Cravings and Addictions: Free Yourself from the Struggle of Addictive Behavior with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

by Maria Karekla, Megan M. Kelly

A powerful, evidence-based program grounded in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for managing cravings related to addictions and taking charge of your life . Whether you struggle with overeating, alcohol, drugs, or smoking, you’re all too familiar with the cravings that propel your habit. Cravings—that intense desire for certain substances or behaviors with the aim of feeling pleasure and satisfaction—are the root of all addictive behaviors. Knowing what to do with those urges can make the difference between managing your addiction and giving into it. This book can help. Cravings and Addictions presents practical strategies based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you cope with the cravings at the core of your addiction. You’ll learn to recognize the cues that lead to addictive behaviors, and discover how you can move beyond addiction to commit to a life driven by what you care about and want in life. If you’re ready to stop living life at the mercy of your cravings and addiction, let this book be your guide to regaining control. Accept, Choose, and Take Action to Manage Your Cravings—and Take Back Control of Your Life!

Genres: Addiction

208 pages, Paperback

Published January 2, 2022

Reviews

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a nice addition to the growing ACT collection of books. This book shows you techniques on how to overcome your cravings to help with your addictions.

Good points:

- The exercises are really great, loved the "Writing Your New Values-based Living Story" one - the book has a good collection of exercises from different books and they are written quite concisely

- The book is quite short and easy to read compared to others

- Each chapter had very good summaries, and choice moment diagrams

- You follow stories of some of Maria's and Megan's clients throughout the book, and at the end see how they have got on with their journey

Not so great:

- The book came across quite serious, other ACT books felt like they had a bit more personality and humour to them

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This book can be really helpful and life-changing for those who want to make progress in overcoming their addictions & cravings.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an excellent starting point for working on #CravingsandAddictions. ACT was not a therapy I was familiar with, but I'm very happy to have read it. I believe everyone could use a little help, if not with addictions, at least with cravings. I enjoyed learning about how to cope, and the free tools you can download from #NewHarbinger compliment the book wonderfully. Thank you to New Harbinger and NetGalley for the chance to read this in return for an honest review.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good self-help book on how to use Acceptance and Committment Therapy (ACT) for coping with cravings and addictions. Therapists and counselors working with ACT can also use this book for working with their clients.
The chapters are relatively short and the exercises can be implemented easily (to my mind).
I especially like the inclusion of self-compassion, which is not one of the core processes of ACT but really adds to working with addictions and cravings.

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not familiar at all with this type of therapy so this was a really interesting read for me.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

[Krista Festarini · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is mostly common sense. Lots of repetition of the key ideas.

[Shervin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great tips in this book that are helpful.

[Emilee Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was helpful for tips and interventions for working with clients with addictions and substance abuse disorders. It also was a lot of things a heard before and wasn’t my favorite.

[A Spicer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was listened to as an audiobook but again, didn’t take away much despite being easy to listen to.

[Lili · Rating 3 out of 5]

The books show techniques to overcome the cravings that lead to addictions. It has several exercises to fulfill to gain confidence in oneself. It is a good start to look for help in the addictions problem.