When you look for options on drug treatment in South Carolina, you will find that there are all kinds of programs available here. You will surely find programs that are qualified for treatment, which means they are approved by the state after being tried and tested by the healthcare experts, but at the same time, you will also find programs that are categorized as nonqualified programs. These are mostly the holistic programs that do not use conventional methods of treatment but rely on other kinds of techniques to achieve the same goal. Though the state has not yet sanctioned most of these forms of treatment either through approval or through monetary funding, it is a fact that these programs are quite popular for drug treatment in South Carolina.

Let us take a brief look here at the different kinds of holistic drug treatment in South Carolina and how they are implemented. Note that there are too many such programs to be listed here, but we have done our best to list the most popular ones and explain them.

Spiritual Treatment Centers (12 Step Programs)

These are the oldest forms of holistic drug treatment in South Carolina and they are also the most popular today among the non-mainstream forms of treatment. The basis of these programs is derived from the 12 Step Program that is widely used for alcohol abuse and addiction treatment in South Carolina, but is modified to suit patients who are with a drug problem. The program begins with generating a realization in the patient that he or she needs treatment and that they must invoke some divine holy power to guide them through. Some of these programs can be overtly religious, such as the Christian drug treatment programs, but most of them are irreligious. Though they might allude to divine powers, they will never name any one in particular.

Once the person has been properly convinced that he or she needs treatment for the drug dependency, they are assigned a volunteer who would guide them through the treatment process. This volunteer is usually an expert on the subject of addiction. The patient is expected to make a confession unto this volunteer about everything that has gone wrong due to the addiction and the volunteer with then guide the patient on what they must do so as to set things aright. This can be a very tedious process and can take time, but patience is one of the most advantageous features of such programs.

You will notice that there is no medical treatment such as detox involved in this program. Hence, the program is good for people who are not into very drastic addictions yet. However, there are provisions in some of these spiritual programs for drug treatment in South Carolina to introduce a detoxification phase for the patient's treatment by referring them to an external detox center.

Herbal Treatment Programs

These therapies are implemented in health resort like settings where the people are made to live for a while. They are put on a healthy lifestyle which includes complete abstinence from the drug they have been using. Quite understandably, within a short amount of time, they will begin experiencing the withdrawal symptoms due to the abstinence. At this point, by using various herbal methods, the withdrawal is cured. The patient will have to stay within the center as long as these methods are employed.

The herbs, often from India or China and also from Latin American areas, are carefully selected from among those that have been used for ages for various kinds of addiction treatment. Most treatment centers have their own herbal remedies which are prepared by mixing these herbs in the right proportion. That is the reason you will not find the same kind of drug treatment in South Carolina in any two of its herbal treatment centers.

For aftercare, various therapies such as massages (again with herbal oils), relaxation and meditation techniques (including Yoga and Pranayama) and acupuncture and acupressure may be implemented on the patient. The stay of the patient at these centers will be recommended as long as it takes for them to come out of the addiction. In some cases, short programs of about a fortnight are also made available, but complete treatment is suitable only with at least three months of treatment.

An Important Point to Note:

Holistic programs for drug treatment in South Carolina are still nonqualified programs. As such, their treatments may be expensive and you might have to fend for it yourself.