Reducing Anxiety With Thought Challenging

Thought challenging is a simple yet powerful cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) technique for reducing anxiety. It is best described as the unhelpful thinking patterns you experience when your mind fixates on threat, uncertainty and negativity. Thought challenging helps by broadening your focus to include the bigger picture. Below are two thought challenging techniques you can experiment with. Keep practicing and discover what works best for you.

The ABCDE Technique
Attention – When you feel distressed, stop what youre doing and pay attention to your inner dialogue. What is your mind telling you?
Believe? – Do not automatically believe your thoughts!
Challenge – Defuse anxiety by broadening your focus. Whats the bigger picture? Is the thought fact or opinion? What might you think if you were feeling calmer?
Discount – Acknowledge that anxiety has been is dominating your thinking and let the unhelpful thoughts go.
Explore options – What would be helpful to focus on right now? What options do I have available?

The THINK Technique
True? – Is this thought 100% true? If not, what are the facts, and what is opinion?
Helpful? – Is paying attention to the thought useful to me or others?
Inspiring? – Does the thought inspire me or does it have the opposite effect?
Necessary? – Is it important for me to focus on the thought? Is it necessary to act on it?
Kind? – Is the thought kind? If not, what would be a kinder thought?

Thought Challenging Tips
• Writing or typing your thought challenging process is more powerful than trying to do it in your head. You can try out the free CBT Thought Diary app (Google Play).
• If youre not used to paying this much attention to your inner dialogue, thought challenging might feel unnatural at first. Thats okay. Over time, itll start to feel easier.
• This isnt the most appropriate tool if youre feeling very distressed, as it can be hard to think rationally when your emotional brain has taken over. Try defusing your emotions with a distraction activity and returning to thought challenging once youre feeling calmer.

Question: How can you help yourself with Reducing Anxiety With Thought Challenging?

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