Even with effective stimulus-control procedures in place and an improved lifestyle balance, most clients cannot completely avoid experiencing cravings or urges to drink. Therefore, an important aspect of the RP model is to teach clients to anticipate and accept these reactions as a “normal” conditioned response to an external stimulus. According to this approach, the client should not identify with the urge or view it as an indication of his or her “desire” to drink. Instead, the client is taught to label the urge as an emotional or physiological response to an external stimulus in his or her environment that was previously associated with heavy drinking, similar to Pavlov’s dog, which continued to salivate at the sound of a bell that had previously signaled food.
