Anger that's out before you can stop it
Most people who struggle with anger know it's a problem. The hard part is the two seconds between the trigger and what comes out of your mouth.
These are the practices Thriving uses to widen that gap, and the studies each one is built on.
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Start today, free
The free account has a starter version of each of these: a minute or two, and a place to keep track.
Find Your Level
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and observe yourself impartially and compassionately.
One Breath
Close your eyes and bring your focus to your breath.
Contrast Shower
After your regular warm shower, try 30+ seconds of refreshing cold water.
Be Human & Connect
Get in touch with a loved one, friend, or lost connection.
The practices, and the research behind each one
Inside the app these run as a twelve-week Program, one practice a week, with All-Access. Here they are with their sources.
Breaking Emotional Patterns
Breaking Emotional Patterns
Identify inherited emotional patterns and automatic reactions.
David, Cristea, Hofmann (2018). Why cognitive behavioral therapy is the current gold standard of psychotherapy. Frontiers in Psychiatry.
Hofmann, Asnaani, Vonk, Sawyer, Fang (2012). The efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Cognitive Therapy and Research.
Schaeuffele, Schulz, Knaevelsrud et al. (2024). A systematic review and meta-analysis of transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapies for emotional disorders in adults. Nature Human Behaviour.
Emotional Regulation Map
Build Your Regulation Map
Build your personal emotional regulation map: triggers, body signals, urges, default reactions, and chosen alternatives.
Berking et al. (2008). Emotion-regulation skills as a treatment target in psychotherapy. Behaviour Research and Therapy.
Aldao, Nolen-Hoeksema, Schweizer (2010). Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review.
Khalsa et al. (2018). Interoception and Mental Health: A Roadmap. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.
Solution Builder
Solution Builder
Most emotional pain has a solvable component.
Cuijpers, van Straten, Warmerdam (2007). Problem solving therapies for depression: A meta-analysis. European Psychiatry.
Bell & D'Zurilla (2009). Problem-solving therapy for depression: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review.
Zhang, Park, Sullivan, Jing (2018). The efficacy of problem-solving therapy: A meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders.
Deep Nasal Breathing Journal
6 BPM Baseline + Daily Check-in
Thirty seconds is enough to begin changing your nervous system.
Zaccaro et al. (2018). How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
Ma et al. (2017). The effect of diaphragmatic breathing on attention, negative affect and stress in healthy adults. Frontiers in Psychology.
Thoughts Are Not Facts
Thoughts Are Not Facts
Cognitive defusion: learning to notice thoughts as mental events rather than truths about reality.
Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda, Lillis (2006). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy.
Larsson, Hooper, Osborne, Bennett, McHugh (2016). A systematic review of cognitive defusion techniques on negative thinking. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science.
Beck (1979). Cognitive Therapy of Depression. Foundational text.
Cognitive Distortions
Spot the Cognitive Distortions
Learn the common cognitive distortions: all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophizing, mind-reading, personalization, etc.
Rnic, Dozois, Martin (2016). Cognitive Distortions, Humor Styles, and Depression. Europe's Journal of Psychology.
Hofmann, Asnaani, Vonk, Sawyer, Fang (2012). The efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Cognitive Therapy and Research.
Beck, Rush, Shaw, Emery (1979). Cognitive Therapy of Depression. Foundational text.
Reframing Without Lying to Yourself
Honest Reframing + Cold Intro
Effective reframing isn't fake-positivity — it's finding the most accurate, helpful interpretation.
Gross (2002). Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology.
Webb, Miles, Sheeran (2012). Dealing with feeling: A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation. Psychological Bulletin.
McRae & Gross (2020). Emotion regulation flexibility: How context-related variability affects outcomes. Emotion.
A study finding a benefit in the people it tested is not a promise of that result for you. Follow the links and judge for yourself. All the sources.
It's rarely just one thing
Anger usually shows up where something else is thin — sleep, stress, a relationship that's been running on empty. Thriving covers four spheres — physical, mental, emotional and purpose — and one or two practices from each is enough.
Everyone tells you what matters. Thriving gives you the exact exercises, somewhere to organize them into a routine that's yours, and the tools to keep going once the novelty wears off.
If this is affecting your ability to work, sleep or look after the people around you, talk to a doctor or a therapist. Many people do both.
Also on Thriving: Anxiety & stress · Sleep · Procrastination · Habits