Alternative Treatment

Work obligations, family issues, and deep-rooted problems can reappear daily and can make us feel weak, upset, and helpless. Health issues can leave us feeling as though we cannot do the things that we want to, and that can be very upsetting. Acupuncture is a popular, holistic treatment method aimed to ameliorate many negative effects that we experience. There are many reasons why someone may choose to use acupuncture. Here is a breakdown of the most common causes in need of this form of treatment:

The Sanctuary Model, constructed by Dr. Sandra Bloom, is a theory-based, trauma-informed, trauma-responsive, evidence-supported, whole culture approach that aims to build and/or change an organizational culture. It is a model because it all depends on the team and how they integrate this model. The goal of the sanctuary model is to provide a cohesive, integrative context from which healing can occur from both psychological and social traumatic experiences and the differences between everyone can be addressed. Organizations who choose to use this model will work towards building a space where peace is the core mission and skills are developed on how to lead non-violent lives and generate teamwork. Here are just a few of the characteristics of an organization that uses this model:

According to the Pew Research Center in 2015, 68% of Americans own a smartphone and 45% have tablet computers. Technology is much easier to access, and with that access comes many tools that individuals can use. For instance, Statista, a statistics portal, claims that as of March 2017, Android users can choose between 2.8 million apps, with the Apple store containing around 2.2 million. There are many apps that people can use for a variety of topics – gaming, monitoring, health related issues, and more. As apps are becoming more popular, their use is even becoming prevalent in the recovery world. The American Psychological Association (APA) has identified more than 165,000 health-related apps worldwide, helping users with diet and weight management, mood monitoring, managing chronic diseases, and more. According to Robert Parkinson of U.S. News, there are apps that now help people with recovery – which changes the way that diseases are treated entirely. For example, Sober Grid is an app that helps people find immediate support based on their current location. Squirrel Recovery allows people with a former addiction to develop their own digital support groups. Other apps even help people to track their alcohol consumption, or even to view inspirational messages by others to help them continue their journey through recovery. Instantaneous therapy sessions are also making way into the app world, with some providing video and camera options to connect patients and therapists through phone directly. The APA has also mentioned that apps are so popular because they are available to clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They help keep patients connected to their physician as they track their information outside of the doctor’s office. Apps are also often formatted in a way that’s easy for users to understand and provides more compelling images and usability. Some researchers are skeptical of these health-related apps, however. The fear is that some of these apps are not research and scientific-based, which could provide misleading information to users. While research is still being conducted and new apps are emerging, one thing is for certain: in a technology-based era, apps are becoming more and more used for people recovering. If you are using a health-based app, consider talking with your doctor about which app you are using. You may be able to find out more information on that app and its usefulness, and may even be able to provide results from the app to better aid your patient-physician interactions.

Dr. Lisa Firestone, Dr. Robert Firestone and Joyce Catlett, authors of The Self under Seige state: There is an important difference between introspection and rumination. Time spent alone in thought can be positive – a rich environment for personal growth and creativity, but it can also be dangerous when we are negatively turned against ourselves. Introspection can be a process of healthy self-reflection, examination, and exploration, which is good for your well-being and your brain. Introspection allows us to learn from our past, understand who we are, and develop a closer sense of self. If we can look into ourselves for exploration and clarification, we can become wiser and more self-aware. According to Elite Daily in 2015, introspection can help us to notice negative patterns in our lives, keep us focused on the bigger picture, prevent us from worry about things outside of our control, face our fears, define happiness in our own terms, make decisions based on our conscious, and make changes that will finally lead us to the results that we want.   The Right Way(s) To Do Introspection has some great insight that can be used. Here are some investigative strategies that you can use to get the most out of introspection:

Massage therapy is defined by Northwestern Health Sciences University as the manual manipulation of soft body tissues such as the muscle, connective tissue, tendons and ligaments, to enhance a person’s health and well-being. There are two primary types of massage therapy: relaxation massage and rehabilitation massage. In rehabilitation, this also consists of deep tissue, medical, therapeutic or clinical massage, often practiced in medical settings and rehabilitation centers. Relaxation massage, also known as the Swedish massage, is most often practiced in wellness centers, spas, and massage practices. In a pilot study International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork, patients who suffered from multiple sclerosis were given massage therapy treatment for 6 weeks. By the end of the 6 weeks, the patients saw significant improvement in their feelings of fatigue and pain. In addition to the assistance with multiple sclerosis, massage therapy is most often used for: anxiety, digestive disorders, fibromyalgia, headaches, insomnia related to stress, myofascial pain syndrome, soft tissue strains or injuries, sports injuries, temporomandibular joint pain and more. Another, Journal of Depression and Anxiety, found that therapeutic massage, thermotherapy, and relaxing room therapy benefitted 68 patients with generalized anxiety disorder over the course of 12 weeks. The American Massage Therapy Association states that massage therapy helps people relieve stress, manage low-back pain, reduce anxiety, relieve post-operative pain, improve balance in older adults, promote relaxation, lower blood pressure, improve quality of life in hospice care, decrease stress in cancer patients, improve cardiovascular health, increase range of motion, and more. Massage therapy helps decrease nerve compression and increase joint space, which helps achieve many of the benefits above. While there are many benefits, some people should not use massage therapy. For example, people who suffer from bleeding disorders, burns, deep vein thrombosis, fractures, severe osteoporosis and more may not be eligible to receive this form of treatment. If you are considering using massage therapy to help you relieve stress, anxiety, or other health issues, speak with a doctor today to determine if massage therapy is appropriate for you.

