Identifying Unhelpful Thoughts

This lesson equips practitioners to teach the PACT method—Pause, Analyze, Consider, Take a new perspective—as a tool for recognizing and adjusting distorted or unhelpful thoughts. Participants learn how to examine the truth of their thoughts, consider alternatives, and shift their perspective to support more balanced thinking in difficult moments.

Learning Objectives:

  • Learn and internalize the PACT method for identifying unhelpful thoughts
  • Identifying and understanding common thought distortions, and how to adjust thinking.

 

Part 1: Opening (1 minute)

“When things get tough, our thoughts can make everything feel worse. This is called a “thought distortion”, and it is really common. Let’s learn a quick way to check those thoughts.”

 

Part 2: PACT Method (3 minutes)

Introduce PACT method with their current situation:

  1. P – Pause the thought
    • “What thoughts are running through your head right now?”
    • Listen without judgment
  2. A – Analyze the evidence
    • “Let’s look at this carefully. Is this thought 100% true? How can you tell?”
    • If you hear words like ‘always’ or never’, it’s likely a thought distortion.”
  3. C – Consider alternatives
    • “Could there be other possibilities?”
    • “What would you tell a friend who had this thought?”
  4. T – Take a new perspective
    • “How could we look at this differently?”

 

Part 3: Closing (1 minute)

Practice their new balanced thought together:

  • Have them repeat it
  • Write it down if possible
  • Encourage them to use PACT whenever thoughts feel overwhelming

 

Facilitator Notes:

Follow up. Check how they’re feeling. Ensure they have crisis resources if needed.