Substance Abuse and Addiction Treatment Program

Last Updated on July 21, 2021 by Carol Gillette

Alternative to Meds Editorial Team
Medically Reviewed by Dr Michael Loes MD

Substance Abuse and Holistic Treatment
Drug-Free Treatment for Substance Abuse, Addiction, Dependence, and Withdrawal
Addictive Biochemistry – Overlooked Component in Drug Treatment
Would You Like to Find Out More?
Treatment for Alcohol Abuse, Addiction, Dependence and Withdrawal
Treatment for Medication Dependence
Holistic Drug and Alcohol Detox Program

At Alternative to Meds Center, our approach to substance abuse and addiction treatment is a little different than that offered at traditional drug rehabs.

Users of drugs or alcohol are typically framed as having a psychological or spiritual malady. While we do put a great emphasis on these components, there is another largely unreported contributor. People are often drawn to drugs, medications, and alcohol for very physiological and even genetic reasons. Addressing this underlying addictive biochemistry allows for other modalities of a psychological or spiritual nature to then work synergistically to create long-lasting recovery.

Substance Abuse and Holistic Treatment

Substance abuse responds to, at least in part, cravings. What do cravings respond to? Our research and observations show that deficiencies, hormonal or transmitter Imbalances, and other factors involving compromised neurochemistry can create the “drug of choice” phenomenon. The cravings for the drug of choice are valuable clues, as drug use is likely an attempt to self-medicate in order to correct these types of underlying issues. Many people feel enslaved to these cravings, completely unaware that there are biophysical solutions that do not require drugs.

By using neurotransmitter repair protocols to match the drug of choice physiology, we create a natural availability of needed neurochemicals which are a large component to finding peace, reward, and fulfillment. We have truly led this field of what is called orthomolecular, environmental, naturopathic, and integrative medicine, down the path of addiction treatment. For nearly a decade and a half, we clearly demonstrated clearly that a balance of the body and brain constitutes the emotional wellness that we are all so desperately seeking when we turn to drugs. Guests also receive licensed drug and alcohol counseling, life-skills repatterning, and, when needed, spiritual guidance during their stay at our Sedona, Arizona recovery retreat.

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Drug-Free Treatment for Substance Abuse, Addiction, Dependence, and Withdrawal

We are convinced that drug treatment should rarely require more drugs, and are ashamed by certain segments of the drug treatment industry that promote the notion that a person “just needs the right drugs” to be “balanced.”

We approached the drug treatment field in 2006 as environmental medicine scientists looking for possible medical reasons for drug use. After nearly a decade and a half, we can convincingly say that there are real, demonstrable, biophysical reasons why a person craves a particular substance. And, that there exists an addictive biochemistry that pulls one person in the direction of a sedative, and yet another toward a stimulant. And that furthermore, corrections for these specific addictive biochemistry profiles can most often be achieved sustainably using naturally occurring substances and other techniques that do not rely on psychiatric drugging and being labeled with a psychiatric disorder.

Addictive Biochemistry – Overlooked Component in Drug Treatment

We have long known that physiological reasons and even medical reasons predispose a person to specific addictions. Undeniably, psychological reasons also drive addictive behaviors, and many programs specialize in these.

While we do include a thorough psychosocial component in our rehab programs, the areas that earlier treatments may have neglected will show up clearly when assessing and correcting the biochemical factors of addiction. Not addressing these can place a person at higher risk for relapse. The person is still potentially at risk because they still need to find relief.

