Holistic Mental Health Care

A core component of mental health is improving the whole person. That includes a person’s physical and mental health, as well as spiritual and overall well-being. Holistic mental health care incorporates science-backed strategies that complement, but never replace, clinical care.

Mental health treatment is a comprehensive solution that offers a wide range of therapies to help people navigate recovery in their own way. Optimizing your outcome often involves implementing holistic strategies into your overall psychiatric treatment plan. At Mental Health Hope, we can help you find the right balance in care to support recovery in every way possible.

Types of Holistic Mental Health Treatment

Holistic medicine incorporates elements of therapy to impact body, mind, spirit, and emotional well-being. It incorporates social and mental factors that contribute to the symptoms you have, often attempting to treat the root cause of your health disorder. Some people benefit from most holistic therapies. Others benefit from just a few. It can take time to find the right combination of care to support your individual needs.

The following are some of the evidence-based holistic mental health treatments often utilized to help people find improvement.

Recreational Therapy

Though it may seem that recreational therapy is just about having fun, there’s more to this process. The objective is to reduce mental health issues by lowering stress levels and the presence of stress hormones in your bloodstream. It may be possible to reduce anxiety and excessive mood swings through relaxation strategies. This process aims to restore and recover basic motor function, including building confidence, improving communication, and improving physical activity.

Some of the types of recreational therapy that may be applicable to supporting mental health treatment include:

• Sports
• Arts and crafts programs
• Community outings and educational programs
• Dance and movement-based programs
• Animal-based therapy programs
• Drama and comedy programs

In these activities, there is an element of physical activity. There are also elements of reasoning, problem-solving, and communication. Through these activities, you can rebuild and form better thought processes. This can influence improvements by providing strategies for coping or managing difficult situations.

Art Therapy

Art therapy is also a robust area of mental health treatment. The focus in art therapy is self-expression. No matter the model used, the objective is to have an alternative way to communicate your thoughts, feelings, personality, and needs. Art is a healthy way of achieving emotional regulation. It can also help you with self-development and self-understanding.

Many people benefit from art therapy, but there’s no real limit to the type of therapy that could be. Some forms include:

• Music therapy
• Photography
• Drawing or painting
• Collage work
• Sculpting

Each one of these strategies allows you to express your pain, concerns, goals, and emotions through the medium you select.

Equine Therapy

Horses are their own form of holistic therapy, and rightfully so, due to the way these animals can perceive emotions in humans. Horse-assisted therapy, or equine therapy, allows you to work through your trauma, emotions, and other challenges by developing a relationship with and working with horses over a period of time. You will learn how to care for them, groom them, ride them, and engage with them properly, to the level you desire.

There are numerous potential benefits that come from the process, including:

• Improved self-esteem, including developing confidence in your ability to care for others
• Addressing fear and anxiety that stems from trauma
• Validating your self-worth and demonstrating your value
• Practicing empathy, including towards yourself

Equine therapy often works well for people who are facing mental health disorders or substance use disorders, as it aids in becoming more mindful of thoughts and actions. A horse has a unique ability to reflect the emotions you feel back to you, and that can help to raise your personal awareness.

Through equine therapy, a person’s sense of responsibility improves, they feel more accepted, they can see the value of what they are contributing to another being’s life, and they can foster a greater sense of self. Many people find that this type of therapy allows them to work at their own pace through the pain they feel.

Yoga Therapy

Another impactful form of holistic therapy is yoga. Yoga is an Ancient Chinese regimen that involves the movement of the body, focused attention, and careful breathing. Yoga helps in a number of ways, specifically to support your body’s natural ability to heal while also working to improve clarity of mind and spirit.

Yoga offers improvements to everyday quality of life, and may be beneficial to you for several reasons during mental health treatment:

• Improved energy, breathing, and vitality stem from effective yoga practices
• Increased flexibility and muscle strength improve overall health
• Yoga can help you with weight management and feeling more confident
• Yoga contributes to heart health
• Many people benefit from improved mental clarity and calmness

Yoga utilizes the body’s immune system as a form of therapy and restorative treatment. Yoga can be soothing and a form of meditation to some. To others, it challenges and builds strength from within. Most people can engage in yoga, even those who may have some form of limitation.

The Benefits of Incorporating Holistic Mental Health Therapy

Mental health disorders benefit from a combination of treatments. This typically includes:

• Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, in which you work with a therapist through counseling to change thought patterns and work through trauma
• Medication, in some cases, is used to help with symptom control and management of physical conditions developed as a result of a mental health disorder
• Holistic therapy that works to support the natural healing necessary to improve the quality of life

The benefits of creating a treatment plan for mental disorders that incorporates holistic healing are different for each person. However, there are many ways that these treatments can help you. Consider some of the most notable benefits.

• Improved healing. Holistic therapies improve blood flow, support the immune system, and reduce inflammation at the cellular level.
• Reduced stress levels, including a lowering of stress hormones in the body, and supporting the release of endorphins into the bloodstream to stimulate good feelings
• Conflict and trigger management in a healing manner, allowing you to find the right way to express yourself or work through your pain that fits your specific needs

When Should You Consider the Use of Holistic Mental Health Treatment?

When working with your therapist and treatment team, you’ll learn a great deal about your condition, including the physical and emotional elements of it. Your therapist may recommend incorporating holistic care as a way to express yourself, stimulate healing, or improve your quality of life. All of these can help to contribute to improving your life overall as well as improving your mental health.

For many, it is a way to address the underlying causes of the symptoms you have. That could include poor nutrition, unresolved trauma, emotional blockages, and imbalances within the chemical makeup of your body. Holistic practices could include energy healing, counseling for your illness or nutritional improvement, herbal remedies, and creative arts.

Let Us Help You Find the Way to Holistic Care

From enhancing emotional and spiritual connections to helping you build value and confidence in yourself, holistic mental health is incredibly valuable. These tools can help you to get the relief you need and to find he right level of health for you. Learn more about how it can help you.

Turn to Mental Health Hope to explore the ways holistic mental health can enhance your day and life. Connect with us now by calling 877-967-9274.