Frequently asked questions.

Stop The Loop is an AI-powered CBT and ACT therapy app for anxiety. It delivers structured cognitive behavioural therapy sessions, emergency spiral support, ACT techniques, frequency therapy, mind games, and a mood timeline — all guided by six AI assessors trained on evidence-based protocols. It is built by Dad-Link Technologies Limited and based in the UK.

It is not a replacement for professional therapy, but it is a genuinely powerful self-guided tool built on the same techniques used in NHS-delivered talking therapy — available 24 hours a day, at a fraction of the cost.

Stop The Loop is for adults (18+) who experience anxiety in any form — generalised anxiety, health anxiety, social anxiety, panic disorder, relationship anxiety, work stress, overthinking, or insomnia driven by worry. It works particularly well as:

• A daily practice tool between NHS or private therapy appointments
• A first step when you cannot access or afford weekly therapy
• An in-the-moment crisis support when spirals hit at 2am or during the working day
• A maintenance tool after completing a course of therapy

It is not suitable for children under 18, people experiencing psychosis, or those in an acute mental health crisis requiring immediate professional care.

The app has five tabs: Home (your dashboard), Session (structured CBT/ACT work), Emergency (immediate crisis support), Timeline (mood and session history), and Settings. Your dashboard shows your mood check-in, stats, a daily technique, and your most recent sessions. The session picker lets you choose from five session types and six assessors. Emergency mode is always one tap away — the red button at the top of the dashboard. See the full how-it-works guide for a screen-by-screen walkthrough.

Three key differences:

• Not meditation. Headspace and Calm teach you to manage anxiety through mindfulness and breathing. Stop The Loop uses CBT and ACT to actually change the thought patterns causing anxiety — a fundamentally different mechanism.
• Live adaptive sessions, not scripts. Most CBT apps deliver static exercises you read through. Stop The Loop's AI assessors guide you through real structured sessions that adapt in real time to what you share. The session goes where the conversation goes.
• Emergency spiral mode. No other consumer app has a feature specifically designed for the acute moments when anxiety has overwhelmed the prefrontal cortex and you cannot think clearly. Stop The Loop is built for those moments first.

No. Stop The Loop is a self-guided tool — it is not clinical therapy and the AI assessors are not therapists. If you are experiencing severe anxiety, depression, trauma, suicidal thoughts, or any mental health crisis, please contact your GP or a qualified therapist as a priority.

Where Stop The Loop works best: as a daily practice complement to professional therapy, as an accessible first step while waiting for NHS IAPT referral, and as ongoing maintenance after completing a therapy course. It is a powerful tool in the right context — not a substitute for clinical care in serious presentations.

Stop The Loop is a web app that runs in any modern browser on any device — phone, tablet, or desktop. No app store download is required. For the best experience on mobile, open the app in your browser and use your browser's "Add to Home Screen" option to install it as a full-screen app on your home screen. This gives you one-tap access, which is particularly important for emergency mode.

Stop The Loop is built and operated by Dad-Link Technologies Limited, a UK software company based in Macclesfield, Cheshire. It is a bootstrapped independent product, not backed by VC funding or pharmaceutical interests. The AI sessions use Anthropic's Claude API; the voice add-on uses ElevenLabs; payments are processed by Stripe.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the most evidence-based psychological treatment for anxiety disorders. It works by identifying automatic negative thoughts, examining the evidence for and against them, and building more realistic responses. It also addresses behavioural patterns like avoidance that maintain anxiety over time.

NICE recommends CBT as first-line treatment for GAD, panic disorder, social anxiety, health anxiety, OCD, PTSD, and depression. For a full explanation see our guide to CBT.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a modern evidence-based therapy that works by changing your relationship with thoughts rather than their content. CBT challenges whether a thought is accurate. ACT teaches you to step back from the thought, hold it without being controlled by it, and act from your values regardless of what anxiety says.