Understanding Addictive Biochemistry Correction

There are multiple examples of biochemistry directly linked with addiction and cravings. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) causes symptoms such as anxiety, sweating, lightheadedness, and emotional instability. Alcohol (liquid sugar) satisfies those symptoms caused by low blood sugar. Often, cravings for alcohol do appear in a hypoglycemic alcoholic. Their low blood sugar may be causing intense cravings that alcohol satisfies. Other examples appear in people with slow metabolism, a sluggish thyroid, or eating habits which include caffeine and stimulating foods. Strong cravings towards stimulants may trouble these persons. Nutrition can play a significant role in their alleviation.¹

Neurotoxic Burden and Anxiety

Those who suffer anxiety may test positive for neurotoxic burden. To understand this link better, one can draw a parallel with how pesticides kill pests. Chemicals in the pesticide are toxic to the bug’s CNS (central nervous system), causing an overstimulating effect. This overstimulation is what kills the pest. Neurotoxins work the same on us. Studies done on chemical exposures show there are psychological as well as physical negative effects.²

Toxins are present in our drinking water, the air we breathe, in foods prepared with chemical preservatives and taste enhancers, and many other very prevalent sources.

Pain Relief Without Addicting Drugs

Some people may genetically produce fewer endorphins (our natural painkillers)³ leaving the person predisposed and defenseless to pain. Opiates and painkillers do provide relief, and potentially become habitual. The biochemical predisposition (low endorphin production) would be driving that addiction.

Another example shows up in Arsenic exposure. This neurotoxin may have poisoned a person’s ability to manufacture endorphins, for which opiates may become the “solution.” Indeed, a low-endorphin person may reveal that the first time they ever felt “normal” was after taking an opiate drug. They are telling the truth.

Holistic Treatment for Insomnia

Those who have insomnia may test positive for mercury, which interferes with the production of sleep neurohormones. Sleeping pill addiction could emerge in this scenario, an all too common occurrence, according to the CDC 2014 Census.⁴

An estimated 1 in 3 (or more, depending on what state is being tallied) people in the US suffer some symptoms or negative consequences as a result of insomnia and sleep disturbance, according to a report published in Science Daily. The problem is that while taking a pill may mask symptoms, and produce a “knock out” effect, at least for a time, it does nothing to correct the causes of the condition.

Self-Medicating vs. Correction of Biochemistry

Many physical reasons could potentially drive addictions, and we call the effort to suppress unwanted symptoms “self-medicating.” However, until the underlying biochemistry is corrected, these cravings and addictive behaviors will continue unabated, despite an improved cognitive awareness of a person’s addictive psychology.

However, before we can correct addictive biochemistry, it is paramount to discover the specific underlying causes. Lab testing is a crucial part of planning authentic recovery.⁵ Nutrition plays a significant role in this endeavor. With corrective nutrition therapy, we can maximize the rehabilitation of a person’s biochemistry naturally, without drugs. Addictive biochemistry correction may provide the solution for which you or your loved one have been searching. Alternative to Meds Center focuses on first discovering, and then treating and correcting biochemical factors such as the examples given above, that may be actively driving addiction.

Holistic Approaches to Drug Treatment at Alternative to Meds Center

Our methods investigate the biochemical factors responsible for addiction and compulsive self-medicating and correct these through diet, supplementation, and also by the removal of toxins such as heavy metals and other accumulated poisons that may be interfering with the person’s ability to maintain neurochemical balance. Instead of attempting to suppress symptoms, we seek to eliminate their actual causes, which will continue driving the addiction until removed or corrected.

Would You Like to Find Out More?

Alternative to Meds Center is a world authority on the subjects of biochemical correction of addiction and alternatives to psychiatric drugs. We address the physical, emotional, and spiritual facets of addiction and mental health, creating the proper stage for lasting recovery and revived happiness.

We invite you to contact us. We will be happy to spend time with you explaining all the various treatment methods and therapies we use in our program. Please take this opportunity to call us today and learn how you or your loved one could benefit from the only addiction center in the world that focuses on treating addictive biochemistry.

