Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Compulsive buying is a serious, often secretive affliction, with profound emotional, social, occupational, and financial consequences. As many as a quarter of us have problems with buying, and studies suggest that between one and six percent of the population are full-fledged compulsive buyers. I Shop,Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying and the Search for Self brings together, for the first time, the most important thinking about this disorder. As more and more therapists encounter compulsive buying (whether as a presenting problem or revealed in the course of ongoing therapy), the need for an in-depth clinical understanding of the disorder has grown. Dr. Benson has responded admirably to that need with a practical, comprehensive, and wonderfully readable work.



While the book focuses a wide-angled lens on the many aspects of compulsive buying, it emphasizes understanding the disorder as a desperate search for self in people whose identity is not securely established. It defines the syndrome of compulsive consumption, examines the range and variations within it, discusses assessment and associated disorders, and delineates successful treatment modalities. Offering insights from a broad spectrum of therapies-psychopharmacology, psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral treatment, couples and group therapy, self-help, and financial counseling-this book is an indispensable toolbox for the increasing number of therapists who see patients with shopping, buying, or debting problems.

A Jason Aronson Book

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. xi)
• Contributors (p. xv)
• Introduction (p. xxi)
• Part I An Overview (p. 1)
• 1 When Money Is the Drug (p. 3)
• 2 A Systematic Investigation into Compulsive Buying (p. 27)
• Part II Shopping, Buying, and Selfhood (p. 55)
• 3 Shopaholics, Spendaholics, and the Question of Gender (p. 57)
• 4 Are We What We Own? (p. 76)
• 5 The Role of Self-Image in Excessive Buying (p. 105)
• 6 Clothes, Inside Out (p. 133)
• Part III Special Issues in Compulsive Buying (p. 155)
• 7 Collecting as Reparation (p. 157)
• 8 Giving until It Hurts (p. 168)
• Part IV Psychiatric Considerations (p. 189)
• 9 Assessment of Compulsive Buying (p. 191)
• 10 Diagnosis, Associated Disorders, and Drug Treatment (p. 217)
• Part V Psychodynamic Theory and Technique (p. 243)
• 11 Compulsive Buying as an Addiction (p. 245)
• 12 When Eating and Shopping Are Companion Disorders (p. 268)
• 13 The Use of Money as an Action Symptom (p. 288)
• 14 Clothes and the Couch (p. 311)
• Part VI Couples Treatment and Group Therapy (p. 339)
• 15 Overcoming Overspending in Couples (p. 341)
• 16 Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Buying Disorder (p. 367)
• 17 Psychoeducational Group Therapy for Money Disorders (p. 398)
• Part VII Treatment Adjuncts (p. 429)
• 18 Debtors Anonymous and Psychotherapy (p. 431)
• 19 Financial Recovery Counseling (p. 455)
• 20 Simplicity Circles and the Compulsive Shopper (p. 484)
• Conclusion: What Are We Shopping For? (p. 497)
• Credits (p. 514)
• Index (p. 517)