Watch the video first
Below is a full lesson from the complete How2Therapy course where I walk you through how to actually use the STOPP CBT method in the moment, not just what the letters stand for.
I'm Dr Donagh Ward, an Irish CBT practitioner with over 20 years' clinical experience. This is exactly how I teach inside the full course — if this style works for you, there's four and a half more hours where this came from.
Now get the STOPP worksheet
Pause here for a moment.
Don't react just yet. Whatever's happening can wait a few minutes while you work through this. There's nowhere else you need to be right now.
Slow, deep breaths.
Follow the circle — in as it grows, out as it settles. Two rounds is plenty.
Notice what's happening.
Inside and around you, right now. Type or use the mic — whatever's easier.
What am I thinking?
What am I feeling?
What is my body doing?
What triggered this?
Get a bit of perspective.
Take a step back from it, just for a second.
Is this fact, or opinion?
What would I say to a friend in this situation?
How important will this be in a year?
Choose your next move.
Not the perfect move — just the most helpful one available to you right now.
What's the best thing for me to do now?
Here's what you worked through.
Copy this somewhere safe if you'd like to look back on it later.
STOPP is one of ten techniques covered in CBT Essentials — a full course covering the core tools used in therapy, taught by an experienced Irish CBT practitioner.
Explore the full course