An addiction is any unhealthy dependence on a substance or behavior to relieve pain or discomfort in life, and can take many forms: drug and alcohol abuse, or other compulsive behaviors involving food, sex, love/relationships, spending, etc. In all cases, in the words of the leading addiction specialist Gabor Mate, we need not ask “why the ,” but instead, “why the pain?”. Addictions of all types are a coping strategy for reality that seems intolerable. In many cases of addiction, a variety of forms of support—medical, social, behavioral—are needed to shift these long-standing patterns of coping with life.
Addictions Recovery
At Transcend Health and Wellness, we offer adjunctive health services to support a patient’s recovery work in a non-judgmental or pathologizing environment. Our lead practitioner, Avery Erickson M.S., L.Ac., has been a member of the recovery for community for nearly a decade, and therefore understands patients’ recovery from personal experience. Furthermore, they have provided addiction recovery-related services to a variety of communities through such organizations as the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Stonewall Project, and the Foundations Recovery Network.
Services to support recovery may include:
Acupuncture and/or Herbal Medicine
Acupuncture and herbal medicine both help reset and calm the nervous system, shifting it from the sympathetic nervous system (fight, flight, freeze) to the parasympathetic nervous system (rest, relax, digest) where healing and change is possible. Acupuncture has been shown to help reduce and manage cravings, and help patients cope with triggers where may lead use or acting out. Furthermore, these modalities help ameliorate any side effects of on-going consequences of addiction such as physical pain, anxiety, digestive issues, and menstrual disturbance, among others.
You can find research related to acupuncture and the opioid crisis under the “download research” tab above.
Amino Acid Therapy
Amino Acid Therapy is a modality that helps rebuild the brain’s neurotransmitter stores and balance brain chemistry, helping patients experience less physical and emotional symptoms, but also put them in a better place to take advantage of other forms of therapy and counseling. Many people struggling with addiction suffered from various mental and emotional challenges before addiction, which served as a form of self-medication. Thus, original neurochemistry imbalances or any that were created as a result of addiction must be normalized to help patients be successful in their recovery and to thrive.
Nutrition
At Transcend, we meet patients where they are at in this process, helping develop an approachable, non-overwhelming nutritional plan to support a patient’s recovery goals. Contrary to common practice in early recovery, regularly ingesting caffeine, processed sugar, and other non-whole foods in early recovery is counter to its overall goal, which is abstaining or reducing participation in the addictive process, as well as achieving internal equilibrium and a sense of mental, emotional and physiological peace.