1. Salz A, “Substance Abuse and Nutrition.” Today’s Dietician Vol. 16 No. 12, p.44 (course materials outline) [Internet] Dec 14 [cited 2020 Oct 7]
2. Gallacher J, et al., “Symptomatology attributable to psychological exposure to a chemical incident: a natural experiment.” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Pub Med ID 17496259 [Internet] 2007 Jun [cited 2020 Oct 7]
3. Sprouse-Blum A, Smith G, et al., “Understanding Endorphins and Their Importance in Pain Management.” Hawai’i Medical Journal, [Internet] Pub Med ID 20397507 [cited 2020 Oct 7]
4. CDC Data and Statistics – “Sleep and Sleep Disorders” [Internet[ 2014 Census [cited 2020 Oct 7]
5. “Functional Lab Analysis” published in Holistic Functional Medicine – Women and Families [Internet] 2020 [cited 2020 Oct 6]

Heroin, Opioid, and Prescription Painkiller Addiction Treatment

Opiate users often have a rather interesting physiology that makes pain medications and heroin so attractive. Generally, this population is low-endorphin, which means that they have an inherently difficult time regulating physical pain and also generally find it challenging to distance themselves from others’ emotions. But there are ways to naturally raise endorphins and provide almost magic relief for what was formerly a debilitating and hopeless conundrum.

Holistic Drug Rehab: Physical as Well as Emotional Pain Relief

Endorphins block the onslaught of emotions that we pick up from other people. They also block physical pain. We have found that lower-endorphin types of people are generally quite beautiful spirits, largely artists, that typically live life through an emotional lens. This is a double-edged sword in many cases. On the one hand, when in balance, they live a life of beautifully emotional and artistically resonant expressions, possibly because they are able to feel and be deeply affected by others. As a result, this gift may become an emotional liability, where a person may be drawn to opiates (or other sedatives) to compensate. If you are this type of person, these words could be touching your spirit with the truth that they convey. Perhaps you have been called thin-skinned and told that you need to not feel others so much. You likely know that for you, this is next to impossible. You get called moody and don’t understand why people don’t feel the way that you do. With or without drugs, life for you may be this raw experience that seems to have little relief.

The Abyss of Addiction

Addiction to heroin or other opiates can completely take control of people’s lives. Addiction to opiates may result in doing anything to get high, especially when a person is experiencing withdrawal. Opiate addicts slowly let everything go while they are lost in the comforting abyss of addiction. They start losing friends, losing touch with family members, drop out of school, quit their job, lose their home, and gradually fall into a deep hole of addiction. Sometimes this leads to criminal behavior to get money for drugs, going to jail or prison, overdosing, or death. Some believe that opiate addiction is the most complex substance addiction in the world. Yet, there is an aspect to it which is incredibly simple.

Eliminating the Need for Drugs Through Holistic Treatment

When you raise the natural endorphin levels, life becomes a habitable place, and the need for the drugs is essentially eliminated. Can you imagine that sense of relief? This is not just lip-service we are feeding you, it is how the neurochemistry works. Neurochemical deficits can be alleviated without the use of drugs. You know that when in balance you are an emotional superstar, and when you are suffering, it is a suffering of legendary proportions. Imagine getting to be that emotionally resonant person that you are and being able to live comfortably within it.

You may be terrified about the notion of withdrawal and the rawness that is going to accompany it. Heroin addiction recovery can be done in ways that are not painful. Many individuals addicted to heroin started using opiates after surgery or following emotional or physical trauma. Others, particularly individuals with sensitive personalities, are drawn towards opiates since these substances help to dampen emotional sensitivity. Opiates provide artificial sources of endorphins, the natural pain-killers of the human body. This causes the natural production of endorphins by the body to shut down. This is why when the drug is withdrawn; even soft touch can feel painful, as there are no more endorphins present to block pain. However, if heroin withdrawal is done correctly, it can be relatively easy and completely tolerable.

Making Opiate Withdrawal Tolerable

With the administration of nutrients that build endorphins, and potentially a short course of Suboxone, this withdrawal is surprisingly simple. Raising the natural pain-killing endorphins with the use of amino precursors is also effective in lessening withdrawal, and provides relief that is long-lasting and substantially lowers the chances of future relapse. Individuals who receive amino acids created for replenishing states of low endorphins, include diets of high protein foods, exercise, and eliminate processed foods and sugars, are the residents who are most successful. This baseline of neurochemical balance is a foundational point that the counseling, trauma therapies, and other life skills taught at the center can actually grow from. Because without this internal balance, the outside world is like rocks hitting fragile glass that good life skills have little chance of intervening. This tandem approach of physical and psychosocial never ceases to amaze us with its capacity to resurrect the fabric of one’s soul.

