Alternative therapy is to traditional therapy, as indie pop is to mainstream pop music. Both have raging fans, leaders and game-changers, and bring an incredible amount of value to audiences in their respective categories. While some people prefer one over the other, others are fans of both. Different strokes for different folks, you know? As a proponent of the holistic and integrative approach to health optimization, I’m that fan that listens to indie-pop most of the time but loves a good dose of the mainstream stuff, too.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, alternative or “complementary” therapy, is defined as a “treatment that is not classified as standard Western medical practice…”. Traditional psychotherapy therapy has been shown to increase self-awareness, relieve anxiety, resolve conflicts, and to cope with trauma and other mental and emotional issues. Along with medication, this has been the norm in treating various mental health disorders in the Western world. While some people utilize (traditional or alt) therapy to get to a healthy baseline while others use it to propel them beyond that baseline. Some common forms of alt therapy include hypnotherapy, art and music therapy, (various forms of) coaching, acupuncture, meditation and breathwork, exercise or movement therapy, gut health restoration and nutrition, bio and neurofeedback, and massage therapy (Psychology Today). Just like there is no one genre of music that is favored by everyone on the planet, the same goes for mental health treatment and optimization. “The psychotherapy that’s right for you depends on your situation”, the Mayo Clinic.
Both alternative and traditional practices vary in focus, results, and efficacy. It’s important to have an idea of your desired outcome or goal to narrow your options and choose the best practice for you. Sometimes, practitioners and therapists will often recommend complementary therapies to enhance results. If you're interested in trying out an alternative therapy, make sure to learn as much as you can about how it works, what it’s used for, if you’re a good candidate for it, and how to identify a solid practitioner. You probably wouldn’t want to walk into an acupuncture clinic if you have a severe needle phobia and the acupuncturist studied at the University of YouTube!
For example, through research, you may find that you want to try neurofeedback and hypnotherapy over art therapy to heal PTSD, or perhaps gut health restoration and coaching to overcome anxiety. If you’re a health geek like I am, you’ve probably heard about the importance of gut health and how our guts are like “our second brain”. If you’ve ever been nervous or anxious and simultaneously had an upset stomach, that’s because our guts and brains are connected through the vagus nerve (PubMed). According to Johns Hopkins, “researchers are finding evidence that irritation in the GI system may send signals to the central nervous system that trigger mood changes”. Dr. Jay Pasricha, the director of Johns Hopkins Center for Nuerogastroenternology says that some of the “new findings may explain why a higher-than-normal percentage of people with IBS and functional bowel problems develop depression and anxiety.”
From my early years as a child until my sophomore year of college, I struggled with pretty severe IBS. Early in high school, I experienced some bouts of depression that were the result of not only hormonal changes and typical teenage experiences, but a very poor diet - heavy in processed foods. As I began my health journey toward the end of high school, I started to notice that the healthier I ate, the better I felt, mentally and physically. Over the years, after doing several biomarker tests, I was able to identify (micro)nutritional deficiencies, food sensitivities, and imbalances in my gut microbiome. When I started taking the necessary steps to heal my gut, I began to realize that my brain fog was quickly subsiding, I was much less irritable, and my random, inexplicable bouts of sadness and anxiety were disappearing.
As shown in scientific studies, chronic exposure to inflammatory cytokines (aka substances produced by our cells) can lead to depression and reduce serotonin levels (PubMed). Occasionally, when I eat certain foods (like processed sugar and a few others) for a sustained time, not only do they inflame my body, but my mood drops and the brain fog and irritability start to show up again too. The gut-brain connection goes deeper and is so much more than just food and the vagus nerve, but I’ll spare you all that science-y stuff, just remember to go with your gut.
Our health is multi-faceted and we should treat it as such. Approaching our health from a holistic perspective can allow us to make greater progress than we might by compartmentalizing it. Luckily, most forms of therapy, alternative or traditional, can be used simultaneously with others to achieve one or multiple goals. Many alternative practices come with great success and I believe the best results come in tandem with talking to someone. There are some advances and discoveries that are best made in this way. It is a great gift to have trusted friends and family to talk with about your life experiences, but it's much more effective to have a trained, unbiased, professional who can help you to better understand yourself and make lasting improvements. If you're interested in an alternative therapy, make sure to learn as much as you can about it: how it works, if you’re a good candidate for it, and how to identify a solid practitioner.
