How to Stop Overthinking (CBT-Based Tips That Actually Work)
- cbtbournemouth
- Aug 7, 2025
- 2 min read
Overthinking can feel like being trapped in your own mind, constantly analysing, predicting, and replaying every conversation or decision, racing what if's, doubt, regrets, fears, possibilities. Over time, many people stuck in this cycle struggle to fall asleep, stay focused, or enjoy the present moment with all of this noise in their heads.
It might not feel like it but there is hope.
In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), overthinking is often linked to unhelpful thinking patterns like catastrophising, mind reading, or rumination. These loops fuel anxiety and stress. Or as habits developed over time which once felt helpful but now feel suffocating or repetitive. CBT offers practical, evidence-based tools to interrupt these thoughts and habits.
🔹 3 CBT Strategies to Try to Overcome Overthinking 🔹
1. Name the Thought Pattern
The first step is awareness. Are you imagining worst-case scenarios? Assuming others are judging you? Mind reading? CBT teaches you to label unhelpful thoughts, which helps you gain distance from them.
Example: “I notice I’m catastrophising, I’m jumping to the worst possible outcome.”
2. Challenge the Thought
Ask yourself:
What’s the evidence for and against this thought?
Am I confusing a feeling with a fact?
What would I say to a friend who was thinking this?
This isn’t about “positive thinking” or toxic positivity, it’s about developing a more balanced, realistic view, based on the evidence available to you.
3. Shift Into the Present
Overthinking keeps you stuck in the past or future. Use grounding techniques to re-engage with the here and now can help:
5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise (sight, sound, touch, etc.)
Focused breathing
Notice 3 things you can see and hear
These are small but powerful ways to calm the mind and halt the overthinking cycles.
🧠 Want Support to Break the Overthinking Cycle?
These are some overview strategies which may help but individual support may move you quicker towards your goals. As an experienced, qualified and BABCP accredited Therapist I work with adults experiencing anxiety, depression, low self esteem and other difficulties to quieten the noise, reduce anxiety, and reclaim focus, using CBT techniques backed by extensive research.
If you are ready to stop living in your head and start living your life get in contact today.
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