Step 1: Figure out why you buy

Los Angeles psychotherapist Eileen Gallo, co-author of "The Financially Intelligent Parent," has led many shopping-addicted patients into the light. The road to solvency, she said, starts with a journey of self-discovery.

When shopping begins to cause marital discord, missed appointments and financial woes, Gallo said, "it's time to take a look inside and find out the motivation for the behavior. Some shop just to fill themselves up, and of course it doesn't last long."

Once such people recognize their motives for shopping, a bit of mindfulness can be a powerful thing, Gallo said. "They certainly can take their own pulse when they're thinking about shopping, have a self-dialogue," Gallo said. "They can ask themselves: 'How am I feeling now? Am I angry, depressed, lonely? How will I feel when it's time to pay for it? Can it wait?' "

These are questions that Denise Hinds, a 51-year-old resident of suburban Los Angeles, is asking herself more often these days. With nine bins of clothes in storage and a closet jammed with clothes — many with price tags still attached — Hinds acknowledged, "I have racked up a good amount of debt buying things I didn't need."

Recently divorced and trying to set a new financial course for her life, Hinds said she's trying to be more mindful of what she buys — and why she buys it.

"When I wasn't happy, I was disappearing a lot to the mall," Hinds said. "It's a diversion, a distraction, another way of not dealing with your problems."

When she was sad, Hinds said, she would tell herself she needed to take care of herself, that she needed a treat. Hinds is trying to replace those lost hours at the mall with books, friends and hiking with her dog, but she still finds she needs a fix of "mall air" now and again.

After a hiatus of about two weeks, Hinds recently drove to the mall. She needed a few things at Target, but parked her car at the other end of the complex so she could walk through and check out the midsummer sales.

In the parking lot after that recent foray, she was still savoring the pleasure of finding a fetching purple shrug, a pair of sandals on sale and a few new summer tops that, she said, laughing, she "just couldn't live without." The little sweater, she said, was a particularly satisfying catch. "I thought of that in my bag, and I felt happy."

But even as she did so, a shadow of sadness seemed to darken her celebratory moment.

"It's fun. But it doesn't last," Hinds said with a sudden sigh. "You can fill yourself up, but you still want more."