Alternative Treatment

Group therapy is an effective yet controversial part of the treatment process. Often ridiculed for being ineffective, many debate whether going to ‘rehab’ for a drug addiction or mental illness needs to include so much group therapy. Everyone recovers differently, which is why many treatment plans today are highly individualized to meet the specific needs of each client. Group therapy is a way to engage with other clients, support one another on a social level, and benefit from participating in different therapy types. Traditional methods of individual therapy are effective as well, which is why they are included multiple times a week in a treatment plan. Most individual therapists in treatment centers utilize cognitive behavioral therapy which is one of the most widely used and evidence based treatment types for mental health rehabilitation. However, there are issues with regarding cognitive behavioral therapy as the gold standard of addiction and mental health treatment. Cognitive functions and the cognition are a part of the brain can become severely damaged through substance abuse and the untreated side effects of mental illnesses. When the cognition is impaired, called cognitive deficits, grasping the process and many broad messages of cognitive behavioral therapy can be difficult. Too many clients in the early part of their recovery process find themselves in this state and as a result struggle to feel as though they are “getting it”. Consequently, the cognitive behavioral therapy is not as effective. Medical Daily reports on a new study which found that mindfulness based group therapy was found to be as effective if not potentially more so than traditional individual therapy using the CBT method. Patients studied for the research were struggling with either anxiety disorders, depression, or other stress-related disorders. Addiction and alcoholism are frequently co-occurring with any of these disorders. “The researchers evaluated how the patient's’ symptoms changed over the course of the study, either with mindfulness group therapy or CBT. The results revealed both groups’ scores on the various questionnaires decreased significantly.” Conclusively, the researchers emphasize mindfulness as a “viable treatment” for mental health. Mindfulness based therapy treatments are essential for providing the holistic treatment needed to fully recover from addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. Avalon By The Sea offers residential care for primary substance use and primary mental health disorders. For information on our residential treatment programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

Ruminating thoughts, feelings of impending doom, and pessimistic negativity are all hallmarks of depression. Learning how to live with and change negative thinking in depression is a primary ingredient in a recipe of successful recovery. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most relied upon therapies for treating mental health conditions. Highlighting the relationship between thought and behavior, CBT helps clients identify their beliefs which fuel their behavior. Taking an objective look at them, ongoing CBT assists in being able to decide if these are thoughts a client wants to continue having and behaviors they want to continue acting on. Continuing therapy utilizing CBT tools allows clients to make proactive changes in their thinking and consequent behaviors. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Dialectical behavioral therapy was designed to treat more complex personality and mood disorders, like borderline personality disorder. While cognitive behavioral therapy is helpful and applicable to many different mental health conditions, it seemed to fall short for more intense emotions. Chronic major depression can include very low emotional states which include heightened sensitivity and a very intense form of pessimism. DBT is a system for coping with emotional moments when they arise, working to identify feeling-states rather than belief-states before taking action. Metacognitive Therapy According to Health.com, metacognitive therapy, or, MBCT, is similar to cognitive behavioral therapy, without the analysis. Rather than dissect certain thought patterns and beliefs, MCT leads clients to practical applications for “reducing the negative thought processes and take control over them.” For one study, 20 patients with depression went through 10 weeks of MCT therapy sessions, once each week. 80% of the patients scaled a full recovery from depression symptoms. Mindfulness Mindfulness based stress reduction is a system of tools which utilize mindfulness practices in order to alleviate emotional stress. Awareness, noticing, and paying attention are the primary functions of mindfulness which encourage autonomy in the emotional process. Without having to pause and engage in practices, mindfulness is an integrated lifestyle in which someone can simply notice how they are feeling and become aware of their behaviors. Importantly, mindfulness emphasizes an attitude of non-judgment. Healing from depression and learning to live with depression symptoms is possible for you in your life. If you are struggling with depression, Avalon Malibu welcomes you to our residential treatment program. One of California’s only certified mental health facilities for primary mental health conditions, we treat your depression directly and help you heal mind, body, and spirit. For a confidential assessment, call us today at 1 888-958-7511.

