Find a Therapist Client Login
Therapist? Log in
DBT Skills · Mindfulness

Mindfulness of Current Thoughts

When you're stuck in a loop or can't tell what's true. It’s one of the DBT mindfulness skills, and the skills picker can route a client here in the moment.

Not sure this is the right skill?

The free DBT skills picker asks what’s happening right now and routes to a skill to try.

Open the skills picker

When to reach for Mindfulness of Current Thoughts

When you're stuck in a loop or can't tell what's true.

How to practice Mindfulness of Current Thoughts

  1. Picture a river. Each thought is a leaf floating past on the current.
  2. Watch them go by. You don't have to grab any of them.
  3. When you notice you've been carried downstream, climb back to the bank.
  4. Watch again. The thoughts keep coming; that's fine. You're the watcher.
If it doesn’t help: the DBT skills picker routes next to ACCEPTS. Different skills land for different people and moments — trying the next-best fit is part of the method, not a failure.

Tracking Mindfulness of Current Thoughts on a diary card

Whether a client used Mindfulness of Current Thoughts — and whether it helped — is exactly what a DBT diary card captures. Recording skill use day by day is how you see, in session, whether mindfulness skills are generalizing.

Track skill use for free

Build a custom diary card that tracks the skills you’re working on, or track it digitally in Theracharts.

Build a diary cardAll DBT skills

FAQ

What is Mindfulness of Current Thoughts in DBT?

Mindfulness of Current Thoughts is a DBT mindfulness skill. When you're stuck in a loop or can't tell what's true.

When should I use Mindfulness of Current Thoughts?

Reach for mindfulness of current thoughts when you're stuck in a loop or can't tell what's true.

In crisis? Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, US) — free, confidential, 24/7. This page is educational and is not therapy, diagnosis, or a substitute for professional care.