Are you looking for ways to help your child find addiction recovery?
Would you love to have a blueprint for recovery?
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Bell at the preview of The Anonymous People.
Dr. Bell is a northern California practicing chiropractor and specializes in individuals helping them with addiction recovery.
Please welcome Dr. Herby Bell to our community!
Dr. Bell tells his story and his thoughts about the holistic approach to recovery. Two ideas stood out for me. One was the idea of prehab, rehab, and posthab, which expands prevention and long-term recovery. The second is the idea of moving well, eating well, and thinking well, which is a wonderful reminder to take care of ourselves, no matter our situation.
With that being said, I’ll let Dr. Bell take it away.
Please explain what do you do and why are you involved in recovery?
When I was nine years old, my physician father, also addicted to drugs and alcohol, committed suicide. That was the first anchor in the family that this was going to be a legacy. Growing up, I swore off all drugs and alcohol and of course, became addicted to both.
I’m a recovery person, myself and now my middle son is an opiate addict in recovery, so I have what I describe as these two bookends, my dad and my son propping me up very enthusiastically and passionately to do this work.
It just really gets me out of bed in the morning.
I say thank goodness every day. Many people don’t have the distinction or the good fortune to say that they have found their life’s work, and through serendipity, I believe I surely have.
What is the Blue Print for Recovery, and how does it work?
In my own recovery, I found that if I wasn’t moving well, if I wasn’t recruiting my body to produce the brain chemicals I needed to feel good in my own skin, and if I wasn’t eating properly, I was just in another addictive cycle looking for that hit through sugar, or other behaviors.
I really found a way to fine-tune through exercise and good nutrition. Through my ongoing psychological process, whatever it was, 12 steps, psychotherapy, or native American sweat lodges through the years. I had a real good integrated approach.
That is what the Blue Print for Recovery is. We say move well, eat well, and think well all of the time, for some period of time, one day at a time. We incorporate chiropractic as the beginning, non-invasive, very gentle movement to get the body’s core moving properly and then add a thoughtful exercise regimen.
Over the course of a ninety-day period, we ask people to move away from the standard American diet of carbohydrate-rich and sugar-rich foods and move more towards wholesome nutrient-packed foods. I incorporate the Paleo diet into our program, which takes time over the course of those ninety days.
Everybody is in a little bit different place on the continuum as they join us. The thinking well piece is an ongoing psychological/spiritual process. It is whatever works for folks. We’ve got recovery coaching at the office and a couple of men’s groups as adjunctive approaches to the thinking well piece.
Our tagline is Focusing on Wellness and Specializing in Addiction Recovery Care.
They are two in the same thing. From all walks of life, the idea is that all of us are experiencing this renaissance, moving back into a wellness-oriented life, a sustainable life.
This is a common-sense approach. We do not have a solid infrastructure for people to go out and habituate these lifestyle practices in a way that works. Ninety days seems to be a real good time period for people to take on practices, and then the rubber meets the road.
Why do we live in a culture where addiction seems to be so prevalent?
I’m a left-handed, goofy-foot, alcoholic, surfer chiropractor, and I have many big ideas around this. The big answer is that we have lost touch with the whole. We have really lost touch with the fact that we are all inextricably connected to all things and each other.
We have compartmentalized so much through our consumer culture.
“What have I got, and what do I take for it?”
Instead of:
“What’s out of balance? What’s toxic? What’s deficient, and how do I get back to sufficient and pure again?”
People are grasping at straws to find compartmentalized answers for what should be a holistic solution. We are moving out of a compartmentalized mechanistic culture back into an integrated, holistic look at things. It’s going to take some time for that sort of paradigm shift to take hold.
We are sort of out of touch with the rhythm and the cadence of the earth. We are natural ecstasy deprived. We are looking for ways to soothe ourselves. We are always looking for pleasure as human beings, and of course, these synthetic ways to soothe ourselves through substance and behaviors are being handed to us right and left.
That is not the answer, as we have seen.
What tips do you have for parents when they find out their child is experimenting, dependent, or has crossed that line to addiction?
Get in touch with their own intuition. The answers are inside if we have a process to be introspective. Let’s look at how we are taking a look at our lives and start the education process very early on. This is an intergenerational, family legacy, multi-factorial problem, including a genetic predisposition. It requires a holistic, integrated approach.
Education, education, education.
Open up the conversation. Let’s get addiction out of the closet and turn over every stone we possibly can because there are different strokes for different folks.
Our friend Lisa Frederiksen’s Second-Hand Drinking work really nails it. It looks at what happens unconsciously in a family and brings it to a conscious conversation. Lisa’s work is really seminal and first cabin stuff.