Winter is finally ending meaning springtime is right around the corner. With water starting to warm up and the ice melting away you have access to all new water activities that you didn’t before. What does water have to do with mental health recovery? Everything! For starters, the brain sits in a puddle of a water lie substance and is mostly made up of water itself. Our bodies are mostly water as well and so is the planet. Water connects us to everything that is life. Without water, we cannot survive and neither would most of the planet. Being connected to water is deeply healing. For example, the pH levels in the ocean match your internal pH levels, which can make similar feelings of being in the womb, causing you to feel calm and relaxed. Water helps us feel buoyant, relieving a lot of aches and pains. Water also makes us feel happier. Neuroscience research is diving deeper into water- literally- to get a better understanding of just how healing water is. Everyone likes to be near water, whether they know it or not. Even people with extreme phobias of water can overcome them because water is a wondrous thing. Go Kayaking Ocean kayaking can be extreme in the wrong conditions. On a flat day or in an ocean bay, it can be enjoyable. Find a nearby lagoon, lake, or channel where you can kayak. You’ll propel yourself along and focus on your breath while paying attention to the beauty all around you. Learn How To Surf There’s a reason people get “surf stoke”- surfing is fun! Springtime is a good time to start learning how to surf. Rent a wetsuit a board before heading out to the white water. Practice popping up and learning how to time the waves. Many lifetime surfers find the practice to be very zen and spiritual. Pick Up A Boogey Board If paddling out to the lineup and catching monster wages isn’t your thing, stick to the white water with a boogie board. Body surfing is always fun and is a great way to feel the rush of the power of the ocean without risking yourself getting too hurt. Take A Fishing Trip Going out on a boat across miles of open sea can be a transformational experience. Try taking an offshore fishing trip where you might see dolphins and whales along the way. Try Paddle Boarding Stand Up Paddle boarding is like a hybrid of surfing and kayaking. You can even do yoga on a stand up paddle board. Enjoy the power of the board with the power of your paddling as you cruise along, taking in the beautiful ocean around you. Create A Beach Collage If getting into the water doesn’t sound like your thing, you can still enjoy the bounties the water has to offer. Taking therapeutic walks on the beach can help your back, help your mindfulness practices, and keep you right next to the ocean. Along the way, you can find sticks, beach glass, and shells to collect. Make a beach collage with some sand so you can have a piece of the shore with you at home. Avalon By The Sea boasts its location in its name. Our stunning estate sits atop the iconic cliffside coast of southern california’s famous beach town of Malibu. During the warmer season we engage our clients in therapeutic water activities and beach activities making the most of our beautiful environment. For a confidential assessment and more information on our residential treatment programs for mental health and addiction, call 888-958-7511.

Nutritional psychiatry is the term used to describe a new movement being taken on by mental health practitioners prescribing diet changes to their patients. Antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and other prescription medications, in addition to therapy and self-care have been a common prescription for many years. Doctors are always recommending a good balance of diet and exercise, as exercise has been relentlessly proven to decrease symptoms of mental health disorders like depression. With nutritional psychiatry, doctors are emphasizing the diet part of the program. Increasing research has found that there is an important connection between the stomach and the brain. For those in recovery, this is no more obvious than the experience of HALT- the way one’s mood can take a quick, steep turn south when someone gets too hungry. The science behind the connection goes deeper than being hungry or not. Gut bacteria is being proven to have an influence on mood, inflammation, and more. Different foods create different gut bacteria. Holding true to the theory, different foods can create different moods. Nutritional psychiatry argues that following a gut-bacteria and mood-specific diet could be helpful in treating depression. Creating a mood-enhancing specific diet could radically alter the holistic approach of mind, body, and spirit, when it comes to treating depression. According to The Big Think, “95% of your body’s serotonin is made in your gastrointestinal tract.” Serotonin is a critical neurotransmitter helpful in regulating and stabilizing mood. Often, depression is described as a chemical imbalance of serotonin and dopamine.

Mental health care is not something we think of doing for ourselves everyday. However, simple strategies can be used to contribute to good mental health the same way that brushing your teeth every day can contribute to good dental health! Here are a few of our favorites:

