Cravings & relapse prevention~10 minRelapse preventionCBT
Play the tape forward
When a craving sells you the first hour, write out the whole movie — the night, the morning, the week.
Cravings advertise the immediate payoff and skip the rest. Relapse prevention calls these 'positive outcome expectancies'. Deliberately thinking the whole sequence through — what many in recovery call playing the tape forward — brings the costs back into view.
1. What the craving promises me
Just one. You deserve it. It'll take the edge off. You'll win it back.
2. The first hour — honestly
3. Later that night
4. The next morning: how I feel, what I remember, who I have to face
5. A week later — what's changed, and what did it cost?
6. Who else is affected
7. Now play the other tape: what happens if I don't — tonight, tomorrow, next week?
8. A short line to remember next time
"I already know how this movie ends."