Body, Mind, And Spirit In Addiction Treatment

Recovery gets talked about like a finish line, but what we see every day is something messier and more human: people trying to rebuild their health, their relationships, and their sense of self at the same time. Dr. Julia D'Alo from GRC’s Advanced Recovery Network unpacks what “whole-person recovery” actually means when we say body, mind, and spirit.

We dig into why integrated addiction treatment matters, especially when substance use disorder shows up alongside real medical needs and untreated mental health symptoms. Dr. D'Alo explains how physical health can slide during active addiction and why issues like chronic conditions, neglected self-care, and even basic dental problems can quietly sabotage progress. From there, we talk co-occurring disorders and why depression, anxiety, and other symptoms so often intensify during addiction, making dual diagnosis care and simultaneous treatment essential.

You’ll also hear how treatment planning starts with solid screening and evolves as someone moves through a continuum of care, from residential treatment to outpatient services and beyond. We share examples of holistic therapy supports patients respond to, including trauma-informed therapy, yoga, and music therapy, and why “the right tool” is different for every person. Finally, we challenge the old, narrow definition of success and replace it with something more realistic: measurable improvement in overall wellness, whether that includes abstinence, reduced use, or a stronger plan for long-term recovery.

If this helped you think differently about addiction recovery, subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations.

To learn more about GRC’s Advanced Recovery Network visit:
https://www.GatewayRehab.org
GRC’s Advanced Recovery Network 
Multiple Southwestern Pennsylvania Locations  
800-472-1177 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to Recovery Roll Call, where hope has a home. Here, the experts of GRC's Advanced Recovery Network, a not-for-profit with over 50 years of experience, offer a full continuum of care with 16 locations across southwestern Pennsylvania and statewide telehealth services. GRC's Advanced Recovery Network provides individualized evidence-based treatment and family programming. Our goal is to help increase knowledge of the disease of addiction, share the many roads to recovery, and reduce stigma in our communities. All right, let's take roll.

Integrating Body Mind And Spirit

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Recovery isn't just about stopping substance use. It's about restoring balance and wellness across every part of life. Welcome everyone. I'm Melanie Winter, co-host and producer, here in the studio with Dr. Julia Diallo from GRC's Advanced Recovery Network. Dr. Diallo, how's everything going today? Great. Thanks for having me. We're happy to have you, Dr. Diallo. Let's dive into this. How do we help patients achieve health and body, mind, and spirit?

SPEAKER_01 1:18

So I oftentimes think of this as how we integrate care because the people who have addiction have a lot of different needs. And so I oftentimes think of this as the body are the physical needs, the mind are the mental health needs. And the therapy part of what we do addresses the spiritual needs. So, you know, it's integrated care is vital because the defining feature of addiction is dysfunction. And dysfunction results in poor physical health, mental health, and people feel broken and alone and isolated in the world of addiction or in the when they have the disease of addiction or suffer with a substance disorder. So it's important that we address all of their needs, because if you don't do that, the outcomes are not as good.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

And then how does the physical health support recovery and long-term wellness?

SPEAKER_01 2:24

So you know, generally when when people are suffering with a substance use disorder, um, I mean, even when we even when we don't have substance use disorders, we tend to neglect ourselves, right? And so when people have a substance use disorder, their physical health generally is poor. And um that is an important component of their overall health. And so addressing it is is is of the utmost importance. As their physical health needs um are not met or deteriorate, their addiction oftentimes will go hand in hand and worsen with that. As uh, and you can compare that to their mental health needs as well.

Mental Health And Co-Occurring Disorders

SPEAKER_02 3:10

And and that was a question that I had as well. Uh, what role do you see mental health care play in achieving balance?

SPEAKER_01 3:18

So, you know, as I'm sure you know, there's a high rate of what we call co-occurring disease. So people who have both a substance use disorder and a mental health disorder. So um that's estimated to be anywhere between like 80 and 85% of people who have a substance use disorder also have a mental health disorder. So um generally they play into each other. Sometimes people use substances as a way to avoid the symptoms of their underlying mental health disorder, for instance. Um, also, I think it's fair to say that when you are actively in addiction, you are likely going to have symptoms of depression and anxiety and all of those things worsen. So they're very integral and um worsen each other, uh, you know, the addiction and and the and the mental health disorder. So um treating them at the same time is really key.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

And then how does GRC's Advanced Recovery Network integrate these three areas into treatment plans?

