ART THERAPY

Art therapy is provided by a professional art therapist. It helps improve a person’s self-esteem and self-awareness. It also assists in promoting insight into conflicts and difficult emotions experienced by a patient. This can help reduce or resolve the situations and feelings that have troubled a person.

Art therapy incorporates creative outlets to help complement other types of therapy. This includes visual arts such as drawing, painting, sculpting, and collage. Often people find it difficult to openly discuss things like depression or traumatic events. Channeling their thoughts and feelings into artwork helps the therapist understand their patient.

A wide range of facilities and programs provide art therapy as part of their curriculum. Art therapy programs exist in private therapy, rehabilitation and mental health facilities, hospitals, and community clinics. Focused groups such as those found in schools, senior communities, and veteran groups also benefit from the healing effects of art therapy.

BREATHWORK

Breathwork involves using breathing exercises to help improve the physical, mental, and spiritual health of a person. The art of breathwork has origins in Eastern medicine while incorporating more modern Western practices.

Intentionally changing a person’s breathing pattern can bring about positive physiological and emotional changes. The act of focusing on breathing helps center a person’s mind. Many different types of breathwork exist, giving a practitioner choices to explore what best suits their patient.

Breathwork can assist in treating issues such as:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Trauma and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Grief and loss
• Anger
• Chronic pain
• Emotional effects of illness

YOGA

Rooted in Indian philosophy, yoga enjoys great popularity in the United States. A recent survey showed that one in seven adults has practiced yoga in the past year. Yoga helps promote physical and mental well-being. It includes physical posturing, breathing techniques, and concentration. Some types of yoga focus on more gentle practices, while others provide a more physically demanding session.

Practicing yoga as holistic therapy helps promote strength, flexibility, and endurance. It also assists in developing calmness and a feeling of being centered. It can help relieve pain and reduce the symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression.

Many addiction treatment programs offer yoga to help reintroduce patients to how their bodies feel. This can be quite eye-opening after they have spent a great deal of time physically numbed by drugs and alcohol.

Sound Bowls Therapy

Sound therapy with singing bowls is an ancient form of holistic healing. The sound and vibrations from these unique instruments stimulates stress relief and helps naturally eliminate toxins from the body. They are also effective for easing emotional or mental issues, including worry, fear, anger, anxiety, low self-esteem, insomnia, and depression.

Sound bowls therapy is also proven to stabilize mental function and improve synaptic responses in the brain for clearer thinking and processing. The bowls may be placed on or around you during your therapy session to facilitate a calming, healing, and harmonious experience.

Sound bowls are often called “singing bowls” for their resonant, musical sound and for how the soothing, exotic sounds linger for a time after being played. Different versions of sound bowls are made from various materials and come in different sizes. There are Tibetan bowls, Japanese bowls, Nepalese bowls, Bengalese bowls, and even crystal bowls made of glass.

EXERCISE

Most people are familiar with hearing their doctor impress upon them the importance of exercise. This good advice applies to treatment for substance use disorders. A Harvard Medical School report stated that exercise, coupled with other treatments, can assist in helping with recovery from addiction.

Exercise as holistic therapy involves making the mind/body connection. A body that has been ravaged by long periods of drugs and alcohol abuse often needs an exercise program to help begin repairing it. Exercise helps improve a person’s mood. Mental health issues such as depression and anxiety often accompany addiction. This means that exercise can boost treatment success for both physical and emotional needs.

NUTRITION

When a person lives a life consumed by addiction to drugs and alcohol, their nutrition likely suffers. They often consume less food than needed and make poor choices when they do eat. Individuals struggling with addiction may lose nutrients through side effects of their disease, such as vomiting and diarrhea. This makes incorporating new healthy eating habits vital to recovery.

Many inpatient and residential treatment facilities and sober living houses include nutrition as part of their program. Residents benefit from learning to grocery shop and prepare delicious and nutritious meals. A body that can count on regular, healthy meals is better prepared to meet other recovery goals.