Skill library

Anger as violated rules and should-statements — down-regulation first, then preferences and assertive scripts.

How anxious worry shows up in thoughts and body, and which cognitive behavioral therapy skills help you examine predictions without avoiding life.

When motivation drops and withdrawal feeds the loop — behavioral activation and thought work grounded in standard cognitive behavioral therapy for depression.

Worry-at-bedtime, body tension, and behavioral habits — aligned with cognitive behavioral therapy sleep hygiene without medical sleep advice.

Overload, short fuse, and narrowed thinking — prioritizing, thought records on stress spikes, and when to step back.

Free-floating rumination and what-if spirals — worry postponement, probability checks, and when worry needs a clinician.

Fast, often unquestioned sentences in the mind that link situations to emotion and behavior — the main lever in cognitive behavioral therapy work.

Common thinking shortcuts under stress — naming the pattern helps you decide whether to follow it.

The foundation of cognitive behavioral therapy — how situations, thoughts, feelings, body responses, and behaviors connect, and why changing thoughts starts with examination not argument.

Harsh self-names activated under self-doubt — capability and desirability themes beneath automatic thoughts.

Schedule small pleasure and mastery activities before motivation arrives — especially for low mood and withdrawal.

Gently surface underlying doubt labels by asking what a thought would mean if it were true — stop if distress overwhelms.

Orient to the present through senses — useful when anxiety spikes or the mind races ahead of the body.

Guided discovery — examine thoughts with evidence and alternatives; you draw conclusions, Willow does not argue you out of feeling.

The core cognitive behavioral therapy worksheet — one situation at a time, from trigger through evidence to Rethink, Relax, and Respond.

Contain rumination by scheduling a daily worry time — note topics and return to them later, not on repeat all day.

Extreme thinking — always, never, complete failure — that hides nuance and middle ground.

Jumping to the worst outcome and treating it as likely — common in anxiety and stress.

"I feel it, therefore it's true" — feelings are real signals, but they are not always accurate readouts of facts.

Assuming you know what others think — usually something negative — without evidence.

Taking responsibility for outcomes outside your control — or assuming you caused others' reactions.

Rigid rules about yourself, others, or the world — often fuel anger, guilt, and frustration.

When human help matters more than a chat — crisis lines, boundaries of the wiki and Willow, and when to see a clinician.