How to Quit the Holistic Way

When addressing an addiction, all holistic techniques begin with the same basic philosophy: people develop addictions to correct an "imbalance" within them. Addicts become stuck, unaware, and unable to deal with their thoughts, feelings, and actions. They may drink, take drugs, or eat to excess to disassociate from their deficiency. Holistic therapies work to restore balance by connecting mind and body. They take away some of the underlying causes of abuse by helping people become aware of and take responsibility for the way they think, feel, and act.

The goal of many holistic therapies is to restore the body to its naturally healthy state. The best treatments are not offered in isolation; they're carried out with psychotherapy or group therapy—especially when it's open to the holistic view of treating the entire person, not just the addiction—and other holistic therapies.

Holistic philosophy overlaps with the harm-reduction approach to addiction, which evolved out of a desire to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis among injection drug users by dispensing clean needles. People running syringe exchanges realized they had an opportunity to provide additional services to drug users. Now a number of harm-reduction centers—offering programs including acupuncture, massage therapy, and substance use counseling; referrals to detoxification and treatment facilities; and caseworkers to help with housing, food stamps, and medical care have sprung up in cities like New York, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and Oakland. Run by current and former drug users, for current and former drug users, these centers don't demand that clients remain abstinent. From experience they know that no one can be forced into dealing with a problem, and that people who are treated with respect and who are educated about their choices can and often do elect to help themselves.

Holistic therapies do have their skeptics, of course. There's concern that these therapies haven't been properly studied or regulated. "As a general rule, holistic therapies are most helpful when they're used in conjunction with—not in place of—other treatments," says Barrie R. Cassileth, Ph.D., an adjunct professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University, who has written extensively on alternative therapies and cancer treatment. Cassileth sees the need for methodologically sound, rigorous clinical tests before any claims about the capabilities of holistic treatments can be made. Frank Gawin, M.D., scientific director of a laboratory examining addictions at the University of California Los Angeles, agrees. He's currently involved in a six-city study—the largest involving an alternative therapy—to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture on cocaine addiction. Dr. Gawin believes that holistic therapies should continue to be practiced while studies are underway, so long as people receive psychotherapy and are fully informed that these treatments have not been proven effective. "There are no magic bullets," Cassileth concludes. "People ought to be wary of those who say they have one."

MASSAGE

It's too simplistic to say an addiction can be massaged away, but the power of this hands-on therapy is being tested on people dealing with anorexia, bulimia, smoking, and other addictions, with impressive results. The mind-body connection is all-important in massage, says Elliot Greene, M.A., past president of the American Massage Therapy Association. Greene says people with addictions can become trapped in a cycle of avoiding their problems and disassociating from their bodies. The experience of massage where someone touches, respects, and cares for a person's body—can break that cycle, helping addicts reconnect physically and center themselves emotionally. The effect is a newly empowered person more able to talk about and come to terms with an addiction.

Massage may also have a powerful chemical impact on the body. By massaging the soft tissue, therapists release tension and get energy moving. The loosening of tight muscles sends the body a signal to cut down production of stress hormones, such as cortisol. This neurological response has a calming effect on body and mind. In addition, massage moves lymph through the body, assisting the body's natural cleansing process.