Goldfarb and Giordano, who met in 1994 at a Miami treatment center for the homeless and indigent, also host a new radio show called Holistic Recovery Hour, where they take calls, answer questions, and aim to end the stigma of addiction.

The Holistic Addiction Treatment Center is staffed by psychiatrists, psychologists, nutritionists, and fitness experts, and clients live with roommates under round-the-clock supervision. Therapies available to clients include: vitamin and amino acid therapy to even out moods, acupuncture to curb cravings, a gym and sauna to cleanse the body of toxins, and karate and yoga classes to teach discipline.

"The old model of treatment is just to treat them psychologically, just the head and leave the body alone. We don't do that because we feel it's all connected," said Giordano.

Some experts are skeptical about the holistic approach to substance abuse treatment. "It hasn't been shown that anything works better than conventional treatment using an [Alcoholics Anonymous, 12-step] model," which is effective and free, said Dr. Frank Gawin, president of the Mood and Addiction Neuroscience Foundation in Los Angeles.

Alternative therapies, such as those available at the Holistic Addiction Treatment Center, "are not demonstrated to lead to attainment of abstinence ... but for someone who doesn't like conventional treatments, those therapies become valuable," said Gawin.

For John Kaplan, 30, a longtime cocaine and OxyContin user, conventional programs weren't working. He tried 12-step programs twice to no avail, but recently he successfully completed a five-week in-patient treatment program at the Center. "I decided to come here and, hands down, it's the best thing I've done for my body," said Kaplan.