How Coach Aria works
Coach Aria is a structured recovery companion built for the realities of stimulant addiction: intense cycles, emotional volatility, sleep disruption, and the “all-or-nothing” traps that can derail progress. Aria combines a repeatable weekly rhythm with in-the-moment support so you always know what to do next.
Make the next step obvious
When recovery is hardest, decision-making is hardest. Coach Aria gives you a friendly structure: a clear session flow, a craving flow, and dashboards that turn progress into something you can see.
Aria is your coach — and your companion
Aria helps you reflect without shame, build plans that fit real life, and keep going when you feel discouraged. The tone is warm and supportive by design — because stimulant recovery often comes with loneliness and broken trust.
The weekly rhythm (5 days)
Coach Aria is built around a simple commitment: five guided sessions per week, roughly 45 minutes each. That’s enough structure to drive change, without creating a fragile routine that collapses when life gets messy.
Set intention, identify your top triggers, and create a “minimum viable plan” for the week.
Train one key recovery skill (impulse control, emotional regulation, or cognitive reframing).
Analyze cravings you faced: what triggered them, what worked, what to do differently next time.
Reconnect with what matters. Plan one repair action (self-care or relationship trust-building).
Review progress, strengthen your “Reality Sheets,” and set next-week targets.
A short, low-pressure check-in (5–10 minutes) to keep you steady without forcing intensity.
What you can expect after 2–3 weeks
Most users report that the biggest early win is not “perfect abstinence” — it’s clarity. You’ll start seeing patterns: the times, places, and emotions that lead to cravings, and the small actions that reliably help you ride them out.
Inside a 45-minute session
Each session follows a consistent flow, so you don’t have to guess what to do when you’re tired, foggy, or emotionally raw.
Arrive (5 minutes)
Quick check-in: sleep, mood, cravings, stress. Aria mirrors it back in a supportive tone.
Reflect (10–12 minutes)
Guided journaling with prompts that uncover patterns: triggers, beliefs, environments, and “pre-slip” signals.
Plan (10 minutes)
Convert insight into a practical plan: one meaningful action, one avoidance strategy, one support step, one “if-then” rule.
Practice (10 minutes)
Skill rehearsal: defusion, urge surfing, “delay + distract,” or reality-based counter-thoughts (your Reality Sheets).
Commit (5–8 minutes)
Close the session with a clear commitment and a compassionate note from Aria that reinforces identity and progress.
Craving Mode (in-the-moment support)
Sessions build your foundation. But cravings happen in real life. Craving Mode is the fast pathway: name the trigger + intensity → pull a Reality Sheet → choose a safe next action → close the loop.
Dashboards, scoring, and making it engaging
Stimulant recovery can be long. Motivation swings. Coach Aria makes progress visible and rewarding — without turning your life into a game you can “lose.”
Integrity score (growth that doesn’t reset)
Integrity is cumulative — points for positive behaviors (sessions, honest tracking, craving overrides, action plan follow-through). It’s designed to represent character and capability, not perfection.
Skill graph (train what’s weakest)
Your dashboard highlights recovery skills (impulse control, emotional regulation, trigger awareness, cognitive reframing). Coach Aria helps you focus on the skill that needs strengthening next.
Education and resources (science + practical tips)
Coach Aria includes an education library designed for stimulant recovery: the dopamine crash cycle, sleep disruption, anhedonia, cravings, and relapse loops. You’ll get short, digestible lessons plus practical tactics you can apply the same day.
Understand what’s happening in your brain and body — without jargon.
How to handle sleep crashes, emotional spikes, and high-risk environments.
Short exercises that strengthen skills over time (the skill graph reflects this).
Recognize early warning signs and build “if-then” rules before you need them.
How long should you use Coach Aria?
There’s no “right” timeline. Coach Aria is designed to stay with you as long as you need — three months, a year, or longer. The goal is simple: keep making progress, keep building capability, keep strengthening your life.
Week-by-week roadmap (an intensive program)
Coach Aria isn’t a “check in once in a while” app. It’s an intensive, structured program for a serious problem — designed to support you through the first hard months and the long middle where real change happens.
How long is the program?