The goal is psychological flexibility — the ability to have uncomfortable inner experiences while still moving in a valued direction. ACT is particularly effective for chronic anxiety and situations where CBT thought-challenging has not produced lasting results. For a deep guide see our guide to ACT.

CBT asks "is this thought accurate?" and works by building more realistic beliefs. ACT asks "is holding this thought as literally true helping you live well?" and works by changing your relationship with thoughts regardless of their accuracy.

Neither is universally better — multiple meta-analyses show equivalent outcomes overall for anxiety disorders. CBT tends to produce faster results for specific anxiety types (panic, phobias). ACT tends to work better for chronic anxiety where insight is present but change is not, and for situations where there is genuine uncertainty (existential anxiety, health anxiety with ambiguous symptoms).

Stop The Loop uses both, with your assessor choosing the right approach for each moment in the session.

Yes. CBT has the largest randomised controlled trial evidence base of any psychological therapy. NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) recommends it as first-line treatment for generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, health anxiety, OCD, PTSD, depression, eating disorders, and insomnia. ACT has over 300 published RCTs and is included in NICE guidance for several conditions including depression and chronic pain.

Cognitive distortions are systematic patterns of unhelpful thinking that generate automatic thoughts disproportionate to the actual situation. The most common ones include: catastrophising (assuming the worst), fortune telling (predicting negative outcomes as certain), mind reading (assuming you know others' thoughts), all-or-nothing thinking, emotional reasoning (treating feelings as facts), should statements, personalisation, and overgeneralisation. Your assessor identifies which distortions are present and helps you examine the evidence against them. See the full CBT guide for all twelve distortions explained.

Psychological flexibility is the core outcome ACT builds — the capacity to hold uncomfortable thoughts and feelings with openness, remain in contact with the present moment, and take action guided by personal values rather than driven by the need to avoid discomfort. Research consistently shows it is one of the strongest psychological predictors of wellbeing and resilience across a wide range of conditions. It is a skill that can be trained, not a fixed personality trait.

CBT has specific protocols for specific anxiety presentations, each with its own evidence base. It has strong evidence for generalised anxiety disorder (worry postponement, thought records), panic disorder (interoceptive exposure, breathing retraining), social anxiety (behavioural experiments, video feedback), health anxiety (Theory A vs Theory B, response prevention), OCD (ERP — Exposure and Response Prevention), and phobias (graded exposure). Stop The Loop draws on the appropriate protocol for your anxiety type based on what you share in sessions.

Research suggests 8 to 16 structured sessions produces significant improvement for most anxiety disorders. In practice, many people notice a shift after 3 to 5 sessions — not resolution, but a meaningful change in how much control anxiety has. The most important predictor of outcome is whether you complete the homework between sessions and practise the techniques in real situations. Consistent use of 2 to 3 sessions per week during an active period produces the fastest results.

There are five session types:

• Thought Record — the classic five-step CBT thought record: identify, emotion, evidence for, evidence against, balanced response. Around 10–15 minutes.
• Worry Time — contain a specific worry into this session so it stops following you around. Around 10 minutes.
• Values Check-in — ACT values work: identify life domains, rate alignment, build one committed action. Around 15 minutes.
• Pattern Review — explore what your recent mood data is telling you about your triggers. Around 15 minutes.
• Free Session — open conversation with no fixed structure. Any length.

You pick a session type and an assessor from the session picker screen. The assessor opens with the first question of the structured session — you type your response. The assessor reads what you share and guides the session from there, asking the next question that fits what you have said. The session follows the structure of the chosen type but the questions adapt in real time to your specific situation. It is not a script — it is a guided conversation. When you are ready to end, type that you are done and the assessor closes the session properly. A two-sentence summary and one homework task are generated and saved to your timeline.

One session is deducted when you start a new conversation — either an emergency session or any of the five structured session types. The counter increments at the start, not the end. Browsing the techniques library, logging your mood, viewing your timeline, and using the frequency tones or mind games do not count towards your session allowance.

