The Complete Idiot's Guide to Changing Old Habits for Good

There is no argument that G. Alan Marlatt, Ph.D., one of the two authors, is qualified to write this book, but I have my doubts sbout Deborah S. Romaine. I get the feeling the latter may have been responsible for the diffuse, overly broad nature of this volume. Marlatt is the director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington. Romaine is described as the author of dozens of "successful health books". Overall, I felt this book tries to cover far too much ground in terms of changing habits. There are six sections: 1. The habits we have and how they came to be. 2. Quitting the "bad habit and developing new (and more satisfying) habits". 3. What really drives our desires and the behaviors we use to try to meet them. 4. The roles other people play in your efforts to change. This section struck me as the weakest in the book and perhaps unnecessary. 5. Uncover your old habit's final hiding places and learn how to sepsrate yourself from their pull on you. Kind of wishy-washy. 6. How to keep faith in yourself and your changes. Again, kind of wishy-washy. A big problem here is that the writing seems watered down, as if it were really intended for people who aren't too bright. That is unfortunate as the tone of the book seems condescending. The examples provided by the author are silly and clearly fictional. This does not build trust in the reader. The authors cover far too much territory ranging from nicotine addiction and alcoholism to weight control and more. Each of those subjects merits a single book: the one volume approach simply doesn't cut it. So with all this criticism, why five-stars? Because throughout the book, the good advice still pops out. You have to work hard, as in the sense reading all the light weight material, to get to it, but the guts of this book are a solid introduction to behavioral change and worth the effort to extract. Perhaps a second edition of this book with a different co-author (or editor) will be much better. Jerry