CBT & ACT Techniques Library

Immediate relief

Techniques that work in the first 60 seconds of a spiral — when the body needs to come down before the mind can engage

GroundingNICE

5-4-3-2-1 Sensory grounding

Anchor yourself in the present moment by naming what each of your five senses is picking up right now. Anxiety lives in the future — the sensory inventory pulls you back to the only moment that is manageable.

5
things you can see right now
4
things you can physically feel
3
things you can hear
2
things you can smell
1
thing you can taste

Best for: acute panic, disassociation, spirals with physical symptoms, any anxiety anywhere without a device

Try this in the app →

BreathingNICE

Physiological sigh

The fastest breathing technique for acute anxiety. A double inhale through the nose followed by a long exhale. This specific pattern maximally inflates the alveoli and triggers the parasympathetic system faster than any other breathing pattern — Stanford-researched.

1
Inhale fully through the nose
2
Take a second short sniff on top to fully fill the lungs
3
Exhale slowly and fully through the mouth
4
Repeat 2–3 times

Best for: rapid heart rate, chest tightness, the first 30 seconds of a spiral

Try this in the app →

Breathing

Box breathing

Four equal counts: inhale, hold, exhale, hold. The regularity and deliberate pacing activates the vagal nerve and shifts the autonomic nervous system into the parasympathetic state. Used by Navy SEALs for pre-mission calm — and in every Stop The Loop emergency session.

1
Inhale for 4 counts
2
Hold for 4 counts
3
Exhale for 4 counts
4
Hold for 4 counts — repeat 4 cycles

Best for: sustained anxiety, pre-event nerves, sleep anxiety, calming mid-session

Try this in the app →

GroundingCBT

Feet on the floor

The simplest somatic grounding technique. Push your feet deliberately into the floor. Feel the pressure, the texture, the temperature. Label what you feel. The physical sensation creates a present-moment anchor that interrupts the cognitive loop almost immediately — this is always Phase 1 in emergency mode.

Best for: first instruction in emergency mode, dissociation, when nothing else is working, children and young people

Try this in the app →

Grounding

Cold water reset

Running cold water over wrists or splashing the face activates the diving reflex — a hard-wired physiological response that slows the heart rate rapidly. This is one of the fastest ways to interrupt an acute adrenaline response. Used in DBT as a distress tolerance skill (TIPP technique).

Best for: panic with rapid heart rate, intense flooding, situations where breathing alone is not enough

Try this in the app →

GroundingCBT

Name what happened

Label the physical experience precisely: "My heart is racing. My chest is tight. This is adrenaline. My body thinks there is danger. There is no danger." Labelling activates the prefrontal cortex and begins to regulate the amygdala's threat response. This is Phase 2 in emergency mode — after grounding the body, name what the body just did.

Best for: post-acute-panic, helping the cognitive system come back online, health anxiety spirals

Try this in the app →

CBT techniques

Cognitive behavioural therapy — NICE-recommended, most researched psychological approach for anxiety. Works by identifying and challenging unhelpful thought patterns.

CBTNICE

Thought record

The cornerstone of CBT. Walk through a specific thought in five structured steps — identify it, examine the evidence for and against it, and build a more realistic and balanced response. The process forces the brain to engage the prefrontal cortex (reasoning) rather than staying in reactive threat mode. The most evidence-backed CBT tool that exists.

1
Identify the situation and the automatic thought that arose
2
Name the emotion and rate its intensity 0–100
3
List the evidence that supports the thought
4
List the evidence that challenges or contradicts the thought
5
Build a balanced, realistic response — re-rate the emotion

Best for: health anxiety, catastrophising, mind reading, fortune telling, any anxiety driven by specific automatic thoughts

Try this in a session →

CBTNICE

Worry postponement

Schedule worry to a specific 15-minute period each day. When a worry arises outside that time, note it and consciously postpone engaging with it. This breaks the habit of continuous background worry without suppressing the worry entirely. One of the most effective and immediately applicable CBT techniques for GAD.