For the StarNews Online, Keith Louthan writes about spirituality and the importance of taking time to engage in contemplation. More than contemplating, he suggests we need to more often take time to consider our actions. If everyone took time to consider everything they were going to do before they were going to do it, the world would move a lot more slowly. For that reason, and likely many more, we are unlikely to even have the awareness we need to take the time to just sit and think about some of our behaviors before we act upon them. Louthan expresses that “We could all stand to consider some things, even deeply, but we will never “find” the time.” Our lives are all given the same amount of time in a day, Louthan explains. Nobody has more than 24 hours in any given day, unless they possess some kind of time travel powers. Time has to be used wisely because it can never be created or discovered like a level up in a video game. Louthan writes that if we don’t take the time “to consider, to contemplate the beautiful,” in the heat of the moment we will find ourselves “driven by surging desire, or anger, or sadness, or bitterness, or pride, or any other momentary pleasure…” After all, the only beautiful part of a heated moment is the instant gratification received from getting what we want, when we want it, the way we want it to be gotten. Those who struggle with compulsive behaviors like addiction, alcoholism, and self-harm understand the heat of the moment, especially the drive to receive that instant gratification. These behaviors become more than compulsory, they become habitual. Changing our habits is one of the most difficult challenges we face in recovery. Taking a spiritual approach by creating time for contemplation helps us eliminate the disruptive guilt and shame which can come from taking an honest look at ourselves. We are all humans making decisions about how to use our time. If you are taking the time in your life to work on yourself through recovery, your time is already well spent. Are you ready for change? Avalon of Malibu is here to answer the call. Proudly, Avalon serves as one of California’s only treatment centers providing primary care for mental health disorders in addition to substance use disorders. For a confidential assessment and more information on our residential treatment programs, call us today at 1 888-958-7511.

According to the New York University, drama therapy is defined as "The intentional use of theater techniques to facilitate personal growth and promote health, thus treating individuals with a range of mental health, cognitive and developmental disorders." Those who become drama therapists are not specialized in either drama or clinical therapy, but both. Utilizing a full skill set from both disciplines, a drama therapist is able to provide the use of many tools to their clients. Drama therapy is interdisciplinary, drawing from multiple sources including:

“Pink cloud” is the term used to describe the euphoric state of being sober. Pink clouds come and go. When a new person to sobriety is feeling good, optimistic, happy, grateful, and clear-minded, they are often told they are on a “pink cloud”. Unfortunately, at some point, the pink cloud evaporates and they are left with all the emotions from the other side of the spectrum. Not feeling good is not a favorite experience for people in recovery from both substance use disorders and mental health disorders. Especially those who have rewired their brain through substance abuse, not feeling any feelings which are pleasurable are especially triggering. After all, what is the point of staying sober if you can’t feel good all the time? It takes time to understand that “good” and “bad” are subjective experiences and that they are transitory. Each period of up will be followed by a period of down, or at least a little less up. This is the natural flow of life. As it is commonly said, “This too shall pass.”

Journaling isn’t all about the “dear diary” and recording our every thought and whimsy throughout the day. For loved ones in recovery, journaling is an important practice for mental health. Research has found that spending just twenty minutes of writing for three days in a row two weeks before a medical procedure healed fully within eleven days. Comparatively, those in the same group experiencing a medical procedure who did not spend anytime journaling did not recover fully. Conclusively, the study found, journaling is healing. Specifically, journaling about thoughts, feelings, or distressing events is is healing. The researchers found that one hour of writing can help someone make sense of what is going on in their lives and reduce the effect of distress.

Recovery for mental health is a process of empowerment, self-actualization, and growth. Taking on the huge task of treatment and recovery is no small feat! Help yourself feel empowered in your journey with these simple practices.

Check the labels all you want, you’ll rarely see the word “sugar”. Today, sugar and its analogous compounds run under 61 different names, making their way into over 70% of all processed and packaged foods. Humans are supposed to consume, at most, just over 100 calories of sugar today. For Americans who consume a mostly packaged and processed diets, they could be consuming up to five times that amount of sugar each day without even eating a single sweet. Added sugar is a problem under great controversy in America. Many feel that it is added and processed sugar which contributes to food addiction, eating disorders, and poor physical health including problems of obesity. America has one of the worst obesity problems in the world. Simultaneously, America boasts a high rate of child starvation as well as a high rate of child obesity.

Teenagers are sensitive and malleable. What is experienced during the teenage years leaves a lasting impact. According to Colorado State University, “teens exposed to frequent and hostile interactions between their parents often experience anxiety, depression and difficulties with managing other stresses in their lives.” Anxiety, depression, and poor coping mechanisms is what leads many teens to recreationally experiment with drugs and alcohol in their youth. Seeking an escape and way to make sense of and control and nonsensical and uncontrollable world, teens find refuge in abusing substances and participating in other harmful behaviors.