Daily Strength is an active online support forum with a shopping addiction support group. Individuals can post discussion comments and questions to peers in order to get advice, help concerning treatments, and moral support.
Debtors Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from compulsive debting. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop incurring unsecured debt. There are no dues or fees for D.A. membership. There are D.A. meetings in every state, as well as telephone and online meetings.
Hey BIG Spender Hey BIG Spender is a UK site that is raising awareness and enabling people to recognise, address and change their costly spending habits for sustainable change. Ann Carver the founder and recovered spendaholic, turned to shopping after the loss of 3 family members, which later created more pain of debt…now debt free she is on a mission to help others get a grip and treasure themselves once more www.heybigspenders.co.uk
HypnosisDownloads.com This 18 minute downloadable audio file details the steps in the compulsive buying cycle and uses guided imagery and visualization to help overshoppers gain control.
MySelfHelp.com This website provides an for illuminating compulsive shopping. It is staffed by healthcare professionals to aid people in improving their quality of life. There’s a discussion board for both members and visitors, a free newsletter, and a free online program about how to help loved ones cope with issues.
Recovering Shopaholic Debbie Roes, author of the blog Recovering Shopaholic: Trade Your Full Closet for a Full Life, made a decision In January of 2013 to free herself from the stranglehold of her compulsion to shop, one day at a time. In her first post, Debbie committed to a goal to stop using shopping as a coping mechanism by the end of the year. While writing the blog has been extremely therapeutic for Debbie, she started it to provide a beacon of hope for shopaholics everywhere. A full account of this journey can be found on Recovering Shopaholic, along with shopping and recovery tips, inspirational stories , links to her two e-books, and an extensive list of helpful outside resources.
Shop Your Wardrobe Jill Chivers, a recovered shopaholic in Australia, writes an excellent monthly newsletter and has created a number of programs for overshoppers. Two programs focus on conscious clothes shopping and becoming a more conscious shopper: The premier program My Year Without Clothes Shopping has 12 themes over the 12 months, 52 in-depth weekly tutorials, and other bonuses and benefits. The Conscious Clothes Shopping Mini Coursedelivers 14 emails over 6 weeks, organized around the 6 key principles of conscious clothes shopping. For more information, go to www.shopyourwardrobe.com.Jill’s 365 daily postcards, email series, and e-book inspire you to live, not spend, your life. For details, go to www.ShopLessAndLiveMore.com
Spenders Anonymous Spenders Anonymous is a 12-step program for compulsive spenders, based on the philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous. Its purpose is to bring individuals together who are suffering from compulsive buying through meetings held in many parts of the country. For a list of current meetings, visit the ‘List of Meetings’ link on the site. The website outlines the 12 steps of the program and includes personal stories from individuals on the path to recovery.
The Shulman Center for Compulsive Theft and Spending Compulsive shoplifting and employee theft, though distinct from compulsive buying, are often related to it. Terry Shulman is a therapist, attorney, consultant, and certified professional coach, who specializes in both of these areas. He also does counseling for compulsive shopping/spending.
SupportGroups.com SupportGroups.com provides an online support group for shopping addictions. The purpose of the site is to bring individuals together in a non-judgmental environment that offers recent news in the field, encouraging words, and the reassurance that one is not alone in the challenges he or she faces.
Tiffany Tastes on a Bargain Bin Budget Tiffany Tastes on a Bargain Bin Budget was established by a woman more than $28,000 dollars in debt. As part of creating this blog in May of 2013, she vowed to free herself of debt one step at a time. Offering useful strategies to save instead of spend, stories of her own triumphs and defeats in the process of becoming debt free, the blog also offers helpful links to outside websites and articles.
Residential Programs
The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery The offers comprehensive evaluation and in- and outpatient treatment for spending addictions. Their website provides in-depth information about substance addiction and compulsive behaviors as well as assistance and education resources for individuals, families and employers. To inquire about IIAR programs and services, contact Rick Zehr, Vice President of Addiction and Behavioral Services at 800-522-3784 or by e-mail at Rick Zehr (eric.zehr@proctor.org)
Onsite Workshops Based in Nashville, Tennessee, has created a 5 1/2 day Healing Money Issues program designed to help people examine the life experiences that have shaped their current relationship with money as well as process feelings and explore behaviors that are attached to these beliefs. The Wall Street Journal referred to this workshop as “an innovative effort that combines Experiential Therapy with nuts and bolts financial planning”. To read about this program, go to: Money Rehab Offers Hope for Some Financially-Troubled Americans, ’20/20′ Goes Inside Country’s Only Treatment Center for Money Disorders.
Kahler Financial Group Kahler Financial Group is a leader in combining the nuts and bolts of financial planning with financial therapy. They sponsor several different weekend and week-long workshops that can be of tremendous help to overshoppers, to overshoppers and their spouses, and to parents of overshoppers. For details about these workshops and a schedule, go to their Events Page.
Hoarding
Buried in Treasures Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding: by David F. Tolin, Randy O. Frost and, Gail Steketee.Buried in Treasures outlines an effective, scientifically-based program for helping compulsive hoarders dig their way out of the clutter and chaos of their homes. Features of this book include: Self-assessments to determine the severity of the problem; Tips and tools for organizing possessions and filing paperwork; Strategies for changing unhelpful beliefs about possessions; Behavioral experiments to reduce the anxiety of discarding.
The Compulsive Hoarding Website of the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation This website provides information and assistance to people who hoard and to their families. Included on the site is a useful definition of hoarding, professional articles on multiple aspects of hoarding, a research digest for hoarding-related scientific papers, information about self-help and support groups, a hoarding/compulsive buying screening test, and other useful information about this medical disorder. You can contact the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation by telephone at 203-401-2070. We recommend that clients/families with hoarding issues seek the help of a licensed professional with specialized training in treating compulsive hoarding. For a list of clinicians who provide treatment for compulsive hoarding as well as other important information about hoarding behavior, go to , and they will e-mail this information to you.
Institute For Challenging Disorganization The Institute For Challenging Disorganization is an organization whose mission is to provide education, research and strategies to benefit people challenged by chronic disorganization. This site offers fact sheets that can be used to for self-assessments,to identify triggering situations, and understand the factors commonly associated with chronic disorganization, and more. The site is also a rich resource for tips on time management, overcoming procrastination, and finding a professional organizer. ICD funds research studies done by organizations and graduate students through the grant program in order to better understand the causes of chronic disorganization and develop strategies which ICD organizers and related professionals can bring to individuals who suffer with chronic disorganization.
The New England Hoarding Consortium New England Hoarding Consortium newsletter will provide you with the latest information coming out of our research studies on compulsive hoarding, recently-published findings from other researchers, and our responses to some of the important questions people ask on our web site (www.compulsivehoarding.org). We also feature essays on important clinical and research topics written by members of our staff. To access the newsletter, click here