SPEAKER_01 4:22

So, what we try to do is when people come into our care, we initially just try to identify what the needs are. So, you know, we will ask them, you know, you know, really general screening questions. Some of our patients we have history on, they've been with us before, they've been in one level of care or another. So we have some of this, and then of course things change, they're hospitalized or they have a new um a new medical issue that that comes up or an accident or something like that. So it all starts with, I think, really good screening. And then as we identify what those issues are, we build that into their treatment plan and we say, okay, we're gonna have to um help address your depression while you're here. Um uh, how do you feel about that? And usually people are really open to that. I mean, that's another thing. When people come into treatment, a lot of times they're looking for wellness in all ways. So, you know, sometimes they also want to quit smoking, or sometimes they, you know, they, you know, they're like, oh, you know, I haven't been to a dentist in a really long time and I've had this pain in my mouth. Like, can you help me with that? So what we first do is identify the needs and then try to prioritize them, and then we try to address them. And of course, you know, people come in and throughout uh in our system and move throughout our system, move throughout our continuum of care. So sometimes they're with us for a few days, sometimes they're with us for months, um, sometimes longer than that, even. So the longer they are in residential treatment a lot of times, the more we can help with help them with some of these needs. But even in our outpatient setting, we can address a lot of these issues as well.

Trauma Work Yoga And Music Therapy

SPEAKER_02 6:04

And then what are some examples of holistic therapies that patients do respond well to?

SPEAKER_01 6:09

So a lot of times beyond like the um physical health needs, so those would be things like their diabetes or hypertension, and then their mental health needs like um schizophrenia or depression or anxiety. People also have, you know, their their spiritual needs are sometimes they need a focus on, like they need a trauma. Um, you know, they'll they'll have a lot of trauma in their past, for example. It's very, very common, or um a lot of family dysfunction tends to be um just part of the disease of addiction. So the therapy that we provide, we do it in such a way that we try to really individualize it and address the specific needs of that individual. And um, you know, we even have things like music therapy, for instance. Um, if I had a penny for the number of patients who have said to me, you know, I stayed in treatment because of music therapy or um the wellness and yoga that that they get to do. Um it's like different things work for different people. And I think that's kind of the one of the keys of treatment is trying to identify and help the individual identify what they need, not only in that acute treatment episode, but also when they leave treatment because they're not going to be with us forever. So we want to try to help them become independent and well and have a really good plan as they move through our continuum of care and um, you know, exit and enter it again.

Redefining Success Beyond Abstinence

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Mm-hmm. And how do you measure success then when focusing on body, mind, and spirit together?

SPEAKER_01 8:02

That's a great question. So, you know, I I think historically, traditionally in it in addiction treatment, the goal was always 100% abstinence. And um abstinence is great, and when you can achieve it, it's um, you know, it's probably the best because there's you know, there's um a lot of recovery can look different, right? So it it can have it can wear different hats and there are a lot of different pathways that people can take. So abstinence is one of them, and it's a great one. But there are other um other ways to do it. Um 12-step facilitation, which is oftentimes associated with abstinence, is is great. But there are um medications that can be used, there are um different types of programming that can either lead a person to abstinence or to decreased use. So what we as an organization decided to do is sort of redefine what we consider success. And what we consider success is an improvement in wellness, an improvement in overall wellness. That's that's what we're shooting for. And, you know, if we can achieve uh and sustain abstinence, that's great. But you could imagine that if someone was drinking 30 beers a day and they are able to now maintain drinking three beers a week, um, that's a huge improvement. And um, and we celebrate that.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Dr. Diallo, thank you for highlighting the importance of whole person health and recovery. We will see everyone next time.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

Thanks for joining Recovery Roll Call. Remember, recovery isn't a destination, it's a journey. One day longer, one day stronger. If you're a family member or loved one of someone struggling with addiction, help is close by. Visit gatewayrehab.org. Call 800-472-1177 or start a live chat with our team right on the website. GRC's Advanced Recovery Network, Hope, has a home here. We'll see you next time.