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Comdira
The Observatory
Exercise12 minEverydayDiscipline

Habit reversal

Nail biting, picking, fiddling: small habits that happen before you've noticed. The method that teaches you to notice, and to swap.

The path

How it works

  1. The small habitWrite
  2. Awareness trainingWrite
  3. The replacement movementChoose
  4. The planWrite
Nervous little habits aren't character flaws. They're automated movements that give micro-relief. The method for them has two parts: become aware of the start, and put in an incompatible movement exactly there.

Exercise in 4 steps, about 12 minutes. Doing it is part of Premium, which you try free for 7 days with no card. With Premium your answers are saved so you can pick up where you left off and look back at what you wrote.

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The evidence

Why does it work?

Habit reversal training (Azrin & Nunn) is a first-line method for nail biting, skin and hair picking, and tics; meta-analyses show moderate to large effects (Bate et al. 2011). The core, awareness training plus a competing response, remains unchanged in modern treatment.

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