Habit Reversal Training | Mental Wellness For All

Habit Reversal Training Basics

Develop Awareness: identify times that you usually engage in the activity you want to eliminate or reduce. Try to think of other triggers. Triggers could be certain environments, urges you get, sensations you feel, or thoughts you have. Using mindfulness practice to observe these triggers or urges in a decentered way is very helpful. Journaling may also be very helpful in developing an awareness of triggers. The more detail you go into in describing these triggers, the more likely you will be to spot them in the future and counteract them before you start to engage in the unwanted activity.
Select a competing response or activity: find a behavior or activity that you can replace the unwanted activity with. This is known as a counter-habit. Example: people that want to reduce hair pulling or skin picking may clench their fists or use fidgets to replace these behaviors.
Develop motivation and accountability: make a list of all the reasons you want to eliminate or reduce the problematic activity. Include all the problems the activity has caused or may cause in your life. Keep this list in your pocket so you can pull it out if you are having very strong urges. Example: a person who wants to quit smoking may include that they are tired of having a cough, or the fact that smoking makes it more likely for them to develop an illness. If possible, recruit friends and family to help you remain accountable. Ask them to encourage you, and to bring the unwanted activity to your attention when you are engaging in it.
Stress management / relaxation: when you are experiencing stress or anxiety you are much more likely to engage in unhealthy comfort seeking behaviors or rituals. Comfort seeking can be healthy, but, as in the often the case in unwanted behaviors, we may seek comfort in ways that may cause harm or get in the way of our goals. When we lower our stress and anxiety, we are less likely to engage in harmful comfort seeking. See our stress management page for more information.
Practice: practice your new response when your urges to engage in the unwanted activity are not very strong. By doing this you will be more prepared to challenge your unwanted behavior when your urges are the strongest.