What are your thoughts about our current addiction treatment system?
The experience we had with our son going to a dual diagnosis major hospital in the country turned out to be a long process and extraordinarily expensive.
Addiction treatment central, or we call it “Big Addiction,” is doing the best it can, but it is fabulously expensive. I don’t think it has to be if we will get more of an infrastructure and more of an early education program.
I love the concept that we’ve got rehab, but now let’s get prehab, and let’s get post has. Let’s bring it into the culture early on to prevent a lot of this costly treatment. We can find a way to offer continued–aftercare–much like diabetes or heart disease. Ultimately that will abate a lot of costly relapse episodes and recidivism in our prison systems.
It can be more robust; it can be spread out more in the culture. We like to say, “Let’s have the addiction treatment community be the entire community from the beat cop, to the teacher, to my brother.” Everybody can come up to speed on this because addiction touches all of us, one way or another.
Then I think we’ll see a shift.
What are your thoughts about “Big Addiction?” What would you like to see that would help with addiction recovery? Be sure to let us know in the comments?
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Herby Bell, D.C., D.A.C.A.C.D(c), has been a practicing chiropractor for over 30 years. Before graduating with honors from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at San Diego. His post-graduate training in sports-related injuries and applied spinal biomechanics (F.A.S.B.E.) positioned him for his practices in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas. He helped a wide variety of people–from children to geriatrics and NFL football players to professional surfers.
Dr. Bell has studied and practiced mind-body-spirit fitness and wellness protocols for three decades. As a candidate for diplomate status with The American College of Addictionology and Compulsive Disorders, he is a firm believer that lifestyle choices and practices are paramount to overall good health. Good lifestyle choices include moving well with a functionally sound exercise regimen, eating well through natural and nutritionally sound foods, and thinking well through mindfulness and other practices.
He is currently in private practice at Recovery Health Care in Redwood City, CA, specializing in individuals with addictions. Herby also lectures at The Sequoia Center, a drug and alcohol treatment center in Redwood City, and he produces a podcast entitled Sober Conversations (iTunes) exploring sober and wellness lifestyles.
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Thank you so much, Cathy, for bringing Herby’s work to the attention of your readers. I so agree with the points about his work that are especially intriguing that you raised in your introduction, “… the idea of prehab, rehab and posthab, which expands prevention, as well as long term recovery. The second is the idea of moving well, eating well and thinking well, which is a wonderful reminder to take care of ourselves, no matter what our situation.”
And thank you, Herby, for sharing all of your experiences – including those of your dad and son, with treatment programs, dual diagnosis…. Helping readers see how a person gets into and out of this disease and the myriad of alternatives for treatment and recovery – especially those that improve one’s overall lifestyle and health – can be a lifeline.
Hi Lisa,
I love sharing other people’s work and know that Herby is a wonderful resource, especially in northern California. With his podcast and blog, his message will spread even wider. I love his myriad of alternatives for treatment and recovery as well. I feel that having choices is the key. Thanks for stopping by!
“This is an intergenerational, family legacy, multi-factorial problem including a genetic predisposition. It requires an holistic, integrated approach.” That is the TRUTH , Herby, and it is complex and multifaceted – disease and remedy – and even has multicultural components. What works for middle aged beige people won’t work for others.
“Education, education, education.
Open up the conversation. Let’s get addiction out of the closet and turn over every stone we possibly can, because there are different strokes for different folks.”
Lets open the conversataion – keep it alive and share it publicly. Thanks for the great interview!
Hi Kyczy,
Welcome to the blog! So great that you are here. I loved the holistic approach as well that Herby mentioned. The idea of different strokes for different folks is what can open up so many more possibilities for people searching for recovery. Everyone comes into this from a different perspective and my experience is that people need choices. So wonderful that Herby’s program is available. Thanks so much for stopping by!
This was absolutely fascinating to me. I’ve long since thought there was a missing piece in the addiction chain and the idea of an holistic approach makes so much sense.
Dr. Herby’s words “if I wasn’t recruiting my body to produce the brain chemicals I needed to feel good in my own skin and if I wasn’t eating properly, I was just in another addictive cycle looking for that hit through sugar, or through other behaviors.” are spot on.
I see it in friends…they exchange one form of addiction for another.
I think this is the way forward Cathy and once again you brought some wonderful ideas into my world.
xoxo
Elle
Hi Elle,
So true that the holistic approach makes so much sense. Long term recovery means taking care of every aspect of your body and mind, so that the addiction continues to be managed. I also love the idea of ninety days. That is, in my opinion, the essential time period to getting the new habits imprinted in a way that is sustaining. Thanks as always for stopping by and for your support. xo
This says it all, “We’ve lost touch with the Whole.” So true!
