Alcohol Research, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In 1990, Marlatt was awarded The Jellinek Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to knowledge in the field of alcohol studies from the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. In 2001, he was given the Innovators in Combating Substance Abuse Award by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and in 2004 he received the Distinguished Researcher Award from the Research Society on Alcoholism. He received the Distinguished Psychologist award for Professional Contribution to Knowledge from the Washington State Psychological Association in 1990 and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology in 2000. Urge Surfing Marlatt popularized the concept of "urge surfing" as a coping mechanism for addiction. The strategy involves picturing addictive urges as physical waves that rise in intensity, peak, and eventually crash and subside. Personal life Marlatt was married four times. He married his fourth wife, Kitty Moore, in Seattle on July 18, 2010. He had one son and three stepchildren. Marlatt died on March 11, 2011 of kidney failure in Warm Beach, Washington. See also Relapse Prevention References External links An Interview with Alan Marlatt (Psychotherapy.net) Alan Marlatt at the University of Washington Psychology Department Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington 20th-century American psychologists Researchers in alcohol abuse University of Washington faculty 1941 births 2011 deaths Writers on addiction