Holistic and medicalized treatments represent two different approaches to healthcare, each with its own philosophy, methods, and goals.
Here’s a breakdown of the key differences between them and how we approach healing in the Get Sober Program:
Our Holistic Treatment Approach
- Focuses on treating the whole person—body, mind, and spirit—rather than just addressing symptoms.
- Views health as a balance between physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.
- Encourages natural healing processes and often uses complementary or alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, meditation, nutrition, and herbal medicine.
- Emphasizes prevention and lifestyle changes to maintain overall wellness.
Traditional Medicalized Addiction Treatments
- Focuses on diagnosing and treating specific diseases or medical conditions, primarily using pharmaceutical drugs, surgery, or other medical interventions.
- Views the body as a machine, where each part can be treated separately.
- Prioritizes symptom management and curing disease rather than looking at the individual’s overall health.
- Relies heavily on evidence-based, standardized medical protocols and specialized treatments.
Our Roles
Holistic Treatment
- We are both active participants in your healing process.
- Treatment is personalized to you, and your lifestyle, emotional health, and social factors are considered.
- We place emphasis on your self-care, empowerment, and education.
Medicalized Treatment
- Views you as a passive participant with the physician taking the lead in diagnosing and prescribing treatment.
- Your role is to follow their lead with little emphasis on self-awareness or lifestyle adjustments.
- Decisions are not based on what you share but rather on medical tests and doctor expertise
Our Treatment Methods
Holistic Treatment
- We include various modalities such as nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, and mind-body practices when appropriate and agreed upon
- We advocate using natural remedies such as herbal medicine, homeopathy, and acupuncture, energy-based therapies like Reiki, chiropractic and massage care, are all examples.
- We use psychodynamic therapy approaches and psychedelic therapy approaches that incorporate all aspects of you
Medicalized Treatment
- Relies on pharmaceutical drugs, surgeries, and advanced medical technology.
- Treatment is focused on interventions that target specific diseases or symptoms.
- Psychotherapy is heavily focused on behaviour and thinking with pharmaceuticals rather than healing the root causes of your addiction
Our View of Disease and Health
Holistic Treatment
- We view disease as a result of imbalances within the body, lifestyle, or emotional state.
- We see health as a dynamic balance of multiple factors, including the environment, nutrition, emotions, and genetics.
- We prioritize identifying and addressing root causes of illness rather than just symptoms.
Medicalized Treatment
- Sees disease as a specific pathology that needs to be treated or eliminated.
- Health is often defined as the absence of disease or symptoms.
- Focuses more on biological factors (genes, pathogens, etc.) in the development of disease, often with less focus on emotional or environmental factors.
Prevention over Intervention
Holistic Treatment
- We emphasize prevention by maintaining balance in lifestyle, nutrition, and emotional well-being.
- We encourage practices like regular exercise, balanced diets, and stress management to prevent illness before it starts.
Medicalized Treatment
- Focuses more on intervention after the disease has manifested.
- Preventive care exists, but often through screenings and vaccinations based on risk factors, not holistic lifestyle advice.
Evidence and Regulation
Holistic Treatment
- Balanced between rigorous scientific evidence and traditional knowledge
- The holistic field as a whole is often viewed skeptically by the clinical medical community because of this.
Medicalized Treatment
- Strongly evidence-based, with treatments subject to clinical trials, peer reviews, and strict regulations.
- Medical interventions must follow chosen scientific research and corresponding regulatory standards.
What We Think
Our Holistic Treatment focuses on the whole person, using natural and lifestyle-based therapies, prioritizing prevention and balance.
Medicalized Treatments focus on treating diseases with drugs and technology, prioritizing symptom management and evidence-based protocols.
