CBT Exercises To Calm Your Anxious Thoughts
Anxiety often shows up as racing thoughts, worst-case scenarios, and constant “what ifs.” When your mind feels stuck in a loop, it can be difficult to calm yourself down. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) offers practical, evidence-based tools that help you slow anxious thinking and respond more intentionally.
This guide walks through CBT exercises to calm anxious thoughts that you can begin using right away.
How CBT Helps with Anxiety
CBT is a structured, research-supported form of therapy that focuses on the connection between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Anxiety is often maintained by unhelpful thinking patterns—CBT helps you identify those patterns and gently challenge them.
CBT for anxiety can help:
Reduce rumination and worry
Increase emotional regulation
Improve distress tolerance
Build long-term anxiety coping skills
The goal isn’t to eliminate anxious thoughts, but to change how you relate to them.
1. Thought Record: Catch the Anxious Thought Loop
One of the most effective CBT exercises for anxiety is a thought record.
How to do it:
Write down the anxious thought
Identify the situation that triggered it
Notice the emotion and intensity
Ask: What evidence supports this thought?
Ask: What evidence challenges it?
Create a more balanced thought
This exercise helps interrupt catastrophic thinking and builds cognitive flexibility.
2. Name the Cognitive Distortion
Anxious thoughts often follow predictable patterns called cognitive distortions.
Common ones include:
Catastrophizing
All-or-nothing thinking
Mind-reading
Overgeneralization
Labeling the distortion creates distance and reduces its emotional charge. Instead of “This is true,” it becomes “This is anxiety talking.”
3. The “What’s Most Likely?” Exercise
Anxiety tends to jump straight to the worst-case scenario.
Try this CBT exercise:
Worst case: What am I afraid will happen?
Best case: What’s the most positive outcome?
Most likely: What usually happens based on past experience?
Focusing on the most likely outcome helps ground anxious thoughts in reality rather than fear.
4. Worry Time: Contain the Anxiety
Instead of trying to stop anxious thoughts entirely, CBT encourages containment.
How to practice worry time:
Set aside 10–15 minutes each day
Write down worries as they arise
Tell yourself, “I’ll come back to this during worry time”
This reduces constant mental looping and helps anxiety feel more manageable.
5. Behavioral Experiment: Test the Thought
Anxiety often predicts negative outcomes without evidence.
A behavioral experiment helps test anxious thoughts in real life.
Example:
Anxious thought: “If I speak up, people will judge me.”
Experiment: Speak up once and observe the outcome.
Often, the feared result doesn’t occur—or is far more manageable than expected.
6. Grounding + Cognitive Reframing
When anxiety is high, logic alone may not work.
Pair CBT thought work with grounding:
Name 5 things you can see
Take slow, intentional breaths
Press your feet into the floor
Once your nervous system settles, cognitive reframing becomes more effective.
How Often Should You Practice CBT Exercises?
Consistency matters more than perfection.
Try:
One CBT exercise per day
Brief journaling (5–10 minutes)
Practicing during mild anxiety, not only crisis moments
Over time, these tools become more automatic.
When CBT Exercises Aren’t Enough
If anxious thoughts feel constant, overwhelming, or are interfering with daily life, working with a therapist trained in CBT can provide deeper support and personalization.
CBT is most effective when tailored to your unique patterns and stressors.
CBT Support Through Virtual Therapy
At Elevate Wellness Counseling, we offer virtual therapy using evidence-based approaches like CBT to help clients calm anxious thoughts, reduce stress, and build long-term coping skills.
👉 Schedule a virtual therapy session today and learn how CBT can help you feel more in control of your anxiety.