1
Set a daily 15-minute "worry window" — same time each day
2
When worries arise, note them briefly and postpone
3
During worry time: engage fully with each postponed worry
4
Assess: is each worry actionable or not? Act or accept accordingly

Best for: GAD, constant background worry, rumination, sleep anxiety

Try this in a session →

CBTNICE

Behavioural experiment

Test the anxious prediction by actually doing the feared thing and recording what happens. Write down what anxiety says will happen before. Do it. Record what actually happened. The brain updates its threat assessment through experience far more powerfully than through reasoning alone. The core mechanism behind exposure therapy.

1
State the specific anxious prediction clearly ("if I speak in the meeting, everyone will judge me")
2
Do the thing the anxiety is predicting will go badly
3
Record exactly what happened — not what you felt, what happened
4
Compare outcome to prediction. What does this tell you?

Best for: social anxiety, health anxiety, performance anxiety, avoidance patterns

Try this in a session →

CBTNICE

Theory A vs Theory B

A CBT technique developed specifically for health anxiety. Theory A: the problem is that something is physically wrong with you. Theory B: the problem is that you are very anxious about your health. These two theories require completely different responses. Identifying which theory you are actually living in is often transformative.

A
Write out Theory A in detail: what you believe is physically wrong
B
Write out Theory B: what maintaining health anxiety looks like as a problem in its own right
3
Examine: which theory fits the evidence better? Which do your behaviours (checking, reassurance-seeking) support?

Best for: health anxiety, illness phobia, medical reassurance-seeking

Try this in a session →

CBTNICE

Graded exposure (fear ladder)

Build a hierarchy of feared situations from least to most anxiety-provoking. Start at the bottom. Stay in the situation until anxiety peaks and naturally reduces — this is called habituation. Move up the ladder. This is the gold standard treatment for phobias, panic disorder, and OCD, and the mechanism behind most CBT success for anxiety disorders.

1
List 8–10 feared situations, rate anxiety 0–100 for each
2
Order from least to most feared
3
Start at the bottom: enter the situation, stay until anxiety drops by at least half
4
Repeat until step feels manageable, then move up

Best for: phobias, panic disorder with avoidance, social anxiety, driving anxiety, OCD compulsions

Try this in a session →

CBT

Response prevention

Resist the compulsive behaviour or safety behaviour that follows anxious thought — without performing the action and without fleeing the anxiety. The anxiety rises, peaks, and comes down naturally. Each successful response prevention weakens the anxiety-compulsion link. The central technique in ERP for OCD but also effective for health anxiety checking and reassurance-seeking.

Best for: OCD compulsions, health anxiety checking, reassurance-seeking, safety behaviours that maintain anxiety

Try this in a session →

CBT

Decatastrophising

Walk through the worst-case scenario deliberately and systematically to expose how survivable it actually is. "What is the worst that could realistically happen? If it did happen, what would you do? Could you survive it?" The technique transfers catastrophic predictions from the emotional system to the rational system where they can be assessed accurately.

Best for: catastrophising, excessive worry about specific outcomes, performance anxiety, health anxiety

Try this in a session →

CBTNICE

Pattern analysis

Examine your mood data over time to identify what your triggers, cycles, and nervous system needs actually are. Most people think they know their patterns — the data usually tells a more precise story. Used in Pattern Review sessions to make the unconscious anxiety pattern visible so it can be addressed directly.

Best for: GAD, ongoing anxiety management, identifying environmental and relational triggers, planning recovery

Try this in a session →

CBTNICE

Sleep restriction (CBT-I)

Compress sleep to match actual sleep time rather than time in bed, then gradually extend. One of the most effective treatments for anxiety-driven insomnia with response rates exceeding medication in the long term. Temporarily increases sleep pressure to reset the circadian rhythm. NICE recommends CBT-I as first-line treatment for chronic insomnia.