Free tier: 5 sessions per month. Monthly or annual plan: 60 sessions per month. Top-ups never expire and stack on top of your monthly allowance. Your allowance resets on the 1st of each month.

Structured sessions (Thought Record, Worry Time, Values Check-in, Pattern Review) typically run 10 to 20 minutes depending on how much you share and how the conversation develops. Emergency sessions vary widely — from 5 minutes for a fast interrupt to 30+ minutes for a deep spiral. Free sessions are open-ended. There is no time limit on any session and no rush to end quickly.

Every session ends with one specific, achievable homework task — one small thing to try before the next session. It is generated by your assessor based on what came up in the session: a behavioural experiment to run, a value to act on, a pattern to notice. Research consistently shows homework compliance is one of the strongest predictors of CBT outcome. The task is saved to your timeline and shown as a teal card on your dashboard until you mark it done.

You can switch assessors mid-session by tapping the settings cog in the top bar of the session screen. The conversation continues with the new assessor who will have the context of what has been discussed. You cannot switch session type mid-session — if you want to move to a different structure, end the session and start a new one from the picker. A session end is noted in your timeline.

Yes. Every completed session is saved to your timeline with the session type, assessor, date, mood after, summary, and homework. Full conversation transcripts are not stored by default — only the summary and homework generated at session end. You can view your session history in the Timeline tab and download all your data at any time from Settings.

For active improvement: 2 to 3 structured sessions per week produces the fastest results, based on the CBT research on session frequency and outcome. This is well within the 60-session monthly allowance on paid plans. For maintenance after an active period: 2 to 4 sessions per month is typical. Emergency sessions happen as needed — there is no "too often" for emergency mode.

If you have a specific thought or situation bothering you right now: start with a Thought Record. If you have been generally anxious and overthinking: start with Worry Time. If you feel disconnected from what matters: start with a Values Check-in. If you just want to talk without a structure: Free Session. If you are in a spiral right now: tap the Emergency button on the dashboard instead of going to sessions.

Emergency mode is the core feature of Stop The Loop. Tap the large red button on your dashboard — or the Emergency tab in the bottom nav — when you feel a spiral starting. Your default assessor opens immediately and guides you through a three-phase session:

• Phase 1: Ground the body. Physical instruction first — feet on the floor, breathe with the ring, hit the 174Hz tone. The body needs to come down before the mind can engage.
• Phase 2: Name what happened. A brief explanation of what your body just did. Adrenaline. Fight or flight. Normal. Not dangerous.
• Phase 3: Break the loop. When the prefrontal cortex is back online, work through the thought driving the spiral with CBT or ACT techniques.

Use it the moment you feel a spiral starting — not after it has fully developed. The earlier you open emergency mode in the spiral, the faster it works. Physical signs that it is time: chest tightness, racing heart, shaking, sudden overwhelming dread, a thought loop that is gaining momentum and feels impossible to stop. You do not need to be in full crisis. The very first sign is the right time.

During an emergency session you always have access to:

• Breathe ring — tap the breathe button to open a guided visual breathing ring. Box breathing or physiological sigh, your choice.
• Frequency tones — 174Hz (neural reset), 396Hz (fear release), 528Hz (stress), 639Hz (connection), 741Hz (clarity). Tap the tone button to select.
• Your assessor — the conversation is always there. You do not have to use the breathe ring or tones to get support.

If you are too flooded to type, the breathe ring and tones work independently — you do not need to engage with the conversation to use them.

Yes, each emergency mode conversation deducts one session from your monthly allowance in the same way as a structured session. If you are on the free tier and have used your 5 sessions, you will see the paywall option when attempting to start emergency mode. You can buy a top-up (10 sessions for £0.99) to continue immediately, or upgrade to a paid plan for 60 sessions per month.

Yes. Tap the settings cog in the top bar of the emergency screen to switch assessors. The session continues with the new assessor who will have the context of what has already been discussed. Your default assessor opens automatically when you start — set your preferred emergency mode assessor in Settings to make sure the right one is ready when you need it.

