Cognitive Defusion and the Power of The Present Moment for Symptom Relief
- Ashton Barnes
- Jul 21
- 6 min read
There are so many buzzwords these days relating to mindfulness, staying present, having self-awareness, and how all of this can make the stress of our lives much more tolerable--but actually sinking into the nitty gritty of the present moment is challenging and takes practice, patience, and self-compassion. This blog post highlights some key terms underneath the umbrella of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and overall Mindfulness techniques that might help guide you in understanding the present moment and how to get relief from overly negative or distressing thought patterns.
What Is Cognitive Defusion?
I’m sure you have noticed that throughout your day, you have thousands (if not millions, honestly) of random thoughts--some positive, some negative, some neutral, some completely random and disorganized or intrusive--but regardless of the content, they have the power to impact our mood and how we view ourselves and the world. In this case, thoughts refers to our internal dialogue or self-talk but also includes beliefs, memories, our attitude, etc. Because our brain is so complex and unique, humans have the tendency to overly identify with these thoughts, or attach a lot of meaning or value to them. We create stories and narratives because that is the job of our mind, but what can happen when we do this is that we take our thoughts or internal experiences as facts and believe they are absolute truths. This allows them to dictate our behavior. Below are some examples of what this looks like in action:
We might have a thought like, "I am worthless." Oftentimes we end up fusing with this thought--we get so caught up in it that we give it our full attention and believe it wholeheartedly--and what happens next is we have a negative emotional reaction, feel poorly about ourselves, and potentially isolate from our support system or disengage from meaningful activities or joyful experiences. We believed the thought that said ‘I am worthless’ and attached truth and validity to it.
Maybe we have an internalized belief about ourselves that we are always wrong, no matter what the situation, dynamic, or experience. This belief and thought might lead us to having a lack of self-trust, so we instinctively feel inferior to others and maybe don’t make choices that are aligned with our values or constantly defer to other people’s needs instead of our own. We fused with the belief that we are always wrong and identified with it so strongly that it becomes part of our identity.
When we are so closely fused with the content of our thoughts, we can find ourselves doing a lot of mental evaluation (of ourselves and others), judging, comparing, competing, etc. However, let me remind you: you aren’t bad or wrong for doing this--you are human! We all identify with our thoughts, and we all have attached meaning to certain thoughts that then impacts how we feel or how we behave. The goal, then, is not to change or avoid our thoughts but how we relate to them. Here is where cognitive defusion comes in!
Cognitive defusion is the concept that if we ‘un-fuse’ or distance ourselves from our thoughts, we begin to understand their impermanence. This allows us to accept their presence, observe them more neutrally, and let them pass by.
The aim is not to battle or fight with our thoughts or beliefs, but to decrease our attachment to them. If we simply notice our thoughts but not overly identify with them, we see them as just thoughts and not facts. This increases our psychological flexibility and gets us more in touch with the present moment, which can decrease anxiety and self-esteem challenges because we are able to view ourselves more objectively and aren’t solely judging ourselves based on the content of our thoughts.
Here Are Some Examples of Cognitive Defusion Techniques
Remember: All we’re doing is shifting the focus from the content of our thoughts (which is often not factual!) to the process of thinking.
Naming the Thought → Follow this simple formula: instead of saying “I am a bad friend," say “I’m noticing that___” or “ I’m having the thought that I’m being a bad friend." This instantly separates you from this thought, and by observing it mindfully, you aren’t giving it any more power!
Leaves on a Stream→ Beginning to distance ourselves from our thoughts and letting them pass by takes practice and patience, and sometimes visualization comes in handy. Picture yourself lying by a river bank, and placing any distressing or consuming thought you become aware of on top of a leaf and watching that leaf flow down the river, eventually out of sight. You noticed, accepted, and defused from the thoughts!
Thank You, Mind→ Our mind is usually trying to either help or protect us in some way by ruminating, catastrophizing, or focusing on overly negative or critical thoughts. When we become more aware of unhelpful thoughts, say a simple “Thanks, Mind” in order to acknowledge it without identifying with it.
Placing Thoughts On Top of a Cloud→ When you notice an overly negative, critical, or shaming thought, envision taking the thought out of your mind and placing it on top of a big, fluffy cloud in the sky. Watch as the cloud slowly drifts by and out of sight. This helps us acknowledge the thought and its presence but separates who we are from it. Eventually, it disappears and doesn’t have any other meaning or value.
File It Away→ Envision your brain being filled with file cabinets, and all of these cabinets have unique file folders containing different types of thoughts: critical, judging, shaming, disrespectful, hurtful, disorganized, intrusive, etc. Once you start getting in the habit of checking in with yourself when you notice these kinds of thoughts, you can imagine yourself assigning them to a unique file in your brain → then closing the file folder → shutting the file cabinet → walking away. You’re aware of the thought, you create distance from it, and you walk away knowing that you didn’t attach any kind of meaning to it and you didn’t give it any attention. You can think of your brain much like Spongebob’s in this photo--here, we can view the different versions of him as representations of different kinds of thoughts, and the furiously typed papers document all of those thoughts we have each day. We can store all those papers in their respective file cabinets, lock the drawer, and leave it behind us!
Staying Present
Cognitive Defusion techniques allow us to practice distancing ourselves from the content of our thoughts and focus on simply accepting their presence. We notice, acknowledge, and accept these thoughts (or beliefs, memories, attitudes, etc.) without assuming them to be factual and without automatically attaching meaning to them. This practice inherently gets us in touch with the here and now reality of the present moment.
The present moment is often something we don’t have a lot of comfort sitting in, as most of us spend time dwelling on things in the past or worrying about what might come in the future. Sure, sometimes this is needed, and can even be helpful! But both the past and the present do not exist, nor will they ever exist. All that exists is right here, right now, in this moment. When we pause and settle into our bodies, practice defusing from our thoughts, and take in what it feels like to be still, we begin to notice our anxiety slip away and our fight or flight response gently turns offline. Our breath becomes more regulated, tension releases in our muscles, and we can feel a stronger sense of peace as our nervous systems might begin to feel more safe.
Practice
Engaging in any kind of mindful practice centered around cognitive defusion and noticing our thoughts for even 5 minutes a day can bring immense relief. If your environment is safe and your basic needs are met, feel free to find a comforting and cozy space that gets all your 5 senses activated (light a candle for smell, have a fuzzy or soft blanket for touch, have gentle rain or wave sounds playing for hearing, have a soothing drink for taste, and have warm lighting for seeing) as this really gets us in touch with the here and now. Then, scan your body and do light stretching to release any tension in your muscles. Next, simply observe your incredible mind and practice any kind of cognitive defusion technique that feels right for you--this is essentially meditation. Set a timer, and challenge yourself to be still in this practice until it goes off. Hopefully you feel even mildly more at peace or relaxed after, but if nothing else, practice self-compassion by acknowledging that you showed up for yourself!
Sources
Risser, M., & Moawad, H. (2023, December 1). Cognitive defusion: What it is & techniques to try. ChoosingTherapy.com. https://www.choosingtherapy.com/cognitive-defusion/
Sadurni Rodriguez, G. (n.d.). Defusion: How to Detangle from thoughts & feelings. https://www.providence.org/-/media/project/psjh/providence/or/files/act-group-handouts/cognitive-defusion.pdf
Therapist Aid. (2023, February 20). Thought defusion: Cognitive distancing techniques: Worksheet. https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-worksheet/thought-defusion-techniques