Substance use recovery / SUR-A05-2
Craving Observation with Choice — Practice worksheet
Use an imagined low-intensity urge to identify its changing intensity, a pause option, and a support contact.
15 minutes · Worksheet · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: Jordan practices with the urge to check a phone rather than a substance cue.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. Urges can be noticed without requiring exposure to substance cues.
1. Choose a workable example
Use the fictional example below or an ordinary situation of your choosing. Keep identifying details out of shared copies.
2. Try the practice
Use an imagined low-intensity urge to identify its changing intensity, a pause option, and a support contact.
3. Compare possibilities
Generate at least two interpretations or options. Mark what you know, what you are guessing, and what remains outside your control.
4. Decide together
What helps you observe an urge without turning the exercise into a test? Choose one small action, a support request, or no action. Review the fit with your clinician when relevant.
Prompts for this resource
- My chosen or fictional situation, and what I know about it:
- My response to the practice task above:
- What helps you observe an urge without turning the exercise into a test?
- An optional next step, support, adaptation, or reason to stop:
Conceptual background
Substance Use Disorders — National Institutes of Health
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.