How Shifting Attention could help you manage negative thoughts: Applying ACT and Mindfulness

In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), analogies are a powerful tool that therapist use to help us make sense of our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours.

These analogies provide a simple and clear way to describe complex psychological processes, making it easier for us to reflect on our experiences, gain insights, and shift our perspectives. By offering visual and metaphorical comparisons, analogies can open up new ways of thinking, with the aim of developing deeper understanding and supporting lasting change.

Using analogies (or metaphors) allows us to create some distance from our thoughts, making them feel less overwhelming and more manageable. They give us a framework to explore the patterns that drive our anxiety or distress, offering a fresh lens through which to view our problems. By using metaphors to explain how the mind works, we can see the possibility of change in a way that feels more accessible and tangible.

The Spotlight Analogy in CBT

One helpful analogy we use in CBT is the spotlight on a stage to explain how we pay attention to intrusive thoughts. These negative, extreme, or worry-based thoughts can be seen as actors on the stage. The more we focus our spotlight on them, the bigger, more intense, and more real they seem. This heightened focus makes them feel even more powerful in both our minds and bodies.

However, through approaches like ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and CBT, we aim to acknowledge that these thoughts exist, but instead of keeping the spotlight fixed on them, we gently redirect it to other parts of the stage. By shifting our attention to other “actors” on the stage—such as what's happening in the present moment or more balanced thoughts—we begin to broaden our perspective.

As the saying goes, the more we shine a light on our fears, the larger and more overwhelming they appear. But when we shift the spotlight elsewhere, those fears start to fade, becoming just one part of the stage, not the whole performance.

Changing Our Focus

Over time, as we focus less on the negative thoughts, we may not even notice when they fade or lose their intensity. This happens because we are now centering our attention on other parts of our experience. In this way, we bring in elements of mindfulness (staying present and focusing on the here and now), ACT (acknowledging that thoughts will show up but not letting them dominate), and CBT (learning new ways to respond and shift our perspective).

A Practical Example

Let’s consider an example. Imagine we are constantly worried about a close friend or family member being ill. This worry might trigger our deep-seated fear that we too could become sick, leading us to compulsively monitor and scan our own bodies for symptoms. Ironically, this monitoring makes the problem worse. When we scan for symptoms, we often become hyper-aware of innocuous bodily sensations, which can then be misinterpreted as signs of danger.

In this scenario, our spotlight is intensely focused on the worry and the physical sensations that come with that fear. Every small ache or feeling in our body is magnified under the spotlight, making our anxiety feel larger and more real. By using the spotlight analogy, we can start by acknowledging the presence of these worry thoughts without judgment, recognising that they are just one actor on the stage.

By applying the principles we use in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), we learn to notice the trigger thought, image or feeling (e.g. a worry about illness or something bad happening) and make a mindful choice to shift our attention away from these fears. Instead of getting hooked into the spiral of scanning for symptoms, we can move our spotlight to the wider picture—perhaps noticing other things on the stage, like positive activities, our relationships, or our immediate environment. By deliberately focusing on the here and now, we help ourselves broaden our attention, preventing the worry from consuming us, and allowing room for healthier perspectives to emerge.

Ultimately - we can choose.

Ultimately, where we choose to shine our spotlight matters. By practicing the redirection of our attention, we gain more control over how much space intrusive thoughts occupy in our minds. This process helps us engage more fully with life, leading to a healthier and more balanced way of being.

Written by Lisa Johnston

CBT Therapist / EMDR Therapist

Anxiety disorders specialist