More About Opiate Withdrawal …

Holistic Treatment for Cocaine and Crack-Cocaine Abuse

Are you stuck between a boring life and abject insanity? We understand. Perhaps you may consider yourself to be a bit of a flow junkie. Some part of you knows that life without your best friend cocaine is a little empty. Your need for “more” is actually a hidden gift if played well, but unfortunately, you have found yourself dancing with the toxic mimic of authentic reward. You may have got started on cocaine because of a desire to connect with others and feeling the thrill to be living in such a state of high velocity. And now you are virtually isolated and stuck. Why are you just not happy with the simple life!!! You CAN play a bigger game, and you CAN make a new best friend by the way: a new friend that doesn’t try to kill you. Dopamine.

So let’s first talk about your old friend. Cocaine. Incredible rush, right? It’s a bit of a curse though because it just doesn’t turn out to be sustainable. The truth is that the nervous system was not designed to give you something for nothing. We didn’t make the rules of neurochemistry, but we will tell you how they work. Cocaine is a dopamine transport inhibitor. In other words, it blocks the reuptake of dopamine. So the neurochemical reward button is pinned fully on, and everything is rewarding — for a minute. But cocaine does not build dopamine, it spends it. And when it is gone, you pretty much hate everything.

So, living life on life’s terms for us means actually leveraging this supposed handicap of addiction into a strength. You know when you are in balance, you can run circles around most. Unfortunately, you take it too far. It is highly probable because you are dopamine-deficient. Or maybe you have adrenal fatigue or a thyroid problem. When we raise the internal reserves of dopamine naturally using dietary and amino acid precursors, we are actually drawn to life itself rather than trying to supplement with drugs. Or it may be beneficial to alleviate adrenal fatigue or thyroid problems. You see, there is a reason why you are drawn to chemical stimulants, and until you fix that crack in your foundation, those cravings will likely haunt you despite the life skills you learned in your last program.

At the Alternative to Meds Center, the program is built around several foundations of treatment. One of extreme importance is to adjust the person’s neurochemistry. For the stimulant addict, this means, in part, that we must balance dopamine levels so that the drug cravings and need for chemical stimulation are reduced. We use multiple methods of detoxification and therapies to balance neurochemical levels naturally. We also employ multiple techniques of detoxification and therapy, during and after the initial withdrawal process.

And yes, we deliver life skills, counseling, and tools for the addict to rewire the craziness that they have been living in, skills that can actually be realized when the physical components are synergistically attended to.

Cocaine is a powerful stimulant, which works by targeting the natural dopamine reward system of the CNS and brain. Using cocaine results in highly pleasurable effects. Repeated use of the drug over time eventually alters the way the brain works. Cocaine addiction results in the compulsive drive to seek such drug effects, despite other negative consequences. After a while, the neurochemistry will downregulate, so the person will feel compelled to use again, but in higher quantities, and more frequently to get the same pleasurable sensation. In the depths of addiction to cocaine, the amount of pleasure declines, and the person becomes single-focused on acquiring more cocaine, to the detriment of every other part of their life.

Crack cocaine increases the risk of addiction even more because the drug gets into the brain nearly instantly. Both cocaine and crack cocaine typically lead to binge use, meaning consuming large quantities over a relatively short period of time before stopping. After stopping, the person will feel high levels of anxiety and irritability, part of the withdrawal effects. Other cocaine withdrawal effects can include mania, depression, agitation, paranoia, and complete exhaustion.

Cocaine users often suffer from scabs that develop on the interior of the nose, damaging the fragile mucous membranes. Sometimes the nasal septum, (which is the thin wall that separates the left and right nostrils), can completely collapse. The heart can give out as well due to the overstimulating effects of cocaine or crack. Breathing can stop, causing death by respiratory failure. Fatal stroke is another common liability from cocaine abuse. Cocaine is not a drug worth dying for!

