Urge Surfing Worksheet: Ride Out a Craving Without Acting on It

About this tool

Urge surfing is a mindfulness technique for noticing a craving and allowing it to change without acting on it. This worksheet helps you describe the sensations, record their intensity, and reflect on how you responded. Developed by Alan Marlatt within relapse prevention, the technique uses a wave as an image for the changing experience of an urge. A craving can feel overwhelming while it is happening. Observing it offers practice in pausing before acting, though an urge may return or remain uncomfortable and does not follow a fixed timetable.

When a craving appears, you may feel pulled to act on it or spend your energy trying to force it away. Urge surfing offers another response: observe what is happening with curiosity while choosing what to do next. Notice where you feel the craving in your body, how its sensations change, and the thoughts that accompany it. If a thought says you must act immediately, try labeling it as a thought. You can then return attention to the sensations or use another safe coping strategy if observing becomes too difficult.

Urge surfing gives you practice experiencing a craving while choosing your response. The purpose is to create room for a safer action, even when the feeling is still present. Practice can be uncomfortable, and a completed worksheet cannot guarantee that cravings will lessen or that relapse will be prevented. Notice changes in behavior as well as changes in sensation: putting distance between yourself and a substance or asking someone for support may be useful outcomes even if the urge remains strong.

Urge surfing was originally developed for alcohol and drug cravings as part of relapse prevention, and it has since been used for cravings tied to smoking, gambling, binge eating, self-harm, and compulsive behaviors of many kinds, since the underlying pattern, a rising and falling wave of urge, is the same across them. It is not a substitute for treatment for a severe substance use disorder, and it works best as one skill inside a fuller recovery or coping plan rather than the only tool you rely on. These uses should not be taken as evidence of equal effectiveness for every behavior. Hunger and other physical needs deserve appropriate care; this exercise should not be used to delay needed food or replace eating disorder treatment.

The most common mistake is trying to think your way out of the craving, arguing with it or analyzing why it showed up. That tends to feed it. The skill is closer to watching weather move across the sky: notice it, describe it to yourself in physical terms, and let time pass, rather than getting pulled into the story the urge is telling you. It also helps to have already decided, before the craving hits, that you will simply observe rather than decide anything in the moment. You can also change your surroundings or contact a supporter. Staying near an available substance or another immediate risk is not required for practice.

If cravings are frequent, intense, or tied to a substance you cannot safely stop using on your own, urge surfing works best alongside a licensed therapist or addiction specialist. You can search our directory at /therapist/, free and without an account.

The study by Bowen and Marlatt listed below tested brief mindfulness instructions based on urge surfing in college students who smoked. The mindfulness group later smoked fewer cigarettes than the comparison group, while measured urges did not differ significantly between groups. This is preliminary evidence about changing a response to cravings, rather than proof that urge surfing immediately removes them. The VA also describes the exercise as learning to experience cravings differently, with attention to bodily sensations.

Read your completed worksheet as a record of a particular situation. Compare what triggered the urge, what you noticed, what you tried, and what happened next. The intensity ratings are personal descriptions, not a diagnostic score, and there is no pass or fail result. If the final rating remains high, write down the next safe action you will take. The Coping with Cravings Worksheet can help you prepare alternatives, and the Relapse Prevention Plan Worksheet can help you identify support before another difficult situation.

If focusing inside your body feels overwhelming, keep your eyes open and notice your surroundings, or pause the exercise and speak with someone you trust. Urge surfing does not replace medical care for withdrawal or urgent help for self-harm risk. If you may act on an urge to harm yourself, seek immediate support rather than finishing the worksheet. In the US, call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Reviewed by Michael Callans, MSW
Reviewed the urge surfing steps for fidelity to mindfulness-based relapse prevention and a supportive tone.

References

1. Marlatt GA, Gordon JR. Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviors. Guilford Press; 1985.
2. Bowen S, Chawla N, Marlatt GA. Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Addictive Behaviors. Guilford Press; 2011.
3. Bowen S, Marlatt A. Surfing the urge: brief mindfulness-based intervention for college student smokers. Psychol Addict Behav. 2009;23(4):666-671.
4. Bowen S, Marlatt A. Surfing the urge: brief mindfulness-based intervention for college student smokers. Source abstract. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20025372/
5. US Department of Veterans Affairs. Urge Surfing. Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center. https://www.mirecc.va.gov/visn5/EBT/CBT-SUD/Urge-Surfing.asp
6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 988 Frequently Asked Questions. https://www.samhsa.gov/mental-health/988/faqs

Urge Surfing Worksheet FAQ