Cravings & relapse prevention~12 minSMART Recovery–styleCBT
Name the voice of the urge
Give the addictive voice a name and a face, write down its favorite lines, and practice talking back.
Seeing urges as separate from you makes them easier to refuse. SMART Recovery's DISARM tool (personify and disarm) and cognitive therapy's work on 'permission-giving thoughts' (Beck and colleagues) both teach you to catch the voice's lines and answer them.
1. A name for the voice
The Salesman, the Gremlin, the Bookie…
2. What it looks or sounds like when I picture it
3. Its favorite lines
"You've earned it."
4. When it gets loudest
5. My comebacks to its top three lines
Short and firm works best. You don't have to win an argument — just refuse.
6. What the voice wants vs. what I want
7. What I'll tell it next time it shows up