Urge Surfing: Distress Tolerance Skill Worksheet (Free PDF Download)

Urge Surfing: Distress Tolerance Skill Worksheet example

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What is the Urge Surfing worksheet?

The urge surfing worksheet pdf treats an urge as a wave with four points: Trigger, Rise, Peak and Fall. A graph plots intensity of urge against time so a client can see that the peak passes. Three steps then ask them to identify, observe and describe one urge of their own.

How to use the Urge Surfing worksheet

Use it both in session and as homework. Teach the wave first, because a client who believes an urge only grows will not wait it out. Step II: Observe the Urge asks where the urge sits in the body, and that is the part worth rehearsing in the room. Your clients can then complete Step III: Describe the urge between sessions, rating intensity from one to ten and noting whether it came in waves or stayed constant.

Urge Surfing Worksheet Download – What’s Included

Two printable pages. Page one carries the wave diagram, with Trigger, Rise, Peak and Fall labeled along a curve of intensity of urge against time. Page two holds the three steps: identify the urge, observe where it sits in the body, and describe how intense it is and whether it comes in waves.

Technique by G. Alan Marlatt (mindfulness-based relapse prevention), verified; commonly taught within DBT distress tolerance. Marlatt & Gordon (1985), Relapse Prevention.

Frequently asked questions

What does urge surfing mean?

It means staying with an urge and watching it pass instead of acting on it or fighting it. The name comes from the wave shape on this sheet: an urge is triggered, rises, peaks and falls. Riding it out teaches that the peak is survivable and temporary.

Is urge surfing DBT or CBT?

The technique comes from Marlatt’s mindfulness-based relapse prevention work rather than from either. Marlatt and Gordon published it in 1985. It is commonly taught within DBT distress tolerance, which is where most clinicians meet it, and it sits alongside cognitive work without belonging to it.

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Your Author

Tracy Collins, LCP

Tracy Collins is a licensed clinical psychologist with over six years of direct clinical experience in outpatient and telehealth settings. She specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy, structured treatment planning, and measurable therapy outcomes. Tracy has extensive experience writing SOAP and DAP notes, developing insurance-compliant treatment plans, and aligning documentation with ICD-10 and DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria. Her clinical approach integrates cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, behavioral activation, exposure-based interventions, and mindfulness-based strategies to create structured and outcome-driven therapy plans. At Mentalyc, Tracy supports therapists by creating educational resources that simplify documentation workflows and improve treatment plan defensibility during audits.