Treatment, Nontraditional Approaches

Nontraditional treatments refer to the treatment methods used by individuals to treat substance abuse that fall outside of the traditional range of treatments. Typically, there are very few published studies in peer-reviewed journals on the effectiveness of these methods, which vary in popularity, rate of use, and efficacy. Additionally, the formal study of the efficacy of these methods is diffuse. However, because nontraditional approaches are used by a substantial number of individuals, formal evaluation is strongly needed. It is important to note that nontraditional therapies often do not have concrete clinical practice guidelines. Thus, it is not possible to determine if nontraditional approaches are applied consistently across different treatment providers and settings. More extensive formal evaluation will not only determine the efficacy of these methods ...