If you’ve ever walked into a holistic health center, you may have been confused as to what the term truly means. This is because most of these centers will be filled with various alternatives. Although many people widely accept holistic methods, holistic health within the medical field still has a negative stigma attached. As more research is being done on the benefits of mind-body practices, however, it’s becoming increasingly clear that there’s a lot to be gained from exploring alternative methods.

What is Holistic Health?

Holistic health is an approach to wellness that focuses on the whole person rather than their individual ailments. While most traditional medical practices will address symptoms of various illnesses and diseases until they go away, holistic health practitioners ask about your entire life and how you feel in general so they can identify any lifestyle factors that may be causing or aggravating your symptoms. From there, they’ll work with you to create a plan that will help you balance and heal your entire body and lifestyle.

Benefits of holistic health:

1. 1. Non-invasive: The practice of holistic medicine does not utilize invasive treatments such as surgery or pharmaceutical drugs during its practices. Rather, it seeks other ways for treating illness and disease, such as using natural herbs, food supplements, and acupuncture.
   2. Emphasizes Natural Healing: The term holistic is defined as treating the whole thing in its entirety without isolating any one part of it. This approach looks at the effects that a particular treatment has on your body rather than just focusing on a certain ailment or symptoms that you are experiencing.
   3. Treats the Cause of Illness: The main goal of holistic addiction treatment is to identify and treat the cause behind your symptoms. It treats you as an individual so that you have options for healing rather than being limited to just treating certain conditions with drugs or surgery only.
   4. Caring and Compassionate Environment: The holistic approach treats the whole person, not just an isolated disease or condition. This puts each patient in a caring and compassionate environment without judgment or criticism. A physical exam is usually done to identify your symptoms, followed by blood work to further analyze any health problems that may be present within the body. Next, you will sit down with your physician, who will then review the findings of your exam and blood work with you. Together, you will come up with a treatment plan that is best suited for your health at this time. The holistic approach to health and wellness does not focus on finding the cure to a disease or treating symptoms only. Instead, it focuses on treating all aspects of your health- mind, body, and spirit.
   5. Mental, Emotional Physical: Holistic treatment for drug addiction treats the mind, body, and spirit all at once because it incorporates a holistic approach to your wellbeing. It takes into account your mental, emotional and physical needs so that you can lead a happy, healthy life without having to rely on prescription medications only. Hear about holistic treatment stories from the best addiction recovery podcast
   6. Nutrition: A holistic approach to nutrition and wellness is key to achieving long-term goals and healthy life. It is based on the belief that food can heal as well as cause illness when it comes into contact with the body. Therefore, instead of just eating foods for nutrition, people opt to eat this way because it promotes good health and disease prevention.
   7. Detoxification Benefits: A detoxification program is considered a holistic approach to addiction treatment, cleansing the whole body without using invasive treatments such as drugs or surgery. It incorporates other methods that can help you cleanse your body while providing nutritional support at the same time.

It is important to understand that addiction treatment should be a holistic process. In order for the individual’s recovery and life trajectory to last, it must address not only what causes drug addiction use but also other aspects of their health.