After several exchanges your assessor monitors your language for signs of calm — phrases like "I feel better", "that helped", "I am okay now", or similar. When calm language is detected after at least four exchanges, a "Yes, I am feeling better" button appears. Tap it and your assessor gives a warm closing message, waits a moment, then shows the session complete screen with a summary. You can also simply type that you are done at any point and the assessor will close the session appropriately.

Six AI therapist personalities, each trained on the same CBT and ACT protocols with distinct styles:

• Megan — Warm and practical. Uses "we". Gets things done without being cold about it.
• Lisa — Gentle, open, creates space. ACT-leaning. Never pushes.
• Claire — Calm authority. Structured and sure. Her certainty transfers to you.
• Ellis — Direct and honest. The most challenging. Warm underneath. Cuts through cognitive fog fast.
• Rowan — Steady and grounding. Values-led. Everything comes back to what matters to you.
• Callum — Slow and somatic. Mindfulness-led. Like a hand on the shoulder.

There is no wrong choice — try several across your first few sessions. As a starting guide: Ellis if you want to be challenged and cut through the noise quickly. Lisa if you need gentleness and space to process. Claire if you want structure and calm authority. Callum if you need to slow down and ground in the body first. Rowan if values and meaning are at the centre of your anxiety. Megan if you want warm, practical, get-things-done energy. The same session type feels noticeably different with different assessors — the difference is real.

Go to Settings (the last tab in the bottom nav) and tap any of the six assessor cards to set them as your default. The change saves immediately. You can also switch assessors mid-session by tapping the settings cog in the top bar of any session or emergency screen.

No. The assessors are AI personas powered by Anthropic's Claude language model. They are not real therapists, do not have professional qualifications, and are not capable of clinical diagnosis. They are trained on CBT and ACT protocols and designed to deliver structured therapeutic techniques effectively — but they are a self-guided tool, not professional mental health care. The voice responses (voice add-on) are generated by ElevenLabs AI, not recorded human voices.

Within a single session, your assessor has full context of everything discussed. Across sessions, the assessor does not retain full memory — each session starts fresh. However, when you start a Pattern Review session, your mood history and recent session summaries are used as context so your assessor can reference your actual patterns and progress. For continuity across sessions, keep your homework card updated — this creates a record your assessor can reference in future Pattern Review work.

Go to stoptheloop.co.uk/signup. Enter your first name, email address, and a password. You will receive a verification email within seconds — click the link to verify your address. You can then log in immediately. No payment details are needed to create a free account. The whole process takes under 60 seconds.

Check your spam or junk folder first — verification emails occasionally land there. If it is not there after a few minutes, go back to the signup page and request a new verification email. If you are still not receiving it, check that you entered your email address correctly and contact us at the contact page. You cannot log in until your email address is verified.

Go to stoptheloop.co.uk/login and enter your email address and password. If you have forgotten your password, tap "Forgot password?" on the login screen and follow the reset instructions sent to your email. Sessions automatically stay logged in on the devices you use — you will not be asked to log in every time.

On the login screen, tap "Forgot password?" and enter your email address. You will receive a password reset link. Click it, enter your new password, and you are back in. The reset link expires after 1 hour — if it has expired, request a new one from the login screen.

Your name and phone number can be updated in Settings — tap "Save changes" after editing. Your email address is your login identifier and cannot be changed once your account is created. If you need to change your email address contact us via the contact page and we can help manually.

Go to Settings, scroll to the Data section, and tap "Download my data". Your full data export — all sessions, mood history, and account details — is generated instantly as a JSON file and downloads to your device. No request form or waiting period is needed. Your data belongs to you.

Go to Settings, scroll to the bottom, and tap "Delete account". You will be asked to type your email address to confirm. Once confirmed, all your data — sessions, mood history, account details — is permanently deleted. This cannot be undone. We recommend downloading your data first if you want a copy. Deleting your account also cancels any active subscription; however, you should also cancel through the Stripe billing portal to prevent any further billing.