Next time you feel frustrated over technology…call me I’ll cheer you up and we can laugh together!
Hey Tess,
Great ideas from this interview, I feel. I know – the technology can be such a challenge at times. We should talk – I haven’t talked to you in a long while. Would love to chat with you! 🙂
Cathy,
Sounds good. How about we Skype in August. I’m going to be gone most of July!
OK, that sounds great. I will be in touch in August. Enjoy your time away.
Hey Cathy,
Great interview! Herby made really great points and like Tess, I was struck by his belief that we’ve lost touch with the whole. He sounds like a dynamite guy!
So glad to hear you connected at The Anonymous People. The film is magical is so many ways!
From the looks of things, you are doing well . . . would love to catch up with you sometime.
B Well!
Hi Beth,
Glad you liked the interview. I feel that his words are so true in that regard. The Anonymous People was great! Loved the film and looking forward to it opening in the fall. We need to definitely catch up!
Cathy,
Thanks for sharing Herby’s story. I really like the concept of Pre/post-hab. There’s so much more to recovery.
Hi Betsy,
The idea of prevention, rehab and a long lasting followup period has the possibility of making such a difference in the outcome. A better outcome is good for everyone. Thanks for stopping by. Take care!
Unique, forward thinking, and proactive, and finding a better way. Seeing people taking a different approach to recovery is a beautiful thing. Clearly the 30 day rehab in and out revolving door scene does not work nearly well enough, and I love seeing people like Herby buck that system and do/add other things that WILL work better.
Props to you Herby! And thank you Cathy for bringing this to us!
Hey Leslie,
So agree. We definitely needs some changes and I do believe with people like Herby on the cutting edge, we will get there. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Cathy,
This was a most interesting interview with Dr Bell. You interview such inspirational people!
I can really resonate with what Dr Bell said about needing a holistic solution. Too often treatments and therapies are focused on one aspect of a person’s condition and life. So many factors can play a part in our experiences including those, which are harmful to us. Therefore, support is needed, which looks at problems from a ‘systems’ perspective.
Thank you.
Hi Hiten,
Thanks, glad that you are finding the interview interesting. The holistic solution makes sense to me as well and appears to be the key to long term recovery. Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks so much for the post! I couldn’t agree more! Addiction/Alcoholism runs rampant in my family and Pre-hab would have been great! No one has ever admitted alcoholism, so Re-hab never happened so Post-hab wouldn’t have either…but Pre-hab would have been GREAT!
Hi Liz,
I’m sorry to hear that Addiction/Alcoholism runs rampant in your family. That is always a tough one, especially if there if recovery isn’t happening. Prevention or prehab is so needed. It is a challenge when those that are struggling are in denial. Hope that you are taking care of yourself. Know that there is hope and that you are not alone. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Take care.
Cathy, thanks for introducing us to Herby!
Herby, thank you so much for your great work. It’s inspiring that you’ve made good things come from terrible experiences.
Hopefully, now that we’re in the 21st century and so many people like you are stepping up to help addicts and families, we’ll prevent children from losing their parents to the disease the way that you did.
Well said Jody. Herby has made good things come from challenging experiences as have you! The more people speak out, the better it is for everyone, especially the children who fall victim to this disease or are suffering because their parents are struggling with the disease of addiction. Take care.
I like what he says about the importance of diet and movement to recovery from addictions, or just as a guide to life in general. Ideally, I think, more and more people will come to see how a healthy diet and exercise can actually be a source of pleasure (just feeling better as we go through our lives), as opposed to a way to gain others’ approval with our bodies or “do the right thing.”
So true Chris. A healthy diet and exercise can make us feel better and as with anything when we are internally driven, it makes all the difference. Take care.
Holistic approach is definitely gaining momentum. Thank you for sharing.
I am curious if you have any insight as to how eating healthfully chemically addresses the issue of substance abuse? Is it simply a self esteem/feel good part of the recovery process or is there a chemical element to it similar to how exercise helps?
Welcome and thank you for your comment. I’m not sure that I can answer your question, so I will forward your question onto Dr. Bell and send you his reply.
Here is Dr. Bell’s response to your great question:
A terrific question and thank you for asking it. What we know is that many of the foods we consume in our Standard American Diet produce increased inflammation and spike insulin production. These two, out of balance physiological “states” can lead to chronic stress, increased cravings and a host of other issues that are clearly avoidable–not to mention relapse. And yes, it is right on the mark with how exercise helps and when these two practices of eating healthfully and thoughtful exercise are integral parts of the recovery lifestyle, wellness happens!