Identifying Triggers
This type of trigger happens inside your own mind or body, such as feeling lonely, anxious, bored, or physically tired.
What is an Internal Trigger?
This is the simple, two-letter work that serves as the ultimate boundary tool, which many people in early change find incredibly difficult to say without feeling guilty.
What is No?
This 5-4-3-2-1 sensory technique helps pull your mind away from a high-anxiety trigger and snaps you back into the current room.
What is a Grounding Exercise (or Mindfulness)?
This common behavior involves keeping secrets, telling minor half-truths, or hiding aspect of your day from your therapist, sponsor, or loved ones.
What is Dishonesty (or Lying/Secrecy)?
"I don't see why everyone is making such a big deal out of this. I can stop doing this whenever I want, it's my life."
What is Precontemplation?
This acronym stands for four high-risk physical or emotional states you should nver let yourself get too close to: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.
What is HALT?
This communication style strikes a healthy balance between being passive and agressive.
What is Assertive Communication?
This strategy involves physically leaving a high-risk situation or taking a "pause" from a heated conversation to cool down before reacting.
What is a Time-Out (or removing yourself)?
This emotional warning sign occurs when a client stops attending therapy, stops using their coping tools and starts thinking they are completely "cured" and don't need help anymore.
What is Complacency (or overconfidence)?
"I bought a daily planner and downloaded a habit-tracking app today. I am going to officially start my new routine next Monday."
What is Preparation?
These are external triggers like old friends, specific neighborhoods, or certain times of day that automatically cue your brain to want to repeat a habit.
What are environmental (or situational) triggers?
When communicating a boundary, using sentences that start with this specific pronoun helps prevent the other person from feeling attached or getting defensive.
What are I statements?
Instead of fighting an urge head-on, this strategy involves acknowledging the craving but "riding it out" like a wave until it naturally subsides.
What is Urge Surfing?
This cognitive distortion happens when a client glorifies the "good old days" of their habit while completely forgetting the pain, consequences and negative outcomes that it caused.
What is Romancing the Habit (or Euphoric Recall)?
"It's been six months since I made this change. It's getting easier, but i still have to carefully avoid certain triggers so I don't go backwards."
What is Maintenance?
True or False: Seeing someone else engage in your target behavior is a visual trigger, but even a positive emotion like celebrating a success can be a high-risk trigger.
What is true?
This is the term for a boundary line that is too weak or blurry, often leading a person to take on other people's problems at the expense of their own recovery.
What is a Codependent Boundary?
This coping strategy involves replacing an unhealthy habit with a healthy one that fills the exact same need.
What is Behavioral Replacement?
Relapse doesn't just happen overnight; it moves through these three distinct, sequential phases: Mental, Physical and this first phase.
What is the Emotional Phase?
"I know this habit is hurting my relationships, my health, and i really want to fix it. But honestly, it's the only thing that comforts me when I'm stressed."
What is Contemplation?
This is the psychological term for a sudden, intense wave of desire to return to an old habit, which typically peaks within 10 to 15 minutes if you don't give in to it.
What is a craving (or Urge)?
If an old friend continuously pressures you to return to your habit about you've asked them to stop, this is the healthiest boundary action you can take regarding that relationship.
What is Going No/Contact (or distancing yourself)?
Name three distinct types of coping skills: one that is physical, one that is cognitive, and one that is social.
What are exercise/deep breathing, thought challenging/reframing, and calling a support sponsor?
This term describes a subtle warning sign where a person stops their target behavior but begins substituting it with another unhealthy, compulsive habit.
What is Cross-Addiction (or Symptom Substitution)?
"It has been three weeks since I stopped. I am feeling a lot better, though dealing with the daily carvings is taking up a lot of my energy right now."
What is Action?