Exploding the Fantasy
This is one of several tools we are making available for free on our website that are mentioned in our book An Ounce of Prevention: A Course in Relapse Prevention. We refer to this particular sober tool as exploding the fantasy and although it can be a very difficult tool to use without help when attempting to interrupt certain addictive impulses such as love and sex addiction you should not let the challenge discourage you. When used properly, its use can produce results when many other strategies have failed.
When an addict is fantasying about what a “drug of choice” is going to do for rather than to him or her, the expected results have no negative consequences. The addicts who are able to think rationally might be able to stop the euphoric recall simply by using the Thinking the Drink Through Profile. For many addicts the process of imagining the trouble that he or she is going to get into if abstinence is surrendered is not going to be sufficient. Addicts whose thinking has become very toxic will find the seduction associated with the fantasy to be too strong.
When you find that you are not able to scare yourself out of the fantasy, do not give up. You will need to shift your focus onto intervening on the fantasy itself by exploding it. It is an especially valuable tool for love and sex addicts to learn how to use before he or she finds that they need to.
You will explode the fantasy by challenging the delusion. Be prepared for a fight though, because self-delusion is not going to give up easily.