– Pablo Picasso

Holistic health focuses on the whole person; not just physical health.  In holistic health, practitioners use a mind/body/spirit approach to treatment.  Does this type of approach have a place in clinical treatment?  If we truly want to heal what ails us, clinical treatment should encompass the whole of the person including the mind and the spirit. Treatment for substance abuse typically focuses on a person’s physical and psychological dependence on drugs or alcohol.  The goal of treatment is to treat the addiction.  People will learn new coping skills in how to live a life without drugs or alcohol.  They may form social relationships through the fellowship of 12-step meetings.  They may also gain insight into their patterns of behavior or psychological issues surrounding the addiction. Holistic health is relatively new to the substance abuse field as professionals are understanding more about the mind/body/spirit connection.  There are many parts to substance abuse recovery.  The body is affected by chemicals, but so is the mind and the human spirit.  Holistic health should be an option in substance abuse treatment. When one stops to think about all of the people hurt by addiction, the loss of the self, the denial of spirituality, the lack of control in the mind, the pending stress associated with sobriety, holistic health needs to be focus on treatment.  Through holistic health, addicts in recovery can learn how to properly take care of themselves from a whole body approach.  It would be beneficial for addicts to learn how to care for their bodies through good nutrition and exercise.  Taking walks is also a good way to cleanse the mind.  Walking has both physical and mental benefits.  Teaching addicts to meditate and progressively relax the mind through deep breathing, has tremendous benefit on the mind and spirit. Once the addict leaves treatment, they will need to have the skills to cope with life.  These skills can be taught in treatment and include stress reduction techniques, understanding triggers that can cause relapse, job skills, financial skills, social skills, asking for help, and finding spiritual peace.  The addict is a whole person with varying degrees of need.  If only the physical needs of the person are addressed in treatment, then treatment is not supporting the person holistically.  It would be far more effective to teach the skills that not only guide them through the first stages of treatment, but to provide them with the skills that will last a lifetime.

Personality disorders like avoidant personality, dependent personality, obsessive compulsive, histrionic, narcissistic, and paranoid personality disorders are all challenging to treat with traditional therapy. It is widely understood that mental health disorders of many kinds can arise out of experiences in childhood. For personality disorders this is most often true. Treating the core of personality disorders means needing to treat the childhood from which they stem. Traditional psychotherapeutic methods don’t always go back to the core issues and rectify them. Of course, there is no going back in time and changing the past. Through schema therapy, however, there is a way to meet the part of the past that is still alive in an adult, and heal that living part. The more that the inner child, or Vulnerable Child can be healed, the less need for maladaptive coping behaviors. The American Journal of Psychiatry released a large control trial in 2014 which suggested Schema Therapy had a greater success in the treatment of personality disorders than popular forms of therapy treatments commonly used. Schema Therapy saw higher rates of recovery as well as a great reduction in depression and other symptoms. In addition, patients who regularly received Schema Therapy were less likely to drop out of their therapy. Statistically, 80% of the patients in Schema Therapy were considered “recovered” while the numbers for other kinds of therapy didn’t reach beyond 60%. Through therapy and treatment, patients become aware of their different forms of self, or the different narratives in their head, for example, the critical parent. It is most challenging to get into the mode of the vulnerable child because that is where the core existence of hurt and pain, and often trauma, exist. Maladaptive behaviors and beliefs form around protecting or even ignoring the vulnerable child because confronting or living in those vulnerable feelings threatens the protections which have been set up. However, as Science Daily reported, “Direct access to the Vulnerable Child is the key to the therapist being able to meet these needs and is the cornerstone of treatment.” Treating personality disorders includes a combination of adulthood skills for coping as well as inner child work to heal the wounds of the past. Without treatment and therapy, personality disorders can worsen overtime and complicate adult relationships. To cope with childhood pain and the pain of living with an unmanaged personality disorder, many turn to substance abuse.

