A private tool for the moments between understanding and action.
Moments. Understood.
Unstuck: A private journal and reset app for iPhone.
For nights when your mind will not settle, and for mornings that feel heavier than they should. A quiet place to write something down, set a small reminder, or take a one-minute reset. There are no streaks, no accounts, and no cloud sync.
Free on the App Store.
Download on the App Store
A quieter place to reset.
Where Unstuck fits
Where Unstuck fits in The Shrink Network.
The Shrink Network is an independent mental health knowledge ecosystem built around one idea: mental health is too important to squeeze into one website. Each site has one job. Together, they help people understand, apply, and access care. No matter where you enter the network, we help you find the next step that makes sense.
Understanding matters. But understanding doesn't always help at 2:13 a.m.
Sometimes you need somewhere to put the thought. Somewhere to pause. Somewhere to start.
Unstuck is the reset layer of The Shrink Network, built for the moments when you need somewhere to put the thought and take the next step.
- UnderstandShrinkopedia
- ApplyshrinQ
- ResetUnstuck
- CareshrinkMD
Each property in the network has its own job. Pick the one that matches the moment you're in.
Your mind. Understood.
Made for the small mental hours that build up.
Some moments are not emergencies. They are just heavy. Unstuck is a place to put one of them down for a minute.
Some thoughts loop at night. Other tasks sit on your list for weeks. And some scrolling sessions cost you sleep you needed. The app does not try to fix any of that. It gives you a quiet place to pause, write the thought down, set a reminder, or run a thirty-second reset, and then close the app.
Open it. Use it for a minute. Then close it.
What's inside.
- Private journal. Write what is on your mind. Stays on your device.
- Daily check-in. A short check-in for mood, energy, and what is on your plate. Personal awareness, not screening.
- Gentle reminders. Hydration. Journal nudges. Backup pill reminders. Appointment notes. No streaks, no shame.
- Reset tools. Brain dumps, grounding phrases, box breathing, and a tomorrow container. Tools to use when you cannot decide what to do next.
- Routines. Short pre-built sequences for mornings, winding down, breaking a thought spiral, or ending the day.
- Sleep wind-down. Quiet tools to use before bed. Not a sleep treatment.
- App lock. Optional PIN and Face ID lock.
- Local export. Your data stays yours. Take it with you whenever you want.
The Reset Framework
The Reset Framework.
How Unstuck is built. Four moves. In whichever order you need them.
I built Unstuck around four small moves I use clinically with patients between sessions and around four small moves I use myself when the day gets loud. The app doesn't make you do them in order. It just makes any of them easier to start.
- Notice
Catch the moment before the moment runs you. A small bodily signal. A familiar thought loop. The 2 a.m. wake-up. The "I should answer this email but I won't" tab. Naming that you're in a moment is the first move.
- Name
Put a word on it. "I'm overwhelmed." "I'm spiraling." "I'm avoiding the email." Naming converts a vague heavy feeling into something you can work with. Unstuck has a daily check-in for this.
- Unload
Get the thought out of your head and onto something that holds it. A brain dump. A journal entry. A reminder so you don't have to keep carrying it. This is the move the journaling apps are best at, except they make you do it inside a system that wants more from you. Unstuck just lets you put the thing down.
- Next Step
One small action. Not a plan. Not a system. One thing. A grounding phrase. A box breath. A reminder for tomorrow. Close the app. The moment changes.
Common Moments
Common moments we built this for.
Unstuck doesn't try to make you a person who doesn't have hard moments. It just tries to make the hard moments smaller. These are the ones we built it for.
- The 2 a.m. wake-upI can't get back to sleep.
- The loopMy mind won't stop.
- The staticI'm overwhelmed.
- The freezeI'm stuck on this.
- The stallI keep putting it off.
- The chainI'm spiraling.
Pick any one. The reset is the same shape: Notice, Name, Unload, Next Step.
How Unstuck is different.
| Unstuck | Most journal and wellness apps | |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | On your phone | In the company's cloud |
| Account | Not required | Required |
| Streaks | None | Often gamified |
| Subscription | Free | Often paywalled |
| Behavioral tracking | None | Often present |
| Pulls you back in | No | Often, yes |
No account. No cloud sync. No tracking-based experience.
Your entries, reminders, routines, and check-ins stay on your device. Export a copy when you want one. Delete local data on your terms.
Made by a psychiatrist-led team.
Unstuck was built by Shariq Refai, a board-certified psychiatrist and the founder of shrinkMD, an independent multistate telepsychiatry practice. Unstuck and shrinkMD share a founder. They are separate companies. Unstuck is a wellness app, not a clinical service of shrinkMD. Think of it as complementary to psychiatric care at shrinkMD, not a replacement for it.
Shariq is also the medical editor for AnxietyResource.org and DepressionResource.org, and the author of three forthcoming books on overthinking, anxiety, and the loud thoughts that show up at the wrong time.
About the network
Why is Unstuck its own app?
Mental health isn't one thing.
Reading about a hard moment and reaching for a tool in a hard moment are different actions.
An app that lives on your phone in the moment needs its own space, separate from the educational sites that explain the same topics.
A single site that tries to be an encyclopedia and an app at once ends up doing neither well.
Unstuck is the dedicated quiet-tool app in The Shrink Network. The rest of the network covers everything else.
Frequently asked.
- Is Unstuck free?
- Yes. Free on the App Store.
- Does Unstuck need an account?
- No. No sign-in, no public profile.
- Is my journal in the cloud?
- No. Journal entries, check-ins, reminders, and routines stay on your device unless you export them.
- Is Unstuck on Android?
- Not yet. iPhone first. Android is planned.
- Is Unstuck therapy or medical care?
- No. Unstuck is a self-guided wellness and reflection app. It is not therapy, diagnosis, treatment, or crisis support. If you want clinical care, talk to a licensed clinician.