How to Quit the Holistic Way

People suffering from drug and alcohol addiction are turning to alternative medicine to kick their habit—and it's working.

By Marianne Apostolides, published on September 01, 1996 - last reviewed on August 11, 2006

HYPNOSIS

Hypnosis seems helpful in treating addictions, and the depression and anxiety associated with them, according to Michael Yapko, Ph.D., a psychologist with a specialty in hypnosis, and author of Trance Work. Hypnosis aids people with addictions because of its ability to facilitate a heightened state of consciousness.

"During hypnosis," Yapko says, "people are intensely focused and their awareness deepened. But even in a trance they can have a conversation."

Not only does hypnosis help people develop specific techniques for changing their addictive behavior, but these techniques seem to take hold more strongly. "Situations, like being in a bar, feel more real than when you're just talking them through in therapy," says Helmut Relinger, Ph.D., a Berkeley, California, psychologist and hypnotherapist. "So people get to rehearse coping with their urges to use," which usually last only one to two minutes. The chance to imagine and truly feel yourself dealing with cravings while hypnotized can help you cope with them at other times.

Brian Alman, Ph.D., a psychologist and creator of Six Steps to Freedom, a program that incorporates self-hypnosis, meditation, and visualization to treat various addictions, says self-hypnosis "allows people to take a unique observer perspective on their own life. They can step back and watch what's going on without judging or criticizing themselves."

When it comes to nicotine addiction, hypnosis results have been mixed, in part because not everyone can be hypnotized. It's been known for 20 years that people who are easily hypnotized are twice as likely to cut their smoking in half as those who aren't able to go under. Other research indicates the ability of hypnosis to control the pain of drug withdrawal symptoms. Studies on migraines, childbirth and dentistry show that hypnosis allows people to gain control over their fear and anxiety, thereby reducing pain.

HOMEOPATHY

Homeopathy, a 200-year-old system of natural medicine, uses minuscule or extremely diluted amounts of substances that in their original concentration might actually produce symptoms of the disease being treated. This philosophy of "like cures like" doesn't mean a little heroin cures a heroin addiction. In fact, Ed Gogek, M.D., a licensed homeopath, cautions that homeopathy doesn't cure chemical dependencies. But it does work on other problems, like pain, anxiety, depression, and restlessness. In other words, homeopaths don't treat chemical dependencies, they treat the causes and consequences of addiction, whether to nicotine, cocaine, or food.

A homeopath takes into account a person's mental, emotional, and physical symptoms and uses remedies derived from plant, mineral, and animal sources that best fit a client's particular condition. For drug addiction, these substances may include tuberculinum, argentum, nitricum, arsenicum, or other materials equally unknown to most people. "Substances used in homeopathy help to express and dispel symptoms and regain balance," explains Martha Oelman, media liaison for the National Center for Homeopathy.

The effectiveness of homeopathy is still not clear. So far, the approximately 15 separate studies that have been rigorously reexamined show positive results for conditions like chronic pain, respiratory infections, and trauma.

A 1993 study by Susan Garcia-Swain, M.D., addiction specialist at St. Peter's Chemical Dependency Center in Olympia, Washington, examined 700 people overcoming drug addictions over a three-year period at the Starting Point addiction clinic in San Diego, California. One-third of her patients received counseling and one of 19 homeopathic remedies for addiction withdrawal symptoms; one-third received counseling and a placebo; and the last group received counseling only. The patients who received homeopathic remedies, says Dr. Garcia-Swain, were twice as likely as the others to remain sober after 18 months. Dr. Garcia-Swain says those people treated with homeopathic remedies were better able to benefit from other talk therapies because they were less guarded, more confident, and more inclined to continue in the program.

With a holistic approach to addiction, people with dependencies are given an opportunity to find their own rhythm to recovery. And when you're trying to kick a habit of any sort, that kind of flexibility can be the difference between success and failure.