Programmer · Impulsivity · Second Thought
Second Thought
Taming impulsivity with DBT
Impulsivity is a short circuit: the urge fires and the action follows before anything else gets a vote — the message sent, the cart bought, the job quit. The trainable variable is the gap. This program builds it: the wedge, the ten-minute rule, urge surfing, chain analysis with the lights on, friction design, values speed bumps — and a log that turns every faded urge into recorded proof that the urge was weather, not a command.
The short circuit has a shape, too
- The message you couldn't unsend, written in under a minute.
- The order placed at midnight, regretted by morning.
- The exit speech delivered before the thought finished forming.
- Ten seconds of relief that bills you for weeks.
- Knowing the pause would help, and never quite having one.
Your urge log sets the pause
Not a course you watch — a loop you run. Second Thought logs urges whether or not you acted, then grows or shortens the prescribed pause from the evidence of whether the gap actually held.
Measure
A sixty-second urge log after any urge — acted on or not — plus a next-day regret check on the ones you acted on.
as it happens · 60 secLearn
Short sessions with Nathan teach the method — the short circuit, the wedge, the ten-minute rule, chain analysis, friction design.
10–15 min · most daysAdjust
The weekly review sets two things: how long the pause runs, and which category the kit points at this week.
weekly review↻ the loop runs weekly — six times
The pause is a rung, not a rule. It grows from two minutes to five to ten as your log shows the gap holding, and steps back down when it doesn't — because a pause you can't keep isn't a skill, it's a stick to beat yourself with. Every faded urge gets recorded as proof the urge was weather, not a command.
Six weeks, one method
Sixteen sessions and five weekly reviews. The first week is free — including your baseline urge report.
Week 1The Short CircuitThe curve, the act-point, and the bill3 sessioner
Week 2The PauseThe wedge, the ring, the wave4 sessioner
Week 3The ChainLights on, never blame4 sessioner
Week 4The EnvironmentWork on the room, not just on you4 sessioner
Week 5Harder ChainsAccelerants, lapses, and the fastest category4 sessioner
Week 6The Gap, for LifeYour data, your standing orders2 sessioner
Nathan
DBT: crisis & impulse · guider 4 programmer
The crisis-and-impulse specialist — calm, direct, built for the moment right before you do something you'll regret. Nathan's whole job is the sixty seconds between urge and action.
“Hi, I'm Nathan. Over the next six weeks we're not going to make the urges stop arriving — we're going to build a gap between the urge and the act, and prove to you it holds.”
DBT impulse control, faithfully built
Second Thought implements the DBT skills for impulse control — STOP, delay and urge surfing, behavioral chain analysis and solution analysis — alongside stimulus control and environment design, values-based cues, and relapse management. The chain work is run with the lights on and without blame: an autopsy of the sequence, not a verdict on the person.
- STOP, delay, and urge surfingLinehan
- Behavioral chain and solution analysis
- Stimulus control and environment design
- Values-based cues
Some categories belong elsewhere
Substance-dependence signals and gambling at severity are excluded from this program with routing to Clear Path or specialist treatment — stopping some substances suddenly needs a doctor involved. Impulses that endanger other people route to Even Keel and Flashpoint. Self-harm impulses route to crisis resources and clinician DBT, with the program continuing for everyday categories and the crisis card pinned.
Excluded categories are structurally removed from the urge log rather than left blank, and render as 'handled elsewhere' — so the program never reads your referral as a gap in your data. This is not medical advice or a crisis service.
Start gratis. Fortsæt, hvis det virker.
Første uge
- Onboarding + two full sessions
- Urge log + next-day regret check
- Your baseline urge report
Fuldt program
- All six weeks of Second Thought, yours to keep
- Every session, review, and exercise
- Web + Untangle app access
Arbejder du med mere end én ting? Relaterede programmer bundtes sammen — to eller tre med rabat. Bundter annonceres ved lancering.
Før du starter
What if my impulsivity involves drinking or gambling?
Those categories are screened out and routed — to Clear Path or specialist treatment — rather than treated here. That's a deliberate limit: stopping some substances suddenly needs a doctor, not an app.
Do I log an urge even if I didn't act on it?
Especially then. Every urge that faded without action is recorded evidence that the urge was weather rather than a command — and those entries are what grow your pause.
Is chain analysis just picking apart my mistakes?
No. It's run with the lights on and without blame — an autopsy of the sequence to find where a skill could have entered, not a verdict on you. That framing is explicit in the sessions.
How much time does it take?
Sixty seconds after an urge, and ten to fifteen minutes most days for the session. Logging hours late is fine — an entry made the next morning beats one never made.
Be first to get a second thought
Second Thought is launching soon on the web and in the Untangle app. Join the early-access list and we'll let you know the moment it opens.
Én e-mail, når dit program åbner. Ingen dryp-kampagne.