Difference between revisions of "Externalizing the Urge"

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''Allan Marlatt''<ref>''Relapse Prevention (1985) p. 241''</ref>'':''<blockquote>The most effective cognitive coping strategy with craving and urges is to develop a sense of detachment with regard to these experiences. Most clients tend to "identify" with the urge; they equate the urge with a volitional desire to indulge in the addictive behavior. Identification with the urge makes it more difficult to resist the temptation to indulge, whereas to "remove oneself" from the experience is to gain some control over it. The client is likely to think, "I'm dying for a cigarette," instead of "I am experiencing an urge to smoke—this is a useful signal to me that I need to cope with the situation." The best way to facilitate "disidentification" with the urge is to externalize it—to perceive it as a response to some external cue or situation instead of stemming from an internal physical source. By externalizing the urge, the client is more likely to assume an objective position of detached awareness instead of a subjective identification with the experience.</blockquote>
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* The most effective cognitive coping strategy with craving and urges is to develop a sense of detachment with regard to these experiences. Most clients tend to "identify" with the urge; they equate the urge with a volitional desire to indulge in the addictive behavior. Identification with the urge makes it more difficult to resist the temptation to indulge, whereas to "remove oneself" from the experience is to gain some control over it. The client is likely to think, "I'm dying for a cigarette," instead of "I am experiencing an urge to smoke—this is a useful signal to me that I need to cope with the situation." The best way to facilitate "disidentification" with the urge is to externalize it—to perceive it as a response to some external cue or situation instead of stemming from an internal physical source. By externalizing the urge, the client is more likely to assume an objective position of detached awareness instead of a subjective identification with the experience. ''Marlatt, G. A., & Gordon, J. R. (1985). Relapse prevention : maintenance strategies in the treatment of addictive behaviors. Guilford Press. p. 241''
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** Urge-Management Techniques. Even with effective stimulus-control procedures in place and an improved lifestyle balance, most clients cannot completely avoid experiencing cravings or urges to drink. Therefore, an important aspect of the RP model is to teach clients to anticipate and accept these reactions as a "normal" conditioned response to an external stimulus. According to this approach, ''the client should not identify with the urge or view it as an indication of his or her "desire" to drink''. Instead, the client is taught to label the urge as an emotional or physiological response to an external stimulus in his or her environment that was previously associated with heavy drinking, similar to Pavlov's dog, which continued to salivate at the sound of a bell that had previously signaled food. [He then mentions Urge Surfing] ''ibid p. 10''
  
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== Defusion ==
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== Related Strategies ==
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The handout for the cognitive defusion group was titled ‘Seeing your thoughts differently’. The rationale section explained that thoughts can sometimes sabotage intentions and that in situations like these it can be helpful to think of oneself as different from one’s thoughts. The strategy section went on to describe the '''mindbus metaphor''' (i.e., viewing oneself as the driver of a bus and one’s thoughts as passengers, see Hayes & Smith, 2005; Hayes et al., 1999) and gave three examples of strategies the participant could use in response to difficult ‘passengers’ (i.e., difficult thoughts; describing them, letting them know who is in charge, making them talk with a different accent, or sing what they are saying; see Hayes & Smith, 2005; Hayes et al., 1999).
 
  
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In the practice exercise section, participants were asked to select one of the three strategies and spend 5 min imagining themselves using it, either in response to recent difficult chocolate-related thoughts or in response to the types of difficult chocolate-related thoughts they might experience over the next 5 days. The instructions section asked participants to carry the bag of chocolates with them at all times over the next 5 days, to try to resist eating any kind of chocolate, and to use the strategy outlined in the handout whenever they were tempted to eat chocolate. In order to try to limit social desirability bias, the instructions also noted that resisting chocolate is difficult so the participant may find that they cannot always manage this. In which case, they should simply make a note of what they have eaten in their diary.
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* [[Urge Surfing]]
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* [[DISARM]]
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''Jenkins KT, Tapper K. Resisting chocolate temptation using a brief mindfulness strategy. Br J Health Psychol. 2014 Sep;19(3):509-22. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12050. Epub 2013 May 17. PMID: 23678870.''<ref>For an article on this study, see [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/control-your-urges-with-a-ride-on-the-mindbus/ here].</ref>
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* [[Defusion]]
  
 
== From GYE Members ==
 
== From GYE Members ==

Latest revision as of 00:01, 8 December 2020

  • The most effective cognitive coping strategy with craving and urges is to develop a sense of detachment with regard to these experiences. Most clients tend to "identify" with the urge; they equate the urge with a volitional desire to indulge in the addictive behavior. Identification with the urge makes it more difficult to resist the temptation to indulge, whereas to "remove oneself" from the experience is to gain some control over it. The client is likely to think, "I'm dying for a cigarette," instead of "I am experiencing an urge to smoke—this is a useful signal to me that I need to cope with the situation." The best way to facilitate "disidentification" with the urge is to externalize it—to perceive it as a response to some external cue or situation instead of stemming from an internal physical source. By externalizing the urge, the client is more likely to assume an objective position of detached awareness instead of a subjective identification with the experience. Marlatt, G. A., & Gordon, J. R. (1985). Relapse prevention : maintenance strategies in the treatment of addictive behaviors. Guilford Press. p. 241
    • Urge-Management Techniques. Even with effective stimulus-control procedures in place and an improved lifestyle balance, most clients cannot completely avoid experiencing cravings or urges to drink. Therefore, an important aspect of the RP model is to teach clients to anticipate and accept these reactions as a "normal" conditioned response to an external stimulus. According to this approach, the client should not identify with the urge or view it as an indication of his or her "desire" to drink. Instead, the client is taught to label the urge as an emotional or physiological response to an external stimulus in his or her environment that was previously associated with heavy drinking, similar to Pavlov's dog, which continued to salivate at the sound of a bell that had previously signaled food. [He then mentions Urge Surfing] ibid p. 10

Related Strategies

From GYE Members

  • ...Seeing the fantasy thoughts as the nisayon they are, clarified it as something outside of me and not a reflection of me, as I used to think. Once I identified it for what it was, I could now actually work on overcoming it. #aa thoughts
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