Cognitive defusion techniques: what they are, what they are for and examples

“I can’t stop thinking, how can I deal with my negative thoughts?” It is one of the most recurring queries in the clinical field. As a rule, the patient wants to get rid of these obsessive or “ruminating” thoughts. In current times, where most of us live with demands and criticism, negative thoughts are commonplace; This is the case, even though these are unnecessary and are the source of intense discomfort.

Cognitive defusion techniques are born within the framework of cognitive therapy, specifically acceptance and commitment therapy. This theoretical context proposes a new way of relating to these thoughts in which seeks that the person learns to see their thoughts for what they really are: simple beliefs and not irrefutable facts of reality.

What is sought in cognitive defusion?

With cognitive defusion we seek to rework those negative and ruminative thoughts to change the way they relate to our behavior and our emotions, thus removing the weight they carry and the discomfort they generate.

The intention of this technique is to help us stop merging with those unwanted thoughts that limit us.. This technique does not aim to suppress negative thoughts, but rather seeks to create a space between what we are and what we do; that is, breaking the fusion between thought and person (defuse).

With cognitive defusion we can build an experience similar to what we learn as children regarding dreams, where saying “it was just a dream” It does not imply that this was not real, uncomfortable or even painful, only that we should not take it so seriously, as if it were a reality.

For example: just because you think people will judge you when they see you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go out. This technique allows us to train the act of thinking without forgetting that the product of this act is not real and does not permeate us either. In this way, we will be able to give importance to those thoughts to the extent that they contribute to our interests.

7 cognitive defusion techniques

Below we explain several cognitive defusion techniques to change the way we relate to our thoughts.

1. Loss of meaning

The objective of this simple technique is to be able to remove the negative meaning from thoughts. to be able to stop running away and face them.

Take any phrase or thought that comes to mind and repeat it for a while until it loses meaning. Take the negative thought and do the same.

2. “I am having the thought that…”

This technique seeks to put the negative judgment in a short sentence. It works with the polarity “I am/I am not”, which can be written or said out loud, and then slowly distance yourself from this, disassociating said thought:

Start with a short sentence with the negative thought: “I am X”For example “I’m a loser”In a second moment, you must merge with that thought for 10 seconds, believe it as much as you can. Then silently try to reproduce said phrase, but adding before: “I am having the thought…”For example “I’m having the thought that I’m a loser.”.Finally, play it again, but this time add the phrase “I’m noticing that I’m having the thought…”

3. Singing or using silly voices

Put the negative judgment in a short sentence: “I am X” for example “I’m not smart enough”.Sing that thought to the happy birthday melody in your mind. Now, try to play it with a voice other than your own. For example, that of a character in a movie. Take care that the technique does not invalidate the emotions.

4. Label your thoughts

We can apply two types of labels for each thought that passes through our mind:

Descriptive thoughts. They point out aspects of our reality that we perceive with our senses and our direct experiences. For example “it’s cold” either “He told me that he is sad.”Evaluative thoughts. They are more complex thoughts, which although they have a relationship with experience, usually lead to absolute truths, since they imply generalizations and judgments. These thoughts usually have dual or polarized connotations, that is, good-bad, fair-unfair, right-wrong, etc. For example, “It’s good that it’s cold.” either “It’s bad that I don’t go.”

5. Computer screen

This cognitive defusion technique It proposes playing with the imagination so that thought loses meaning and emotional content. It is very simple and since it requires nothing more than our imagination we can access it wherever we need it.

Merge with the negative thought for 10 seconds. Now imagine a computer screen and imagine that your thought is written there as plain black text. Then, with your mind’s eye, play with the color. See it written in green, blue, yellow. With your imagination, play with the font. Put it in italics, in stylized letters, in children’s letters. Put it in black text again and this time play with the format. Put the words together, space them, put them vertically on the screen. Arrange them in black text and this time animate the words. Make the words jump, or wave like a caterpillar, or spin in circles. Finally, put them back in black text and this time imagine a karaoke ball jumping from word to word, to the rhythm of Happy Birthday.

6. Express our thoughts

Whenever we are having an intrusive or negative thought we will proceed to place a statement at the end of type “I am/I am not” as appropriate.

For example, if you are having the thought that you are not good enough, that thought would fit like “I am good enough and I deserve everything I set out to achieve.”.

7. Practice disobedience

A useful cognitive defusion technique is disobedience. We often assume that simply thinking certain thoughts is equivalent to putting them into practice.

Stand up and give an order, for example “You can’t eat even if you’re hungry.”Instead of following that order, we will get up and go eat something repeating that order in our mind.

Little by little, this technique will train our brain not to assume all thoughts as orders or absolute truths.

The importance of professional guidance

Although cognitive defusion is framed within acceptance and commitment therapy, it can also be used in psychotherapeutic interventions that are not framed within this current.

It is important to understand the weight that our thoughts have regarding our behavior and our emotions. By doing so, it will be easier to identify when professional help would be necessary.

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