Avalon By The Sea houses it’s two gorgeous treatment facilities on a shared estate in Malibu. On the cliffside of California’s iconic coastline, our property boasts inspiring views and the ambient sounds of the Pacific Ocean. Canopied by towering trees, filled with lush vegetation, and beautiful flowers, the expanse of our location is filled with magical gardens, beautiful homes, and the wonderment of nature. Each day, our clients have the opportunity to walk peacefully through our serene environment to journal, breathe, reflect, and meditate. Gardens have long been a point of inspiration, with famous gardens showcased around the world. Being around green nature, even being able to see it from your window, has been scientifically proven to increase health. Additionally, being near the ocean or any other body of blue water is also proven to increase health. Reducing stress and enhancing a sense of wellness is part of our mission in creating healing for mind, body, and spirit. Garden walking, more specifically walking through a labyrinth within a garden, is an ancient form of meditation. Refinery29 writes on the topic. “Labyrinths...aren’t mazes but usually symmetrical circuits made of concentric circles.” Labyrinths range in what purpose they have served. In some cultures they are decorative, in others protective. They have been used for religious rituals, training animals, or trapping intruders. Labyrinths are also used for increasing spirituality. “Labyrinths are an incredibly versatile spiritual tool,” the article explains, “they aren’t problem-solvers, but they provide people with a template for meditation and prayer they might not have thought of otherwise.” Labyrinths as a method of meditation are scientifically proven. “Research has found that labyrinth walking can be helpful as part of couples and family therapy, for stress management, and to aid with recovery from trauma.” Recovery is best supported by stress reducing techniques which help clear and calm the mind. Stress of any kind is what triggers the mind toward self-sabotaging and destructive behaviors like relapsing into drug and alcohol use or resorting to maladaptive coping mechanisms. Can’t find an ancient labyrinth nearby? A simple long, mindful walk will work just as well. Walking is about mindfulness and movement, which help reduce stress. As one of California’s only primary mental health treatment facilities, Avalon provides excellence in dual diagnosis treatment. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call us today at 1 888-958-7511.

Experiential learning is one of the most impactful ways of learning. Gaining life skills experience is important during the treatment process. Recovery isn’t just something that is learned and kept in a notebook. Recovery is something lived. The tools and skills learned during treatment one day have to be applied in a real life setting, when there are no peers, no therapists, and no safety of structure available. “Where the rubber hits the road” is where recovery really comes into play. Finding the confidence in oneself to utilize those tools and stay healthy in the world outside of treatment is sometimes a challenge. Addicts and alcoholics have often tried many times to stay sober and be successful in their recovery. Not believing in themselves, they can falter more easily because they don’t believe they have the capacity to apply their recovery to their lives. Ropes courses are an experiential learning tool which helps put confidence to the test in a real time situation. An experiential therapeutic technique, those in recovery are able to see just what they are made of. Full of safety precautions and the guidance of trained therapists, each client pushes their limits and ultimately discovers that they are capable of, quite literally, overcoming any challenge which comes their way. Working with, and against, their minds as well as their bodies, they are able to see that they can work with themselves in support and against their self-defeating thoughts. Research has found that participating in ropes courses “significantly increases the participants’ levels of leadership and work efficacy” for up to six weeks after the challenge. A boost in confidence is precisely what those in recovery need during their time in treatment. They need encouragement to know that recovery is possible and that they are capable of achieving it. Avalon By The Sea offers experiential therapy with ropes courses on a seasonal basis. Our programs are full of unique learning opportunities where clients are challenged to grow. Focusing on mind, body, and spirit, our residential treatment programs are curated to the needs of the client to promote transformative healing. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs of recovery, call us today at 1 888-958-7511.

Mind, body, and spirit- this is the most simple definition of what approaching something from a holistic standpoint means. The holistic approach is being used to treat all areas of mental health, from addiction and alcoholism (substance use disorders) to depression and anxiety (mood disorders) to bipolar and borderline (personality disorders). Any kind of mental health disorder, it has been discovered, doesn’t only affect mental health. Instead, most treatment providers have discovered that mental health issues affect both physical health and spiritual health as well. Holistic treatment means creating an integrative plan for each client which assesses all three areas of mind, body, and spirit. Their mental wellbeing, physical wellbeing, and spiritual well being have to be treated at the same time in order to ensure a greater chance at lifelong recovery. Isolating just one area of treatment negates the other areas of treatment. For mental health issues, there can not be any room for neglect. When someone makes the decision to call for help and enter treatment for a significant amount of time in their life, they need to heal. Most often, people who enter treatment are not well, perhaps more in one area than another. Still, in order to fully recover, they have to heal holistically.