Best for: anxiety-driven insomnia, 3am anxiety spirals, racing mind at bedtime, long-term sleep disruption

Try this in a session →

ACT techniques

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy — change your relationship with thoughts rather than their content. Build psychological flexibility to act from values, not fear.

ACTNICE

Cognitive defusion

Step back from thoughts rather than being absorbed by them. Instead of "I am going to fail" (fusion), try "I am having the thought that I am going to fail" (defusion). The thought is still present but its power to drive behaviour is reduced. Defusion does not require the thought to be wrong — only that you choose not to obey it.

1
Notice the anxious thought verbatim
2
Add "I am having the thought that..." before it
3
Or: "My mind is telling me that..."
4
Notice the distance this creates between you and the thought

Best for: fused catastrophic thoughts, intrusive thoughts, imposter syndrome, rumination that does not respond to thought challenging

Try this in a session →

ACT

Leaves on a stream

A defusion visualisation. Imagine sitting beside a stream. Place each thought that arises on a leaf and watch it float away. Do not grab the leaf. Do not push it away. Just notice each thought, place it on a leaf, and let it move at its own pace. Works particularly well for intrusive thought patterns that resist direct challenge.

Best for: intrusive thoughts, rumination, unwanted mental imagery, overthinking at night

Try this in a session →

ACT

Acceptance & willingness

Make room for difficult feelings rather than struggling against them. "I am willing to have this feeling while it is here." Acceptance is not resignation or approval — it is choosing to stop spending energy on the internal struggle, because fighting the feeling costs more than having it. The paradox: when we stop fighting, the feeling loses its power to determine behaviour.

Best for: chronic anxiety where fighting has not worked, health anxiety, postnatal anxiety, relationship anxiety, existential anxiety

Try this in a session →

ACT

Values clarification

Identify what genuinely matters across your life domains and where you feel most out of alignment. Values in ACT are ongoing directions — not goals you achieve but ways of being you choose. When anxiety pulls you towards avoidance, values give you a reason to move forward anyway. Used in Values Check-in sessions.

1
Identify the life domains that matter most (relationships, work, health, growth)
2
For each: what does living well look like?
3
Rate current alignment 1–10
4
Choose one committed action to close the biggest gap this week

Best for: loss of meaning, anxiety-driven avoidance, relationship anxiety, career anxiety, imposter syndrome

Try this in a session →

ACT

The observing self

Connect with the part of you that notices your thoughts and feelings without being them. "I am not my anxiety. I am the one who notices the anxiety." This stable observing perspective — ACT calls it self-as-context — has always been present and cannot be threatened by thought content. You are the sky; anxiety is weather.

Best for: anxiety that has become fused with identity ("I am an anxious person"), trauma, OCD, existential anxiety about the self

Try this in a session →

ACT

Committed action

Take one specific, values-guided action even with anxiety present. Not when the anxiety has gone — now, alongside it. This is where ACT becomes a practice rather than a theory. Committed action is always small, specific, and achievable today. It is the step between insight and life change.

Best for: avoidance that has narrowed life significantly, post-session homework, any values work, anxiety about doing important things

Try this in a session →

ACT

The passengers on the bus

A defusion metaphor. You are the driver of a bus. Your anxious thoughts and feelings are passengers who board and start shouting directions. You can acknowledge them without obeying them. You can keep driving towards your destination even while the passengers argue. You are the driver, not the passenger.

Best for: anxiety that feels controlling, overwhelm with multiple competing fears, decision-making paralysis

Try this in a session →

ACT

Naming the story

Identify the recurring narrative your mind tells in anxiety and give it a name. "There it is — the 'I am going to fail' story." "That's the health catastrophe story again." Naming creates distance from the content and humour can emerge. The story is still there but it becomes familiar rather than threatening.

