Addiction Recovery: Healing the Body, Mind, and Spirit (for sustained recovery)

Recovery from addiction to alcohol or other substances is hard. There’s just no doubt about it. With more than 23.5 million Americans living with an alcohol use (AUD) or substance use disorder (SUD) and only about 10% of of the nation’s population in recovery, it’s more critical today than ever to provide effective, evidence-based recovery treatment programs that provide comprehensive, integrated care to heal the body, mind, and spirit. Futures Recovery Healthcare supports those seeking recovery to do just this—heal their entire being—giving them the best shot at long-lasting recovery from alcohol or substance abuse.

Life in active addiction is difficult; whether or not it shows on the outside, anyone battling addiction is suffering. It takes hard work, perseverance, resilience, and grit to face addiction, get help, and live in long term recovery. For many, a great deal of changes need to take place in order for that to happen. There are those individuals for whom this can be very difficult. Whether a professional sports player, celebrity, or in a high-profile position, these individuals are often inextricably linked to stressors and situations which trigger and perpetuate addiction and dysfunction. 

For these individuals, Futures offers the Orenda program and the Orenda Athlete program. This program helps athletes of all types and any level to address mental health and substance use disorders to restore the physical, mental, and spiritual health needed to perform at one’s best.

Our Orenda team understands the unique challenges in recovery these individuals face and offer the most specialized treatment, education, and support services that reduce the likelihood of relapse and reinforce a life-long commitment to good health. Orenda coordinates intensive medical, clinical, neurorestorative, and wellness interventions to build a strong foundation of holistic mental, physical, and spiritual well-being to restore positive outlook, and empower lasting recovery.

The Body and Recovery from Addiction

While the ‘whole’ person must recover from addiction, the body is the first place to start and in some addiction treatment programs the only piece of recovery addressed. Healing the body from addiction is more than simply stopping the use of alcohol or another substance. In order to facilitate long-lasting recovery, it’s essential to also heal the mind and spirit.  

Just as each individual is different so too are their recovery needs. Because of this, it’s important that an extensive and comprehensive assessment is the first step in recovery treatment. Futures has a highly experienced intake team who work tirelessly with each client to learn more about them, any co-occurring mental health disorders, physical issues, professional commitments, get a complete medical history, physical, psychiatric diagnostic surveys, and provide pharmacogenomic and neuropsychological testing when appropriate. From here the individual’s care team works together to create the most optimal recovery plan customized to each client. 

Healing at Futures often begins with safe detox and stabilization. Once a client successfully completes this part of their recovery journey there is more work to be done. For the athlete and other individuals with unique recovery obstacles, the Orenda program offers four pillars of integrated care that promote total health to establish a strong foundation in recovery.

These four pillars of care are; medical care and addiction medicine, clinical neuropsychology and psychotherapy, neurorestorative care, and wellness programming. 

Medical care and addiction medicine at Futures is led by our full time medical director renowned for her excellence in addiction recovery, Dr. Gloria Dunkin. This pillar of recovery addresses detox and stabilization, treating underlying conditions including chronic pain, and improving overall health and body functioning. 

Our Orenda Athlete program is specifically-focused on the special needs of the athlete and their bodies in recovery. The Orenda team knows that helping active athletes maintain their training and fitness regimen can provide a sense of grounding comfort for clients and ensure that they are prepared to return to the field after treatment. Here, a team that has provided training and physical therapy to MLB, PGA, and more helps athletes heal and train while receiving comprehensive care for mental health and substance use disorders.

The second pillar, clinical neuropsychology and psychotherapy, helps to improve one’s cognitive function, addresses any co-occurring mental health disorders, provides education about the complex disease of addiction, and helps to build resilience. 

Neurorestorative care, the third pillar of care in the Orenda program, seeks to repair maladaptive brain patterns. This helps those individuals with an AUD or SUD to recognize triggers, gain healthy coping behaviors, and promotes positive responses and behaviors in recovery. 

