All articles
Articles on CBT, DBT, exposure therapy, and the patterns of thinking and feeling they work with.
Therapy
ADHD and emotional dysregulation — a core feature, not a comorbidity
Around 70% of adults with ADHD show clinically significant emotional dysregulation. It's a core feature of the disorder, not a separate condition stacked on top.
Therapy
Alexithymia — when emotions don't come with words
A trait, not a diagnosis — about 1 in 10 people score in the alexithymic range. Here is the research, the autism overlap, and what a colour-first picker is for.
Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
A type of psychotherapy that focuses on identifying and challenging negative thought patterns and behaviors.
Therapy
Cognitive distortions — the 14 patterns
A field guide to the 14 cognitive distortions used in CBT — what they are, how to spot them, and how to challenge them.
Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT mixes therapy with mindfulness, promoting acceptance while changing harmful behaviors.
Therapy
Emotional granularity — why naming the feeling helps
The skill of telling apart frustrated, lonely, ashamed, and envious instead of just bad — and what 25 years of research say about it.
Therapy
Exposure Therapy
Psychological treatment developed to help individuals confront and reduce their fear or anxiety.
Therapy
5-4-3-2-1 grounding — how to use it during panic and anxiety
A clear walkthrough of the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique for panic, anxiety, and dissociation — what it does, what it doesn't, and how to use it.
Therapy
Do mental health apps actually work? A research review
An honest review of the meta-analytic evidence on mental health apps — what they reliably do, what the marketing oversells, and which features predict real effects.
Therapy
Does mood tracking actually work? A research review
An honest review of the evidence on mood tracking apps — what works, what doesn't, and when self-monitoring can backfire.
Therapy
Opposite action — the DBT skill for emotions that don't fit
A practical guide to opposite action, the DBT skill for changing emotions that don't fit the facts.
Therapy
Paced breathing — box breathing, 4-7-8, and how slow breathing calms the body
How to do paced breathing (box, 4-7-8, resonant 6-bpm), why it works, and where it fits in CBT and DBT.
Therapy
The science of journaling — what 40 years of research actually shows
An honest review of the evidence on journaling and expressive writing, anchored in Pennebaker's 40 years of work and the Frattaroli 2006 meta-analysis.
Therapy
Sensory overload and mood — tracking the input most apps ignore
Sensory load is mood input. A practical guide to logging light, sound, crowds, and texture so the patterns become visible.
Therapy
How to fill out a thought record
A worked example of the seven-field CBT thought record, the same fields the Colors reframe flow walks you through.
Therapy
TIPP — DBT's crisis-survival skills for high-arousal moments
A walkthrough of the four TIPP sub-skills from DBT distress tolerance — temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing, and paired muscle relaxation.
Therapy
Triggers vs factors — two axes of mood causality
Acute triggers and chronic factors are both antecedents to a mood, but they answer different questions. A short guide to tagging each correctly.
Therapy
Validated mental health screeners — what HADS, PHQ-9, and GAD-7 actually measure
A plain-language guide to validated mental health screeners — HADS, PHQ-9, and GAD-7 — what they measure, what their scores mean, and how to use them honestly.
Therapy
When mood tracking backfires
An honest account of the patterns where mood tracking stops helping and starts hurting — and what to do about each.