We treat cocaine addiction on many levels. One of the most fundamental goals in our treatment program is the normalization of brain neurochemistry. After cocaine has altered the way the brain functions, this must be addressed thoroughly. Our protocols focus on this goal for every one of our guests.

At our Center, many of the staff have overcome their own addiction issues. With the correct kinds of help and the true understanding of what addictive biochemistry really means, addiction to cocaine can be conquered. You or your loved one can access the best help available by calling the number listed on this page. Ask the important questions, and get the important answers. We can help you overcome and heal the damage of addiction. The most important first step in that direction can be best achieved with correct methods of cocaine withdrawal.

More About Cocaine & Crack Abuse …

Methamphetamine and Stimulants Abuse Treatment

Why do you crave stimulation? Because you like it, right?

Let’s get real, if you are a stimulant addict, you probably like the rush. But, like many others, you found that the rush stops being what it once was, and now you are a bit stuck between what you might call a “boring” life and being addicted. Where did it all go wrong? Life used to be its own rush, right? Now you think life is going to be a bore without your best friend. Or maybe you were one of the many children who were placed on ADHD medications early in life and now consider yourself warped.

Why do you keep relapsing despite your best intentions? It may be that you have addictive biochemistry that draws you towards stimulants and that the use of the stimulants, including the minor ones like coffee and sugar, has completely depleted you. What if there were real biophysical reasons why life is energetically substandard without your favorite jack me up?

To understand what is happening, we have to get a bit technical. Methamphetamines, and many other stimulants, block the dopamine transport system naturally inherent within the nervous system. Dopamine is the reward neurochemical, and that naturally occurring substance is what we are really getting addicted to. But why do you get stuck there while other people experimenting with recreational drugs move on and find reward in life without smoking meth or otherwise getting high on stimulants? Is it your addictive personality that is trapping you in a cycle of drug-induced stupidity? Well, for many stimulant users and addicts, there is a bit of a dopamine deficiency that leads them to this drug. We call it addictive biochemistry. But there are ways to raise dopamine levels naturally. That’s what we do. We isolate and correct the addictive biochemistry so that the availability of reward is naturally occurring rather than something you have to chase at the end of a glass pipe or straw.

And once you feel better, you will want to learn life skills and get the counseling you may need to live life. It is because of the balance that we create within the nervous system, that our counseling and life skills programs are actually effective. Without addressing the physiology of addiction, we find funding an expensive drug rehab program is largely a waste of money.

Our staff consists of more than 40 highly trained doctors, specialists, and therapists, all of whom have acquired familiarity and experience in the field of addiction therapy. This is important.

Our protocols include stabilizing the neurochemistry that has been altered by meth use. We employ many holistic techniques to return the body to normal functioning, including a deep cleanse to remove not only physical drug residues but other neurotoxic elements from the body. Once the CNS is relieved of this burdensome toxic load, the brain and body chemistry can begin to revert to normal. We also utilize targeted nutrition and supplements which bolster and refortify the body after drug use.

Typically, guests report feeling lighter, brighter, calmer, and refreshed, sleeping better, with improved appetite and energy once the cleanse is complete. Cravings significantly reduce and can disappear entirely during this period, allowing the person to take full benefit from the psychological components of the program which follow the cleanse.

Contact us at the number on this page for more important information about our program. No one should be left to drown in the misery of methamphetamine addiction. Let us help you to recover using the most effective program available for the treatment of methamphetamine withdrawal.

More About Methamphetamine Abuse …

Marijuana Abuse Treatment

Some people definitely should not be using Marijuana, period. There are some people who lack the enzyme to break down THC and end up going psychotic after using marijuana. Just like certain genetic dispositions cannot tolerate alcohol, as often seen in Native American and Asian populations, there are those who get a little more than high off marijuana. THC and other cannabinoids are fatty substances that even in an individual with normal detoxification physiology, can take up to 30 days to clear in the urine screening. Those with an impaired hand of detoxification genetics may go on what might be a seemingly permanent trip. Yet, they try to fit in with friends who have a much better tolerance for THC, and the next thing you know, they are are the hospital being prescribed an antipsychotic.

