ACT · Baseer Maroof, LCSW
Leaves on a Stream
Sit by a slow stream for a few minutes. Each time a thought shows up, set it on a leaf and watch the water carry it away. You don’t have to fight it or follow it.
How long?
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Your saved reflections
A classic ACT practice for noticing thoughts as thoughts. The wording here is original.
The stream
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Back on the bank
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Why this helps
Thoughts are words and pictures your mind makes, often on autopilot. When you’re caught up in one, you see the world through it, and it can feel like the plain truth or an order you have to follow.
Setting a thought on a leaf is a way of stepping back and looking at it instead: “there’s a thought about work.” In ACT this is called defusion. The aim isn’t to get rid of thoughts or to force yourself calm, though calm sometimes shows up. It’s practice in letting thoughts come and go while you choose where your attention, and your actions, go.
Getting hooked and coming back isn’t failing the exercise. It is the exercise.
Leaves on a stream is a classic defusion practice from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). The wording here is original.