ObjectiveDesire thinking is a voluntary cognitive process involving verbal and imaginal elaboration of a desired target. Recent research has revealed that desire thinking may play a significant role in the escalation of craving. The goal of this study was to explore the effect of a desire thinking induction on craving in a sample of patients with alcohol use disorder. MethodsTen patients with alcohol use disorder were exposed to a brief exposure to alcohol-related thoughts plus desire thinking induction versus brief exposure to alcohol-related thoughts plus distraction. ResultsThe induction of desire thinking led to a significant increase in distress and urge to use alcohol when compared to a behavioural assessment test and a distraction task. The clinical implications for the treatment of alcohol use disorder are discussed. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.