Best for: rumination, recurring intrusive thoughts, imposter syndrome, anticipatory anxiety about specific situations

Try this in a session →

Breathing techniques

Breath is the only autonomic function you can control consciously — which makes it the fastest route to shifting the nervous system state. Every technique here works directly on the vagal nerve.

BreathingNICE

Extended exhale breathing

Make the exhale longer than the inhale. The exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system; the inhale activates the sympathetic. A 4-count inhale and 6–8 count exhale shifts the balance towards calm. The ratio matters more than the specific counts. This is the foundational principle behind most evidence-based breathing techniques.

1
Inhale through the nose for 4 counts
2
Exhale through the mouth for 7–8 counts
3
Repeat for 4 cycles minimum

Best for: sustained anxiety, pre-sleep, sustained high heart rate, generalised tension

Try this in the app →

Breathing

Resonant frequency breathing

Breathe at approximately 5.5 breaths per minute (about 5.5 seconds in, 5.5 seconds out). This specific rate has been shown to maximise heart rate variability — a measure of nervous system flexibility and resilience. Research links high HRV to lower anxiety. Five minutes of resonant breathing produces measurable HRV improvement.

Best for: daily anxiety management practice, building nervous system resilience, morning or evening routine

Try this in the app →

BreathingGrounding

Breathe ring (guided visual)

A visual breathing guide built into the Stop The Loop emergency screen. A ring expands as you inhale and contracts as you exhale — giving a visual anchor that removes the cognitive load of counting. Available on demand during any session. Tap the breathe button at the top of the emergency screen to open it.

Best for: mid-session breathing when you need a visual cue, acute panic, situations where counting is too cognitively demanding

Try this in the app →

Frequency therapy

Specific audio frequencies that produce measurable physiological effects on the nervous system. Used as a 10–30 second neural interrupt alongside CBT and ACT work. Use headphones for best effect.

Frequency

174 Hz — neural reset

The lowest Solfeggio frequency. Associated with pain relief and deep physical relaxation. Closest to the Schumann resonance — the earth's natural electromagnetic frequency. Produces a sense of profound groundedness and safety. This is the primary neural reset tone in emergency mode. Ten seconds is often enough to feel a shift, especially with headphones.

Best for: acute panic with physical symptoms, chest tightness, racing heart, first intervention in emergency mode

Play in the app →

Frequency

396 Hz — fear release

The Liberation frequency. Associated with dissolving the energetic patterns of chronic fear and guilt-based anxiety spirals. One of the three foundational Solfeggio tones. Corresponds to the musical note G. Used in sound healing for embedded fear responses that have become habitual rather than reactive.

Best for: chronic anxiety patterns, guilt-based worry, persistent fear that does not respond to cognitive techniques

Play in the app →

Frequency

528 Hz — stress reduction

The most researched Solfeggio frequency. A 2018 study found measurable cortisol reduction and increased positive affect after exposure. Known as the love or miracle frequency — sits at the mathematical centre of the Solfeggio scale. The most widely used tone for general stress and daily anxiety management.

Best for: general anxiety, elevated stress, low mood, daily maintenance, morning reset

Play in the app →

Frequency

639 Hz — harmony & connection

Associated with the social nervous system and the capacity for connection. Related to polyvagal theory — the idea that the nervous system has a social engagement branch that, when activated, signals safety. Used for anxiety that manifests as social disconnection, relationship worry, or the isolating quality of chronic anxiety.

Best for: relationship anxiety, social anxiety, feelings of isolation, anxiety that is worse when alone

Play in the app →

Frequency

741 Hz — mental clarity

Associated with mental clarity and the capacity to solve problems. Used when anxiety is producing cognitive fog, difficulty making decisions, or a sense of being overwhelmed by competing thoughts. Particularly useful as a pre-session tone before a Pattern Review or Thought Record session.

