Preview of 'Urge Surfing' Worksheet
Download this free therapy worksheet PDF to help your clients improve impulse control
Navigating life’s challenges sometimes involves grappling with urges-those compelling impulses that can lead to actions we later regret. Acting on urges can disrupt personal and professional lives, often manifesting as cravings or compulsive behaviors that may seem uncontrollable.
The Urge Surfing Worksheet offers a structured approach to understanding urges and reducing their power over your client, helping them maintain control over their actions and stay aligned with their long-term goals and their values.
Your client will learn to ‘ride out’ their urges without succumbing to them through mindfulness, cognitive restructuring techniques, and exercises such as:
- Identify triggers: What specific situations or emotions trigger urges? Understanding these can help your client prepare and prevent overwhelming scenarios.
- Impact assessment: How do urges detract from your client’s quality of life? Recognizing what they lose when giving into urges can motivate change.
- Values and goals alignment: How do these urges conflict with your client’s core values and life goals? This reflection fosters deeper reasons for resisting destructive behaviours.
While working through this sheet, you and your client will benefit from:
- Enhanced self-awareness: Encourage your client to examine the roots and triggers of their urges, increasing their self-awareness and understanding.
- Skills development: Guide your client in developing practical skills in mindfulness and cognitive restructuring, useful for managing emotions and behaviours in many aspects of life.
- Strengthened client-therapist collaboration: Working through the exercises together enhances the therapeutic alliance and provides tailored support to navigate complex emotional landscapes.
The Urge Surfing Worksheet is not just about coping in the moment; it’s about building lasting strategies that align with your client’s deepest values and aspirations. Knowing they can control what previously controlled them will build their confidence and self esteem. An editable version of this worksheet is free to members of Uncommon Practitioners’ TV
Download Urge Surfing Worksheet
Use this printable PDF worksheet as a tool to help your clients building lasting strategies that align with their deepest values and aspirations.
About Mark Tyrrell
Psychology is my passion. I've been a psychotherapist trainer since 1998, specializing in brief, solution focused approaches. I now teach practitioners all over the world via our online courses.
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