And there are those who just live off of marijuana like it is the only thing on their personal menu. This level of escapism certainly does not equate to a fulfilling life. While there is debate about what being addicted to pot really means, if you or your loved one is substituting pot for living a joy-filled, satisfying, active life, to our mind, that constitutes addiction.

Some people use marijuana for pain and will tell you that they need it for pain. And, to a large degree, this is true. But, you don’t have to be stoned out of your mind in order to get the pain relief from marijuana. THC is what gets you stoned. CBD is what provides the pain relief as it is an NMDA inhibitor meaning it blocks the transmission of stimulatory nerve impulses. And CBD can be obtained, usually legally, and does not leave the person stupefied.

So while some people seemingly have a balance with weed in their life, there are those that certainly don’t. There are those that seek the highest potency so that they can go the farthest out there like being out there is somehow a life accomplishment. And they live stoned. To our mind, that is not really life, it is the avoidance of life and often comes with layers of justification that somehow to them seem to make sense. Yet are completely comfortable living on the couch while others are actually providing the life that they are avoiding.

At Alternative to Meds Center, individuals often come to use with a history of marijuana use combined with other drug or alcohol use. Or they come because the marijuana makes them psychotic and now need to deal with the drug-induced psychosis. Though a person may not seek help for marijuana use alone, it is often addressed in tandem with other drugs of abuse.

The primary active chemical in marijuana is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). THC moves through the bloodstream into the brain as well as other organs in the body. THC affects specific areas in the brain, known as cannabinoid receptors. Usually, these receptors are triggered by brain chemicals that are similar to THC and part of neural communication systems that play an essential role in brain function and development.

What marijuana does is over-activate this system, often leading to impaired coordination, problems with problem-solving and thinking, as well as disrupted memory and learning. There is also a relation between chronic THC use and mental health conditions. An association has been shown with the development of psychosis, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation in adolescents.

The long-term effects of marijuana use include addiction. THC affects the reward centers in the brain in a similar way as other addictive substances. In addition to the potential effects on mental health and cognitive development, marijuana smoke irritates the lungs, and constant marijuana smokers may develop similar respiratory issues as tobacco smokers, including a daily cough, production of phlegm, larger risk of chest infection, and constant acute chest illness. Marijuana limits the efficiency of your brain, slows down thought processes, impairs coordination, and can cause issues in your day-to-day life or worsen existing problems.

We offer a corrective approach that targets the root of the reasons why an individual started to use substances such as marijuana.

Alternative to Meds Center offers a corrective approach that targets the root of the reasons why an individual started to use substances such as marijuana. This allows for natural balance and sustainable relief from emotional, mental, and physical discomfort. Many of our staff have experienced substance abuse and have overcome such problems through effective help. This allows our staff to provide true compassion. If you or someone you care about is using marijuana regularly and would like to stop, call us and receive more information.

More About Marijuana Abuse …

Synthetic Drug (K2, Spice, Synthetic Marijuana, Bath Salts, etc.) Abuse Treatment

“Bath salts” is the unofficial “street name” for a group of designer drugs that typically contain synthetic cathinones, which present effects comparable to cocaine and amphetamine. The white crystals often resemble Epsom salts or other legal bathing products, but are chemically unlike actual bath salts. The packaging of bath salts often state “not for human consumption” in an effort to prevent prohibition of the drugs. Street names for this drug include Bliss, Ivory, Wave, and Vanilla Sky. Bath salts are typically ingested by snorting/sniffing. Bath salts can be smoked, consumed orally, or conjured into a solution that is injected into the veins.

Bath salts can be smoked, consumed orally, or conjured into a solution that is injected into the veins. Short-term effects include severe paranoia.

