What do clients do while they are getting needled?

Resources for Acupuncture in Chemical Dependency Treatment and Recovery

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

What kinds of agencies or services should think about adding an acupuncture component?

Does acupuncture really work?

Are there any drugs that it doesn't work for?

Does it help with other addictions?

How much does it cost?

How do programs pay for it?

Is acupuncture safe? What are the liability issues? Is there increased risk of spreading infectious disease?

Does the treatment hurt?

How much time does the treatment take?

Do clients need to make an appointment for acupuncture?

What do clients do while they're getting needled?

What do clients do while they are getting needled?

The effects of the treatment and the experience people have who receive it are highly subjective, depending upon a host of factors including such things as their level of stress at the time, their drug(s) of choice, and how recently they used. There is usually a sense of "relaxed alertness," and often a slightly euphoric feeling. The most important thing that can be said is that this may be the first time that this person has felt "good" or "better" or even "okay" without being inebriated in a very long time! That experience will give them hope, which is of course the thing they most need is they are to achieve recovery.

So this should be viewed as the client's personal and sacred space, a time for them to be inward and undistracted by outside noise and activity and the "pressure to perform" that often characterizes other therapeutic interventions.

In the optimum setting, therefore, clients are sitting quietly. Acupuncture is unique among the services offered at a drug treatment program in that it is "non verbal." This is also one of its greatest advantages (as described at length in the book Transformation and Recovery.)

Some clients may choose to read or quietly chat with one another while they are being treated, and some clinics have soothing music playing in the background. "Purists," however, would argue that all of these external activities and sounds will lessen the therapeutic value of the treatment. Most clinics have a sign on the wall saying "Acupuncture works best in a quiet setting".

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