When feeling anxious or overwhelmed, silently refer to yourself by your own name or ‘you’ (e.g., ‘Why is Ethan feeling this way?’ or ‘Lori, you’re going to make a good decision’) to gain psychological distance, think more objectively, reduce rumination, and make better decisions.
Mentally fast-forward to a future point (e.g., two years from now) and consider how you will feel about the current situation then; this highlights the impermanence of current challenges and can alleviate anxiety.
When a child faces a stressful task, encourage them to imagine they are a superhero like Batman and think about why their superhero persona would work on the task; this helps them perform better and feel better by creating psychological distance.
When contemplating shared challenges, use ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ (e.g., ‘We’re going to get through this’) to foster a sense of collective experience and distance from individual burden, which can reduce anxiety.
Actively choose the most appropriate psychological distancing technique (e.g., third-person self-talk, temporal distancing) for your current situation to effectively rein in negative emotions and improve functioning.
Recognize that some anxiety is adaptive and necessary (e.g., for staying home during a pandemic), but focus on regulating it to prevent it from exploding and becoming counterproductive.