Many of today's finest drug treatment centers have earned their place at the top by taking a different approach. Although detoxification, peer group meetings, and other common methods work for some people, it's not unusual for addicts to come away complaining of middling success. Check back in after a year or two and you may discover astonishing recidivism rates.

The truth is that getting sober is not quite the same thing as getting healthy. Many addiction programs treat the symptoms and not the causes, focusing on the behavior itself without exploring the psychological factors that may be behind it. Needless to say, superficial changes in behavior should never be mistaken for a deeper, permanent cure.

One of the great advances in our understanding of addictions has been exploring their function in the context of our personalities as a whole. Holistic treatment techniques are becoming more popular as increasing numbers of clinics add meditation, massage and spiritual counseling to the mix. Taken together, focused and balanced approaches such as these cannot help but offer substantive, compassionate care to each client.