Guided technique · Thought work · 3–5 min

Fact or story?

Sorting a troubling thought: is it a fact, an interpretation, a prediction or an assumption?

Level: Beginner · Free — no account needed to read

Sorting a troubling thought: is it a fact, an interpretation, a prediction or an assumption?

Why it may help

Painful thoughts are often interpretations or predictions dressed up as facts. Seeing what kind of thought it is takes away some of its certainty.

When to use it

• you are overthinking something
• a thought feels certain and painful
• you are jumping to conclusions about what someone thinks

Helps with

• Overthinking
• Assumptions
• Jumping to conclusions

How to do it

1. Write down the thought exactly as it sounds in your head.
2. Ask: could anyone check this and agree? If yes, it is a fact. If it is a meaning I gave it, an interpretation.
3. Ask: is it about the future (a prediction) or something I took as true without checking (an assumption)?
4. For anything that isn’t a fact, write one other possible explanation.

What the evidence says

Practical technique: A widely used, low-risk practice drawn from established approaches, but not tested much on its own. Its value is mostly that it is simple and harmless to try.

What was found

Separating facts from interpretations and predictions is a core skill in cognitive therapy, which has strong evidence as a whole.

What is uncertain

This particular four-way sorting is a teaching tool and hasn’t been tested on its own.

Who it may not suit

Some painful thoughts are facts. When one is, the next step is support and problem solving, not arguing with it.

Where this comes from: Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) research.

Afterwards, ask yourself

What kind of thought was it, and how did knowing that change it?