians, many agree to the following benefits:

It’s natural. Alternative therapies use methods that are natural and don’t involve prescription drugs. While the use of medication can be a good treatment tool, it’s not necessary in all cases and if you prefer to avoid it, holistic measures may be right for you.

It restores your body’s equilibrium. Addiction wreaks havoc on your body’s inner balance. Oftentimes, addiction comes with other harmful habits, such as, poor sleeping or eating tendencies. Holistic therapies can address these other imbalances, leading to overall improved health.

It develops lifelong healthy habits. Meditation and yoga are two examples of healthy practices that you may wish to continue after treatment. These go a long way in helping maintain your wellness in recovery—and your sobriety, as a result.

It treats the body, mind and spirit. As the term “holistic” suggests, these methods treat the whole person by dealing with wellness concerns on multiple levels. By expanding treatment to various aspects of self, holistic therapies encourage a more complete sense of well-being.

Choosing a treatment center that offers holistic options gives you access to these extensive benefits, which you can take with you well beyond your time in rehab.

Wellness Programming at Luxury Rehabs

The decision to seek treatment isn’t an easy one to make. But luxury rehabs try to ensure your treatment journey is as comfortable and comprehensive as possible. And the best treatment centers don’t depend solely on holistic therapies; rather, they use alternative methods to complement evidence-based treatment.

With holistic therapies, you’re more likely to not only find peace in your experience, but also remain in the program when the process gets tough. While you do the hard work of getting sober and sorting through a painful past, alternative treatments make you more receptive to conventional therapy and uplift your overall state. To learn more, see our directory of luxury rehabs offering holistic therapy here.

1. Long A. F. (2009). The potential of complementary and alternative medicine in promoting well-being and critical health literacy: a prospective, observational study of shiatsu. BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 9, 19. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2706798/ [↩]
2. Hser, Yih-Ing, et al. “Relationship Between Drug Treatment Services, Retention, and Outcomes.” Psychiatric Services, vol. 55, no. 7, July 2004, pp. 767–74. https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ps.55.7.767 [↩]
3. Wahbeh, H., Senders, A., Neuendorf, R., & Cayton, J. (2014). Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: A Systematic Review. Journal of evidence-based complementary & alternative medicine, 19(3), 161–175. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4177524/ [↩]
4. Ruth A. Baer, editor. Mindfulness-Based Treatment Approaches . 2nd ed., Elsevier, 2014, https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780124160316/mindfulness-based-treatment-approaches [↩]
5. Kissman, K., & Maurer, L. (2002). East meets West: Therapeutic aspects of spirituality in health, mental health and addiction recovery. International Social Work, 45(1), 35–43. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0020872802045001315 [↩]
6. Polak, K., Haug, N. A., Drachenberg, H. E., & Svikis, D. S. (2015). Gender Considerations in Addiction: Implications for Treatment. Current treatment options in psychiatry, 2(3), 326–338. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4578628/ [↩]

By 

Kayla Gill

Kayla Gill

Writer

Kayla currently serves as LuxuryRehabs.com’s Content Director, providing treatment seekers with the knowledge they need to make informed choices about their recovery.

| Published August 6th, 2018|  Professionally Reviewed By 

Olivia Mueller

 

 Reviewed by Olivia Mueller on August 6, 2018

Olivia holds over 10 years of experience in the addiction treatment industry and a Master’s in Addiction Studies from King’s College London, University of Adelaide, and Virginia Commonwealth University.