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Urge Surfing: Riding the Wave to Better Impulse Control
Urge Surfing, an impulse management technique developed by Canadian-American psychologist Gordon Alan Marlatt in the 1980s, is gaining renewed attention in specialized media. A recent article in the German journal Psychologie Heute, cited by Handelsblatt, highlights this approach. The core principle: any urge, left alone, disappears within minutes to a maximum of 30 minutes. Rather than fighting it, a person observes it like a wave rising, reaching its peak, then receding. Now integrated into behavioral therapy and mindfulness approaches, this practice does not replace professional treatment.