Effects that have been reported to Poison Control include agitation, suicidal thoughts, confusion, combative/violent behavior, increased heart rate, hallucinations/psychosis, chest pain, hypertension, serious injury or death. The onset of the drug is around 15 minutes, and the high can last for 4-6 hours. On October 21, 2011, the DEA exercised its emergency scheduling authority in order to control three of the stimulants used in making bath salts. Because of this order, bath salts are designated as a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance.

We employ corrective treatments which are directed to address underlying causes that led a person to use bath salts or other substances.

ATMC employs corrective treatments which are directed to address underlying causes that led a person to use bath salts or other substances. Identifying these root issues allows us to work at correcting them, which can make lasting relief and stability a possibility. There are members of our staff who have been through similar substance abuse problems and offer our residents a level of unmatchable compassion. If you or someone you care about is taking bath salts, please call ATMC and get the guidance you are searching for.

If you or someone you care about is taking bath salts, please call us and get the guidance you are searching for.

More About Synthetic Drug Abuse …

Treatment for Alcohol Abuse, Addiction, Dependence and Withdrawal

Alcohol addiction and dependency may be more than a behavioral or spiritual affliction. There may be very real physiological reasons that have eluded detection that are the powerful precipitators to relapse.

Bring us your most constitutionally incapable-of-recovery alcoholic. And we will bring you the science of how to recover and turn the hopeless into the next singer of our praises. There are physiological reasons why a person craves alcohol. For some it is abating anxiety. For others, it is a low-blood sugar craving. For yet others, what was once a social escape became a dependence that has basically stripped their brain of fundamental nutrients and left them a confused wet-brained mess.

Our alcohol treatment center provides the most comprehensive health restoration program in the world. We aim to apply our knowledge of neurochemistry to normalize the addictive biochemistry as it relates to alcohol use. There is no other addiction treatment program designed to do what ours does, anywhere else. In fact, many international guests come seeking this level of addiction treatment simply because our program is not found elsewhere.

We use lab testing to discover physiological reasons for alcohol use, and we tailor each guest’s program so that the deficiencies which testing reveals can be corrected using non-invasive, drug-free modalities. Testing also isolates neurotoxic materials that can be cleansed from the body. Toxic body burden of things like heavy metals can lead to the anxious-addicted type of alcoholic, which often is the most difficult to treat.

Many alcohol recovery programs base their treatment upon the AA philosophy, yet lack any awareness of how sugar and other things create the blood sugar roller-coaster that can lead to a hypoglycemic alcohol addicted physiology. In fact, many AA programs unwittingly foster the addictive biochemistry of this type of disposition with the availability of sugars and coffee. We do provide access to meetings and support sponsorship. We do not however allow for the sugars and other mechanisms of an addictive biochemistry to influence our treatment and we provide a very deliberate regimen of diet and neurotransmitter balancing supplements and techniques so that the person can feel a real palpable distance from their addiction, rather than just feeding the same addictive physiology in other ways. Though we are not 12-step based, the combination of 12-step models and addressing the physiology behind alcohol addiction can be a very potent combinations. The absence of these physiological components in AA bear on their relapse rates. Alcoholics anonymous founder Bill Wilson was a large proponent of niacin, as he found success in his “most hopeless cases,” including alleviating his own depression and anxiety that abstinence from alcohol alone had not. What he found was that the results were “nothing short of amazing.”

Yet, Wilson’s own doctors, who were former alcoholics, rejected him. They told Wilson that he “was not a licensed physician and thus had no business extolling the virtues of vitamin therapy.” And despite the fact that he spent the last 11 years of his life further researching and supporting niacin, this information had been all but forgotten. He even wrote long AA pamphlets regarding his observations that most have never even heard of.

We have preserved not only this information, but vastly more revelations about physiological dependence and how to create lasting change without being either a chronic relapser or the notorious dry drunk that you probably liked more when they he or she were drunk.

After many years of alcohol abuse, a person is going to have to implement specific changes to ensure a safe and successful, healthy path to recovery. Physical factors, as well as emotional and spiritual matters, all carry important roles in carving out an alcohol-free lifestyle.

