Mental health is more prevalent than ever before thanks to the efforts of clinicians and advocates. More people recognize addiction and mental illness within themselves, and they want to change it. With an influx of people seeking out treatment, it’s important that they receive effective and individualized care. For many people, this includes holistic mental health treatment. This method can be the factor that promotes long-lasting recovery.
What Is Holistic Health Care?
Holistic health care refers to treating all parts of a person, rather than one specific part of a person. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) explains, “Whole person health involves looking at the whole person – not just separate organs or body systems – and considering multiple factors that promote either health or disease.”
By treating the mind, body, and spirit accordingly, the holistic approach gives clients a higher chance of healing and maintaining their recovery
How Is Holistic Mental Health Treatment Different?
Holistic mental health incorporates every part of the body to promote healing in multiple areas at one time. If clinicians can treat more than just the symptoms and find the root of the client’s problem, the client has a better chance of healing.
For example, if a client has severe anxiety, the clinician might look into their history to find out what caused the client to have anxiety. Experiences such as chronic stress, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could be influencing the client’s anxiety. The client may find relief from the symptoms through yoga and meditation. Clinicians can combine this with talk therapy. The client is more likely to heal if their mental health is addressed wholly.
What to Expect From Holistic Treatments
As previously discussed, holistic treatments should focus on treating the individual as a whole. Everyone has different experiences, upbringings, and pain points. An individual’s treatment should be unique to their own needs. Together, the client and the clinician can come up with a plan of care that best suits the client.
Examples of Holistic Treatments
Some holistic treatment approaches can be combined to create an ideal plan of care for the client. Examples of holistic treatments that might be used or combined could include:
- Acupuncture is a treatment in which a licensed professional uses small needles to help relieve stress and pain in certain areas of the body
- Art/music therapy allows the clients to express themselves creatively while they uniquely process their trauma
- Equine therapy is an alternative to psychotherapy, where the client doesn’t have to sit in an office to receive therapy. The client can still talk, process their trauma, and build relationships as they take care of horses
- Nature immersion helps clients connect with nature as they process and learn to control their breathing and heart rate
- Qigong is a practice, similar to tai chi, that focuses on intentional breathing, relaxing movement, and meditation
- Yoga incorporates intentional breathwork, various forms of physical movement, and meditation
Traditional Treatment Options
The above examples can also be combined with other traditional treatment options to complement each other. This will help the client reach their desired outcome. Many forms of traditional treatment exist.
Psychotherapy
Talk therapy, also called psychotherapy, allows clients to process their emotions and life experiences with a licensed professional. This empowers clients to have language for their thoughts and feelings, while also organizing their emotions and memories. Common forms of psychotherapy include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs).
CBT allows the client to discuss their life experiences with a licensed professional. The client will learn that thoughts, behaviors, and emotions are all interconnected. They’ll learn techniques to manage and alter each of these cognitions.
DBT focuses on teaching the client how to think about their reality differently while utilizing coping skills to reduce undesirable behavior. Additionally, it focuses on finding comfort in the middle ground of two contradictory ideas, also called dialectics.
MBIs can combine psychotherapy with mindfulness practices. MBIs encourage clients to meditate and reflect on their experiences, in hopes of reframing negative events.
Interpersonal Therapy
Many people with mental illness and addiction struggle to develop and manage relationships. In addition to individual psychotherapies, a client may go through interpersonal therapies to resolve these issues. This can look like family/couples therapy and group therapy.
Family/couples therapy allows multiple family members to process their hurts and relationship dynamics with a licensed professional. This technique intends to create open communication. Clients learn helpful skills and tools to use with people they are close to.
Group therapy allows like-minded people to share their experiences with others who have been through similar circumstances. This technique helps to build community and allows the members to provide support to each other, decreasing feelings of loneliness and isolation.
Trauma Therapy
Many people live with the effects of trauma. Trauma therapy can come in the form of trauma-informed psychotherapies, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).
While each of these takes a different approach, they all work towards healing and reprocessing unresolved traumas. A person in any of these therapies will work with a clinician to change their reactions to trauma triggers. They’ll also work towards distress tolerance.
What Is the Goal?
The goal of mental health treatment is for the mind and body to heal effectively. Mental health is about so much more than just brain health. It involves every part of what makes a person human: mind, body, and emotions. Holistic mental health treatment is a great approach that encourages positive overall health. By integrating holistic treatments with traditional therapies, a person may find themselves making strides in their healing journey.
Holistic mental health needs to include full-body health to be effective. That’s where we come in. At Sage Recovery, our licensed clinicians specialize in areas of trauma recovery, addiction recovery, diet, acupuncture, yoga, and so much more. We believe that any type of recovery is a full-body experience and should be treated as such. We offer innovative, evidence-based treatments like art therapy, DBT, equine therapy, and EMDR. This ensures that each client gets the individualized treatment they deserve. Our friendly, empathetic staff will walk alongside you as you begin your own, unique healing journey. Whenever you are ready, reach out to us at (512) 306-1394. We are ready to listen.