The core program is designed as a 12-week intensive (5 sessions/week, ~45 minutes each), followed by a continuation phase for as long as you want (maintenance, relapse prevention, and life rebuilding). You can move faster or slower — the goal is progress, not perfection.
| Week | Theme | What you do (high level) | What you can expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stabilize + baseline | Build your routine, track sleep/mood/cravings, identify top triggers, create a minimum viable plan. Start your first Reality Sheets. | Less chaos. More clarity. You’ll notice patterns you missed before (times, places, emotions). |
| 2 | Craving skills (CBT + ACT) | Learn craving cycles, practice urge surfing, delay + distract, and “thought defusion.” Use Craving Mode for real events. | Cravings may still come — but you’ll have a script and a pathway. Small wins begin to stack. |
| 3 | Trigger mapping (CBT) | Build your trigger map: people, places, emotions, and “pre-slip” signals. Create if-then rules and environment changes. | You’ll start predicting risk earlier — before it turns into action. |
| 4 | Beliefs + cognitive reframing (CBT) | Identify unhelpful thought patterns (all-or-nothing, catastrophizing, “I already ruined it”), and learn reframes you can actually use. | Less shame spiral. More “next step” thinking. |
| 5 | Values + identity (ACT) | Clarify values, define the person you want to become, and practice choosing actions aligned with that identity. | Motivation becomes steadier because it’s connected to meaning, not mood. |
| 6 | Emotion regulation | Build emotion tools for anger, anxiety, loneliness, and boredom. Practice regulation skills and self-repair actions. | Emotional spikes feel less dangerous; you recover faster after bad days. |
| 7 | Sleep + recovery (stimulant-specific) | Create a practical sleep strategy for crashes, insomnia, and dysregulated rhythms; track improvements and triggers. | Sleep starts improving in small, realistic ways — and cravings often reduce with better rest. |
| 8 | Relationships + trust repair | Plan repair steps, boundaries, and communication. Build consistency rituals that rebuild trust over time. | Less hiding. More stability. You’ll feel more aligned with your relationships and responsibilities. |
| 9 | Slip prevention + relapse loops | Learn your relapse loop and disrupt it earlier. Practice Slip Recovery Protocol and the 72-hour stabilization window. | If setbacks happen, they’re shorter and less catastrophic. You recover faster. |
| 10 | Life rebuilding | Work routines, finances, health, and purpose. Build “replacement rewards” that don’t trigger relapse. | More hope — because you’re building an actual life that supports recovery. |
| 11 | Resilience under stress | Stress inoculation: plan for tough weeks, travel, conflict, and boredom. Strengthen your weakest skill on the graph. | You’ll feel more stable in real-world stress tests. |
| 12 | Maintenance plan | Consolidate lessons, finalize your long-term playbook, and choose a sustainable maintenance schedule. | You graduate into “continuation”: fewer sessions if you want, but strong support remains. |
Continuation phase (weeks 13+)
After the intensive phase, Coach Aria becomes your long-term companion: maintenance sessions, relapse prevention tune-ups, ongoing skill building, and support through life events. Some people shift to 2–3 sessions/week, others stay at 5 — Aria adapts to your needs.
Therapy foundations (CBT + ACT)
Coach Aria’s structured approach draws from widely used, evidence-based frameworks — especially Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT). Aria translates these into practical steps you can use in the real world.
What is CBT?
CBT focuses on the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In stimulant recovery, CBT helps you identify triggers and thought patterns that lead to use, then build alternative responses.
What is ACT?
ACT helps you make space for uncomfortable thoughts and feelings without acting on them. Instead of fighting cravings, you learn to notice them, defuse from them, and choose actions aligned with your values.
How AI fits in (without becoming “the authority”)
Aria uses AI to coach you through structured prompts, summarize patterns, and help you build a personal playbook. The rules of your progress (your sessions, your scoring, your integrity) are deterministic — AI supports the process but doesn’t control it.
FAQ — program, CBT, ACT, and expectations
Yes. The core design is 12 weeks at 5×45 minutes/week, plus in-the-moment Craving Mode support. You can scale up or down, but intensity helps early.
Missing a day is normal. Aria helps you reset quickly without shame and get back into rhythm. Progress is measured over weeks, not a single day.
Aria tracks streaks, but focuses on skills and integrity that don’t reset. The goal is stability and capability — not perfection.
No. Aria is a structured, self-guided companion. It can complement professional care and make support more accessible between appointments.
CBT trains you to recognize triggers and reshape unhelpful thinking. ACT trains you to make space for discomfort and choose values-aligned actions anyway. Aria uses both.
It’s built specifically for stimulant recovery, but many tools apply to other compulsive behaviors. The stimulant-specific education focuses on crash cycles, sleep, and long timelines.
As long as it helps. Some people use the intensive program then maintain. Others keep Aria close for a year or more. The goal is steady progress.
Get early access
Join the waitlist to get launch updates and early onboarding access.