Choosing an alcohol treatment program is a significant and life-changing event. Choosing one that works and really gets to the heart of why a person is really using is unprecedented. To find out more about how our program can help you achieve your recovery goals, we invite you to call for more information while you are in the decision making phase of recovery planning. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you in any way we can. We are a world authority in creating healthy neurochemistry and delivering psychotherapeutic support to unravel the damages of this debilitating affliction.

More About Alcohol Addiction …

Treatment for Medication Dependence

Antidepressant Withdrawal

Many facilities increase people’s antidepressants, offer minimal counseling and provide poor diets. Our program for antidepressant withdrawal specializes in tapering people from antidepressants at a rate that they can endure.

There are reasons why people get medicated. Yet many of those reasons are medical, dietary, neurotoxicity, situational, psychological and a myriad of other reasons. We commit to discover and correct the real reasons for imbalance.

More About Antidepressant Withdrawal …

Antipsychotic Withdrawal

Our antipsychotic withdrawal program is the only one of its kind in the world. This is a complicated path that often includes genetic considerations. We aim at stabilizing the neurochemistry with natural substances.

Often, deep detoxification to remove accumulated environmental neurotoxins is instrumental in this process. The goal in these cases is to assist the individual in having the least amount of side-effect-producing medication while still enjoying the highest quality of life and functioning. Whether that is means a completely medication free stay during the duration of treatment is on a case by case basis.

More About Antipsychotic Withdrawal …

Benzodiazepine Withdrawal

Persons with anxiety that are drawn to alcohol or benzodiazepines may have underpinnings of a neurotoxic burden that can overstimulate the nervous system.

Our methods of Benzodiazepine Withdrawal help include careful tapering protocols, cleansing of neurotoxins that have poisoned brain functioning, counseling and many holistic therapies. Since many of our residents were formerly damaged in the name of medical help, we encourage you to watch the benzodiazepine success videos or read our success stories to earn our trust.

We successfully manage protracted withdrawal and have many 20+ year benzodiazepine testimonials. Alternative to Meds Center is not a rapid benzodiazepine withdrawal facility and we are highly opposed to this approach because of the many, many damages to person’s lives that we have seen this produce.

More About Benzodiazepine Withdrawal …

Holistic Drug and Alcohol Detox Program

We offer holistic drug and alcohol detox treatment at our Sedona rehab retreat, located conveniently close to Phoenix and Flagstaff, Arizona. Using advanced tapering methods, combined with innovative diagnostic testing and integrative medicine therapies, we offer a cleaner, natural way to get off drugs and alcohol.

More About Holistic Detox …

Substance Abuse and Addiction Treatment Rehab in Arizona

Do you want to learn more about our unique approach to beating substance abuse, addiction, and mental health conditions? Our counselors have so much more they would like to share with you. Give us a call today to learn more and decide if our approach to recovery from drugs and medications fits with your vision for your personal recovery.

Originally Published Sep 13, 2018 by Lyle Murphy, Founder

This content has been reviewed and approved by a licensed physician.

Dr. Michael Loes, M.D.

Dr. Michael Loes is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pain Management and Addiction Medicine. He holds a dual license in Homeopathic and Integrative Medicine. He obtained his medical doctorate at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 1978. Dr. Loes performed an externship at the National Institute of Health for Psychopharmacology. Additionally, he is a well-published author including Arthritis: The Doctor’s Cure, The Aspirin Alternative, The Healing Response, and Spirit Driven Health: The Psalmist’s Guide for Recovery. He has been awarded the Minnesota Medical Foundation’s “Excellence in Research” Award.

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Lyle Murphy

Lyle Murphy is the founder of the Alternative to Meds Center, a licensed residential program that helps people overcome dependence on psychiatric medication and addiction issues using holistic and psychotherapeutic methods.

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Medication Withdrawal Success Stories

Can you imagine being free from medications, addictive drugs, and alcohol? This is our goal and we are proving it is possible every day!

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Substance Abuse and Addiction Holistic Treatment Program

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