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Shopaholics and compulsive buyers have a new resource for help. New York psychologist, April Lane Benson, Ph.D., releases an innovative, interactive text-messaging program that directs, inspires, and motivates shopping addicts to stop overshopping. The program is tailored specifically to each participant’s overshopping profile and it provides daily, personalized support when and where overshoppers and impulsive shoppers need it the most.
Conservatively, eighteen million Americans overshop or overspend so much as to suffer serious negative consequences. That can wreak havoc on their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Not only do shopaholics and compulsive shoppers regularly incur thousands of dollars of debt, they also suffer with broken relationships, depression, and anxiety. The emotional stresses felt by those who engage in compulsive shopping, guilt shopping, and those addicted to spending money, especially if left unrecognized, can lead, over time, to divorce, bankruptcy, incarceration, and, in extreme cases, suicide.
Text messaging is now being used to help people with a variety of physical and mental health issues, including diabetes self-management, weight loss, physical activity, smoking cessation, and diminished alcohol consumption. Although this area of research and practice is relatively new, there has been consistent evidence that text messaging interventions that use tailored messages and offer the user the opportunity to text the system for immediate support are the most successful. The Stopping Overshopping Text Messaging Program incorporates both of these features.
To learn more about The Stopping Overshopping Text Messaging Program, and how it can help those addicted to shopping or those suffering with compulsive buying disorder, click here: http://www.shopaholicnomore.com/text-program/
When asked about how the program works, Dr. Benson said, “When the doctor’s office calls to remind you of your upcoming appointment, you’re much more likely to go. In the same way, these texts serve as thoughtful reminders to keep the appointment you’ve made with yourself to stay conscious and aware of your intention to stop overshopping.”
The program offers specific practical strategies to reduce or eliminate compulsive buying behavior, and it has the potential to reach thousands of overspenders who are reluctant to publicly acknowledge their problem. It can also be a powerful reinforcer for people who have already taken several steps on the recovery staircase.
Twenty people beta tested the system for three months. Each of the participants answered a series of questions that permitted Dr. Benson and her team to personalize their texts. The beta testers received texts daily, the number and content of which varied by day of the week, time of the year, and the individual user’s particular overshopping profile. Among the positive results reported by beta testers, was the feeling that a wise, nurturing friend “had their back.” Using the program helped one overshopper reconsider her motives and take that all-important moment to pause. For another, “the texts provided ammunition she needed to summon the strength to resist the impulse to shop,” and a third beta tester said, “ I didn’t overshop even once after beginning the program.”
At a price of $24.95 for three months, the program fills an important gap between self-help options and private coaching or therapy, provides a jumping off point for someone who is just beginning to address his or her shopping problem, and reinforces and augments the gains of coaching or therapy for someone who is already well along the path. http://www.shopaholicnomore.com/text-program/
To learn more about nationally recognized psychologist, April Lane Benson, Ph.D., or to find out how to get a copy of her book, “To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop,” please visit her website: http://www.shopaholicnomore.com
Release ID: 80619