Exploring and Treating Acquisitive Desire

This book demonstrates how what we own can control us - the terminal stage of the social disease of acquisitive desire for material things. Topics covered include: what acquisitive desire means in people's lives; diagnosis and treatment of consumer disorders; interventions and clinical issues for those who follow an excessively materialistic lifestyle; how therapists and therapy are treated as possessions to flaunt; and the struggles of therapists with their own acquisitive desires. Jeffrey Kottler does not recommend giving up all attachment to things, but makes clear that satisfaction comes not from owning possessions, but from their legitimate use for amusement, stimulation or learning.

Jeffrey A. Kottler Ph D is one of the most prolific authors in the fields of psychology and education, having written 75 books about a wide range of subjects during the past 35 years. He has authored more than a dozen texts for counselors and teachers that are used in universities around the world and a dozen books each for practicing therapists and educators. Some of his most highly regarded works include: Counseling Skills for Teachers, On Being a Therapist, Creative Breakthroughs in Therapy, Learning Group Leadership, and Changing People’s Lives While Transforming Your Own.

Jeffrey has worked as a teacher, counselor, and therapist in preschool, middle school, mental health center, crisis center, university, community college, and private practice settings. He has served as a Fulbright Scholar and Senior Lecturer in Peru (1980) and Iceland (2000), as well as worked as a Visiting Professor in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Nepal. Jeffrey is professor of counseling at California State University, Fullerton and President of Empower Nepali Girls that provides educational scholarships for at-risk children in Nepal.