Cognitive Defusion: How to unhook from negative thoughts and feelings

This entry is a short one. I have been in a depressive episode for the past 7 weeks or so now. At times like this, my mind automatically generates unhelpful thoughts and feelings, that despite knowing that there is validity in them, these thoughts and feelings are unhelpful in my work towards my own recovery. The skill that you’ll read about shortly is one skill that I am still working on, putting it into practice when my mind isn’t too bogged down by the cloud of depression. It is a skill that I show and do with my patients to continue using as it can be a way to get us out of the incessant loop of negative thoughts and feelings that gnaw on us until it feels that there is nothing left of us to salvage.

I hope you find this helpful as it has been helpful for me.

“You cannot stop the waves, but you can learn to sift” – Jon Kabat-Zann

According to Russ Harris in ACT Made Simple (2009), cognitive diffusion is:

– Looking at thoughts rather than from thoughts/emotions.

– Noticing thoughts/emotions rather than becoming caught up in those thoughts/feelings.

– Letting thoughts/feelings come and go rather than holding onto them.

For example, the thought, “I’m useless” is a common thought that most of us can relate to. In cognitive defusion, instead of being caught up in that thought, we notice it instead and say, “I have the thought that I am useless.” The act of noticing and saying that thought/feeling to ourselves aloud or in our head, creates a sense of distance and allows us to be in the here and now (being present) in order to live the life we want to live.

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