by Dr. Steve Ehrlich, Solutions-Acupuncture & Naturopathic Medicine, PLLC
It’s an axiom in addiction medicine, that you can’t force anyone to get sober; they have to want it. As frustrating as it can be to see an addict refusing treatment, there are few things as inspiring as seeing someone with a chemical dependency issue finally open to the possibility of breaking free. As practitioners in the addiction medicine community we need to be ready to support those brave souls with the most effective interventions available. An integrative approach, combining conventional and naturopathic medicine, gives the patient and their treatment team access to multiple worlds of treatment options and strategies.
At my clinic, we routinely work with patients who are getting conventional psychiatric or psychotherapeutic care but are still struggling to achieve balance, equanimity or sobriety. What we offer is another layer of care that often makes all the difference. By combining a very specialized form of Acupuncture and Oriental Pulse Diagnosis, we are able to pinpoint and correct imbalances in a patients system that may be driving them towards self-destructive behaviors. For example, a patient with an imbalance in the Heart meridian, such as “Heart Fire” can find themselves excessively agitated, manic, experience insomnia and erratic mood changes. The diagnostic techniques we use can identify this pattern and then our unique form of acupuncture can restore balance to the system and quell said fire. The patient then will find him/herself feeling more relaxed, centered and less given to wild changes in mood. This will all feel quite “organic” to the patient; meaning it will feel like it’s coming from positive changes from within rather than from an external medication. When we combine this approach with some of our targeted nutritional strategies for metabolic balance, the results are often profound.
We welcome the opportunity to work with more patients and providers who would like to utilize this integrated approach as part of their overall recovery strategy. It is our greatest privilege to be part of the healing journey of so many courageous people.
Dr. Ehrlich had been a practitioner of acupuncture for many years before he met the man who would become his principal teacher, Dr. Richard Teh-Fu Tan, Master of Balance Method Acupuncture. Since then Dr. Ehrlich has been bringing near-instant pain relief and rapid, profound shifts in his patient’s health with this incredibly powerful method. It has to be experienced to be believed. Call 602-374-6902 or visit the SolutionsAcupuncture.com website for more information.
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