There are three plans:

• Free — £0 forever. 5 sessions per month, all 6 assessors, core CBT and ACT techniques, basic mood log. No credit card required.
• Monthly — £9.99/month. 60 sessions per month, emergency mode, full CBT and ACT library, frequency therapy, mind games, full mood timeline.
• Annual — £79/year (£6.58/month, saving 34%). Everything in monthly plus priority AI response speed and early access to new tools.

Add-ons: voice (£59.99/month), 10 session top-up (£0.99 one-off), 20 session top-up (£1.49 one-off).

The free tier includes 5 AI sessions per month, all 6 assessor personalities, the CBT and ACT techniques library (read-only), and basic mood logging. Emergency spiral mode, frequency therapy, mind games, the full mood timeline, and session summaries require a paid plan. No credit card is needed to sign up for the free tier.

Both plans include 60 sessions per month, emergency mode, the full CBT and ACT library, all assessors, frequency therapy, mind games, and the full mood timeline. The annual plan saves 34% compared to paying monthly, and additionally includes priority AI response speed and early access to new features as they launch. At £79 per year you are paying the equivalent of £6.58 per month.

Session top-ups are one-off purchases that add extra sessions on top of your monthly allowance. 10 sessions for £0.99 or 20 sessions for £1.49. Top-up sessions never expire — they roll over from month to month and are used after your regular monthly allowance is exhausted. You can buy them from the paywall screen when you reach your limit, or in advance from Settings.

Your regular session allowance resets on the 1st of each month, regardless of when you signed up or upgraded. Top-up sessions do not reset — they accumulate until used. Your next reset date is visible in the plan section of your Settings screen.

Yes. You can upgrade from free to monthly or annual at any time from inside Settings. Manage or cancel your subscription from the Stripe customer portal, accessible via the "Manage subscription" link in the plan section of Settings. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period — you keep access to your current plan until then.

Not at present, but it is on the roadmap. If pricing is a barrier for you, please reach out via the contact page and we will do what we can to help.

All payments are processed by Stripe — the same payment infrastructure used by Amazon, Spotify, and millions of other businesses worldwide. Stop The Loop never stores your card details. All payment data is handled exclusively by Stripe in compliance with PCI DSS Level 1 standards. You can pay by any major credit or debit card.

Go to Settings and tap "Manage subscription". This opens the Stripe billing portal where you can cancel at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period — you keep access to your plan until then. No cancellation fees apply. If you delete your account without cancelling first, contact us to ensure billing is also stopped.

Contact us immediately via the contact page with your account email address and a description of the issue. We review all billing disputes promptly. For urgent issues Stripe's own customer support can also assist via the Stripe billing portal accessible from your Settings screen.

Yes. Monthly subscriptions renew automatically every month and annual subscriptions renew every year on the anniversary of your sign-up date. You will receive an email reminder before renewal. Cancel at any time from the Stripe portal in Settings if you do not wish to renew.

No. Top-up sessions never expire. They remain in your account indefinitely and are deducted after your regular monthly allowance is exhausted. You can accumulate multiple top-ups.

All prices displayed on the website and in the app include VAT where applicable. The price you see is the price you pay. No additional tax is added at checkout.

Stop The Loop runs in any modern browser on any device — iPhone, Android, tablet, or desktop. Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge are all supported. There is no app store download required. For the best mobile experience, use Chrome on Android or Safari on iOS and add the site to your home screen for full-screen access and faster loading.

No. Stop The Loop requires an internet connection to function — AI sessions, frequency therapy tones, and real-time mood saving all require a live connection. The techniques library can be read if it has been previously loaded in your browser cache, but sessions, emergency mode, and data saving will not work without internet access.

