Overthinking, Rumination, and the Path Back to Calm

Strategies for Overthinking.

We’ve all been there.

Staring at the ceiling, mind racing with hypotheticals, worst-case scenarios, and an endless stream of thoughts refusing to quiet down. 

Whether it’s anxiety, trauma, or obsessive thinking – thought spirals can leave you feeling out of control and emotionally exhausted. When your mind is trying to protect you from everything that could possibly go wrong, it ends up overwhelming your nervous system. This experience is incredibly common in people who live with anxiety, trauma histories, or OCD-related thought patterns.

Spiraling thoughts often come from an underlying desire for safety and certainty. 

Understanding the Spiral 

Rumination is a repetitive, passive focus on distressing thoughts and feelings. It’s not problem-solving, instead it’s problem-dwelling. While it can feel like you’re being thorough or prepared, it actually increases emotional distress. A 2024 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found rumination-focused cognitive behavioral therapy significantly reduced symptom severity in trauma and anxiety-related conditions, especially when paired with trauma-informed approaches (Frontiers in Psychology, 2024).

How TF-CBT Can Help 

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) helps clients identify distorted thinking patterns, develop language for internal experiences, and build skills to manage spiraling. You learn how to:

• Recognize early signs of spiraling

• Pause and reframe anxious or obsessive thoughts

• Use grounding and mindfulness strategies to re-engage with the present

• Develop a more compassionate, realistic internal voice

What You Can Try Right Now

• Schedule worry time

  • Instead of letting thoughts invade your whole day, give them 10–15 minutes. This can train your brain to delay the spiral.

    
    

• Name the pattern

  • “This is a loop, not a solution.” Naming the cycle reduces its power.

    
    

• Get sensory

  • Cold water on your face, a walk outside, or deep breathing can disrupt thought patterns and bring you back into your body.

    
    

• Write it down

  • Journaling your thoughts helps move them from emotional to logical processing.

    
    

Thought spirals don’t make you weak; they mean your brain is working overtime to protect you. If you’re tired of the cycle, therapy can help you regain peace and clarity.