Defusion in ACT Therapy: How to Unhook From a Thought
Blog #3 in The Hexaflex: a 6 part series on Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Getting Stuck Writing This Blog
Sitting writing this blog, I was feeling a bit stuck. It's 1:40 pm and my next client is showing up around 2:00 pm. I was noticing that I was wanting to do just about anything except the intro to this blog post. I ran face first into a practical (and rather frequent) form of defusion that I notice is helpful for me.
While I was writing, my brain moved towards distractions and I found myself doomscrolling. The moment I started to think about my writing, I had some very clear thoughts about my next steps. My brain went straight to a classic for me: "You're no good at this! Good luck at getting this written in 20 minutes!"
This thought will show up for me more often than I would like to admit. Sometimes I can very easily allow that thought to pass. Sometimes I get hooked and spiral into an Instagram reels lull for an hour. When I take a moment to really recognize that my brain really wants me to avoid this whole writing thing, it gives me some space to really notice what choices are ahead of me. And to make a choice that makes sense. In this case, writing this blog to help out my practice. Doing this whole process, I practiced an important Acceptance and Commitment Therapy skill called defusion.
What Is Defusion?
Defusion is a strange word. Even when I write it, the red squiggly line appears to show that I've misspelled the word itself. Defusion is the ability to notice and give space to flexibly and curiously attune to our thoughts. This skill is also known as deliteralization by some ACT practitioners, which makes it sound easier to understand. At its core, the skill is to allow ourselves to notice our thoughts that feel like they literally mean something about us.
An example of a fused thought from someone who is having anxiety might be "things will go terribly wrong." In this case, this person's brain has seemingly predicted the future and used its prediction to create a thought about an event going "horribly wrong." Staying fused to this thought could mean that more thoughts appear to further predict the future and continue anxiety. All with the ultimate goal of skipping the event when maybe they really wanted to do this activity!
Why Fused Thoughts Feel So Convincing
Fused thoughts act as a barrier to our ability to make choices of our own. This is mostly due in part to brain thinking that it knows better than we do. Our brains have been trained over the last few thousand years to send us thoughts, feelings, and sensations to avoid danger at all costs. It has kept us and our ancestors safe and is why we still have humans roaming the earth.
Now that we have fewer predators, we are stuck with a brain who reminds us that experiencing life as a human is dangerous. Sometimes brain is absolutely right! It's good at detecting danger in that way. Other times, brain stands in the way of doing something that we want and need in service to trying to protect us. In those moments, we can use a skill like one below to notice and change who is getting to decide our next decision.
A Few Ways to Practice This Skill and Level It Up
Visualizing your thoughts:
As clouds passing through the night sky
As leaves on a stream of water
As floats in the homecoming parade
Thanking your brain for the thought:
Noticing that brain is trying to protect you and thanking it for trying its hardest to do so.
Noticing your thought out loud:
Saying out loud "I'm noticing that I'm having the thought that _____."
What Defusion Is Not
A reminder about these skills. Similar to mindfulness, they are not meant to try to persuade your brain from thinking thoughts, fighting brain from having a "negative" perspective, or even trying to stop the thoughts from coming.
This skill is about awareness of thoughts that are common for you and your brain, so that when they inevitably show up again we are prepared and ready to allow them to pass. Then we have time for meaningful activities in our lives.
Videos and Guided Meditations I Recommend
If you find this skill helpful, here are a few examples and guided meditations that I recommend:
A fun clip from the animated show Steven Universe that shows the skill very well.
Try Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Columbia, MO
Notice that nothing above asks you to argue with your brain. That's on purpose. You don't have to win the argument with the thought that says you're no good at this. You just have to get enough space from it to pick your next move.
That's a lot of what ACT looks like in session. We get familiar with the thoughts that show up for you most often, so that when they arrive again, they don't get to make the decision for you.
If you'd like to practice that with someone:
Call our Columbia office at 573-328-2288 or our Lee's Summit office at 816-287-1116.
Tell our client care coordinator a little about what's been going on.
Get matched with a therapist who fits what you're working on.
We see clients in person in Columbia and Lee's Summit, and online across Missouri. Whenever you're ready for effective care and lasting change, we're here.
About the Author
Jordan Lascuola, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Aspire Counseling in Columbia, Missouri. He earned his Master of Social Work from the University of Missouri and holds a bachelor's degree in psychology, with a minor in sociology, from Truman State University.
Jordan has been facilitating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy groups since 2017, starting at Fulton State Hospital and continuing through years of community mental health work. He also trained as a social work intern at Rock Bridge High School here in Columbia. Along the way, he built and led a tabletop role playing game therapy group for teens, which says a lot about how he thinks: meet people through what they actually care about, then do the real work from there.
Jordan works with teens and adults ages 14 and up on anxiety, depression, trauma, and life transitions. His practice is queer and neurodiverse affirming. Alongside ACT, he is trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy and draws on compassion focused approaches. He sees clients in person in Columbia and online across Missouri.
To work with Jordan, call 573-328-2288 or reach out through our contact page.