Orenda offers the following types of neurorestorative care:

• Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
• Neurofeedback training
• Light/sound sessions
• Brain mapping
• Cognitive rehabilitation lab

The fourth and final pillar of care is wellness programming. This includes physical care, physical fitness, nutritional counseling, hypnotherapy, bodywork, and mindfulness practice unifies mind and body healing and restores spiritual connection. All essential, and often overlooked, components in recovery. 

Free from the constraints of dictated medical care, those individuals in the Orenda program and Orenda Athlete program benefit from receiving the most personalized medical care around. For most individuals in addiction treatment, the medical care they receive during this time will be the most customized in their lives. 

The extensive assessment and treatment services in Futures’ Orenda program include:

• Advanced medical and clinical assessments
• Genomic testing
• Micronutrient testing
• Sleep coaching
• Neurofeedback
• Infusion therapy
• Psychotropic medication management 
• Stabilization of chronic and acute conditions. 

Each member of the Orenda care team is a compassionate professional with years of hands-on client experience and is attuned to the culture and purpose of the program’s values and mission. Many in our Orenda Athlete program have worked with elite professional athletes in the NBA, MLB, and MLS, teams, and leagues for years, and understand how the ethos and lifestyle of competitive sports and how it impacts addiction recovery. 

Addiction Recovery and the Mind 

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that there are about 7.7 million American adults who have both a substance or alcohol use disorder and another mental health disorder. For many with an AUD or SUD, they also suffer from trauma-related mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and more. 

Research shows that it is vital to treat both—or as in many cases, all—disorders together to improve a person’s chances to enjoy long-term recovery. This is why finding an addiction treatment center, like Futures, that engages in extensive assessments to start is crucial in addiction treatment. Undergoing a thorough assessment will insure that any underlying conditions—often well hidden particularly in athletes—are uncovered and addressed in treatment. In addition, it’s essential to find a treatment center for addiction that has the experience and ability to treat any co-occurring mental health disorders. 

Futures utilizes evidence-based psychotherapy such as:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
• Experiential Therapies
• Motivational Interviewing
• Bowen Family Systems Therapy
• Somatic Therapy 
• Narrative Therapy
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Spiritual Counseling
• Gestalt Therapy
• Person-Centered Therapy

These psychotherapy programming options provide the individualized attention, treatment, and resources needed to holistically heal the mind and spirit so patients get the most from treatment. 

Spiritual Well-being and Addiction

One of the most crucial elements of living in sustained recovery as well as living a life which brings contentment, comfort, and solace, is being spiritually fit or ‘well’. Not only do many addiction treatment centers offer little in the way of healing spiritually, many who are starting their journey in recovery don’t see the need either. However, for many who have had a long-lasting and happy life in recovery, they report how important this piece of their recovery is. 

Whether you believe in God, Buddha, Krishna, Universal Love, Allah, or whomever, many in long term recovery state that belief in a higher power, no matter what that is, is a tenet of their long-term recovery. 

At Futures, we expose all clients to multiple pathways to engage in their current spiritual practice or to learn and cultivate a new one. From wellness services like yoga and mindfulness to meditation and chakra balancing, Orenda’s wellness programs help to transform clients spiritually to help them gain improved clarity and a renewed desire to explore things in life that were out of reach or had little effect to produce joy. When the body, mind, and spirit begin to heal, this once elusive life begins to blossom. With continued hard work, determination, perseverance, —and hope every step of the way—days in recovery turn to weeks which become months and eventually years. 

It all starts with the first step—getting help. Futures Recovery Healthcare is here for you or your loved one with hope and help. Whether you or your loved one is an athlete, high-profile professional, or not, Futures offers programs suited to those with different recovery needs. Contact us online today or call 866-804-2098 and we’ll help you find the program best-suited for your—or your loved one’s—unique recovery needs. Remember, you are not alone, there is help and there is hope just a call away.