The Role of Spirituality in Treating Substance Use Disorders

Abstract

Prolonged use and abuse of substances (alcohol, cocaine, and/or opiates) can often negatively affect the mind, body, and spirit of those individuals who use them, and progress into dependence and addiction.In order to effectively intervene, these same domains (mind, body, and spirit) must be addressed during treatment, and be part of the ongoing education and clinical supervision with the staff providing treatment.This article describes the findings of a qualitative Cross-Sectional Survey Design that examines the role and influence of Spirituality on a sample of 50 men and women diagnosed with substance use disorders (addiction), residing in a 30-day residential treatment program.Many treatment programs include information designed to educate individuals on the negative effects of substance use and abuse on the mind, body, and spirit from a variety of perspectives, but provide few practices and little understanding on the spiritual aspects of recovering from substance use disorders.Using an availability sampling method, survey data from 31 residents in treatment for substance use disorders/addiction was collected.The finding of this study help provide an overview of Spirituality as it relates to the treatment of substance use disorders and addiction, and explain the value of using a Spiritual approach in the treatment of substance use disorders, as reported by the participants of this study.

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