Best for: decision anxiety, overthinking, cognitive fog, feeling overwhelmed by complexity

Play in the app →

Frequency

Binaural beats (theta)

Two slightly different frequencies played in each ear (requires headphones). The brain perceives the difference as a third frequency — in the theta range (4–8Hz) this induces deep relaxation. Multiple RCTs confirm theta binaural beats reduce anxiety measurably. The entrainment effect builds over 5–10 minutes.

Best for: deep relaxation, pre-sleep anxiety, sustained anxiety that needs extended calming, meditation practice

Play in the app →

Mind games

Anxiety hijacks working memory. These games occupy the exact cognitive resources anxiety needs to sustain itself — competing it into submission rather than fighting it directly.

Mind game

Block drop (Tetris-style)

Rotate and place falling shapes. The visuospatial demand directly competes with catastrophic mental imagery — both require the same cognitive system (the visuospatial sketchpad). Research by Holmes et al. showed Tetris significantly reduced intrusive memories after trauma exposure. The most evidence-backed anxiety game that exists.

Best for: health anxiety imagery, intrusive thoughts, trauma-adjacent anxiety, catastrophic visualisation

Play in the app →

Mind game

Count down (serial subtraction)

Count backwards from 100 in 7s. Or 3s for a gentler version. Mental arithmetic fully loads the central executive — the attentional coordinator of working memory. Anxiety's worry chains cannot compete with sustained arithmetic demand. Used in EMDR therapy as a dual-attention task. No device needed — works anywhere.

Best for: acute panic, racing thoughts, verbal rumination, situations without access to a device

Play in the app →

Mind game

Word finder

Find hidden words in a grid of letters. Language processing fully occupies the phonological loop — the same system running the "what if" rumination script. The script cannot run two verbal tasks simultaneously. Word games evict the worry from the phonological loop and occupy that slot with something benign.

Best for: verbal rumination, the "what if" loop, social anxiety, overthinking about specific conversations

Play in the app →

Mind game

Pattern match

Match symbols and colours before the timer runs out. The same neural circuits that scan for threats also scan for patterns. Redirecting those circuits to a benign pattern-matching task defuses the hypervigilance response. Particularly effective for anxiety that presents as constant environmental scanning.

Best for: hypervigilance, social scanning anxiety, OCD-adjacent pattern detection

Play in the app →

Mind game

Categories A–Z

Name animals, foods, or countries for every letter of the alphabet. Triple cognitive demand: phonological loop (verbal processing), semantic memory (category retrieval), and central executive (tracking progress). No device needed. Particularly useful in situations where you cannot access the app — waiting rooms, medical appointments, before exams.

Best for: waiting anxiety (hospitals, exams), situations without device access, gentle but sustained cognitive occupation

Play in the app →

Mind game

Sequence memory

Remember and repeat growing sequences of visual stimuli. Dual cognitive load — visuospatial sketchpad holding the sequence and central executive managing recall and comparison simultaneously. Particularly effective for intrusive imagery and flashback-adjacent anxiety because of its visuospatial specificity.

Best for: intrusive imagery, trauma-adjacent anxiety, health anxiety visualisations, insomnia with racing mental images

Play in the app →

Every technique.
All in one place.

Every technique. Guided by AI.

Techniques in action — real outcomes

“I was Googling symptoms 3 hours a day. My GP said I was fine — I didn’t believe her.”

“I’d check the door was locked 15 times before bed. I knew it was locked. I still checked.”

“I’d lie awake replaying every decision I’d made that day, convinced I’d missed something.”

“I stopped going to lectures because I was terrified people were judging me.”

From the blog

Ready to stop the loop?

Every technique.All in one place.

Every technique. Guided by AI.

Techniques in action — real outcomes

“I was Googling symptoms 3 hours a day. My GP said I was fine — I didn’t believe her.”

“I’d check the door was locked 15 times before bed. I knew it was locked. I still checked.”

“I’d lie awake replaying every decision I’d made that day, convinced I’d missed something.”

“I stopped going to lectures because I was terrified people were judging me.”

From the blog

Ready to stop the loop?

Every technique.
All in one place.