The voice add-on uses ElevenLabs AI to give each of the six assessors a distinct spoken voice. When voice is active, every assessor response is automatically read aloud as it is generated. Each assessor has a genuinely different voice character — Megan sounds different from Ellis sounds different from Callum. The add-on costs £59.99/month and can be toggled on or off per session from the session settings panel. It requires the paid monthly or annual plan as a base subscription. Use headphones for the best experience.

Voice generation adds a short processing time on top of the text response — usually 1 to 3 seconds depending on response length and network speed. If loading times are consistently slow, try: switching to a Wi-Fi connection rather than mobile data, using headphones (which sometimes improves buffer performance), or switching to text-only mode in the session settings if speed is more important to you in that session than voice.

Headphones are strongly recommended but not required. The lower frequencies (174Hz especially) benefit significantly from headphones — you can feel a physical resonance through earbuds or over-ear headphones that phone speakers cannot reproduce. Binaural beats require headphones to function at all — each ear must receive a different frequency. For the standard Solfeggio tones, phone speakers will work but produce a noticeably weaker effect than headphones.

Contact us via the contact page with a description of what happened, what device and browser you are using, and if possible a screenshot. We are a small team and read every report. Critical bugs are prioritised immediately. Feature requests and feedback are also very welcome — the roadmap is shaped by what users actually need.

Your session data is stored in your personal Firebase account and is only accessible to you. Stop The Loop staff do not routinely access session content. No session data is shared with third parties, advertisers, or health insurers. Session summaries and mood data are stored in your account's private Firestore collection and are only readable with your login credentials. For full details see our Privacy Policy.

No. Your session content is not used to train the AI models that power the assessors. The Claude API (Anthropic) is used in API mode with zero data retention — session content sent to the API is not retained by Anthropic for training purposes. We will never sell or use your data for advertising.

Yes. Stop The Loop is operated by a UK company and complies with UK GDPR as well as the EU GDPR for European users. You have the right to access, correct, and delete your personal data at any time. Data downloads are available instantly from Settings. Account deletion permanently removes all personal data. For full details see our Privacy Policy.

Account data, session summaries, and mood history are stored in Firebase Firestore, hosted on Google Cloud infrastructure in the EU (Europe West region). Authentication is handled by Firebase Auth. Payments are processed by Stripe and card details are never stored in our systems. AI session processing uses Anthropic's API with zero data retention configured.

Delete your account from Settings — this permanently removes all data associated with your account including sessions, mood history, and profile information. This satisfies your right to erasure under UK and EU GDPR. Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone. Download your data first if you want a copy.

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, suicidal thoughts, or feel at immediate risk, please contact emergency services or a crisis line immediately:

• Emergency services: 999
• NHS urgent mental health: 111 (select the mental health option)
• Samaritans: 116 123 (free, 24/7, any reason)
• Crisis text line: Text SHOUT to 85258
• Your GP: for non-emergency mental health support

Stop The Loop is not a crisis service and is not a substitute for professional emergency mental health care.

CBT and ACT are evidence-based and generally safe. However, some techniques — particularly graded exposure and thought records on sensitive topics — involve engaging with feared content, which can temporarily increase distress. This is expected and is how the techniques work. If you consistently feel significantly worse after sessions, consider reducing the frequency, trying a gentler assessor (Lisa or Callum), or speaking to a GP about whether in-person professional support would be more appropriate for your presentation.

Stop The Loop is designed for anxiety management and general psychological wellbeing. It is not specifically designed for severe depression, PTSD, psychosis, personality disorders, or acute mental health presentations. If you are experiencing any of these conditions, please seek professional assessment and treatment as a priority. Stop The Loop may be a useful complementary tool once you have professional support in place, but it should not be your only source of support in complex or severe presentations.

Stop The Loop is designed for adults aged 18 and over. It is not suitable for children or young people under 18. If you are under 18 and experiencing anxiety, please speak to a trusted adult, your GP, or contact a dedicated young people's mental health service such as YoungMinds (0808 802 5544) or Childline (0800 1111).