Stop Ruminating: The Attention Training Technique from Metacognitive Therapy
You already know that telling yourself to "just stop thinking about it" does not work. Suppressing thoughts is not an effective strategy. Shifting our attention, however, is something else entirely.
You KNOW how difficult it is to redirect your attention away from whatever you are ruminating about.
You go over the same problem again and again. It is painful. It is irritating. You want it to stop.
Yet every time you try to shift your focus elsewhere — try to think about something else, do something else — you find yourself pulled right back to the very thing you were trying to escape.
This pattern itself offers an important clue: it points toward a way to train your brain to stop ruminating.
Today I'll share a technique called the Attention Training Technique, or ATT. Research shows that when this technique is practiced regularly for a relatively short period — as little as a week — it can significantly reduce rumination.
I also want to walk through the theory behind this technique, because understanding it will help you as you go about your day trying to shift your attention away from rumination.
The Theory Behind the Technique
This technique, along with the theory behind it, was developed by Adrian Wells, the founder of metacognitive therapy. One core tenet of metacognitive therapy is that a person's beliefs about their own thoughts drive a great deal of their distress. Metacognitive therapy also focuses on a pattern that the theory calls the "Cognitive Attentional Syndrome."
This is not an officially diagnosable syndrome, but it offers a useful way of understanding certain mental habits — specifically the way our attention can become stuck, circling again and again around the things we are worried about: rumination, and the constant scanning for danger or possible threats.
Adrian Wells observed that people whose attention becomes stuck in these patterns experience significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, and general distress.
The Brain Science Behind ATT
There is brain science behind this technique, and scientific research that has shown its effectiveness. Our brains contain something called the Default Mode Network ("DMN")— a network of different brain regions that activates when we are not actively engaged with something outside ourselves.
This network focuses on self-referential thinking: thoughts about ourselves, such as: what did I do?, what is going to happen to me?, and how am I feeling?
The default mode network serves genuinely positive purposes. But when it becomes caught in rumination, it cycles through what I call a "me-loop" — and "me-loops" are very painful.
A major part of the default mode network is the ACC, the anterior cingulate cortex, a region of the brain involved in monitoring and working through conflict.
One research study on ATT used fMRI imaging and found that activity in the ACC declined among participants who practiced the technique. Another study examined a two-week, group-based ATT intervention for young adults diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder. This study found that participants experienced significant decreases in their anxiety, and that these improvements were sustained at both the three-month and six-month follow-up points.
How the Technique Works
This technique asks you to focus on different sounds within your environment, following a specific pattern for switching your attention from one sound to another. The exercise unfolds across three phases.
Phase One: Selective Attention (total of five minutes) — During this phase, you focus on one sound at a time out of the several you can hear. Pick one sound and hold your attention on it for about a minute, then deliberately switch to another sound. Continue this pattern, focusing on each sound for roughly a minute, until the five minutes have elapsed.
Phase Two: Rapid Attention Switching (total of four to five minutes) — In this phase, you move your attention from one sound to the next every five to ten seconds, practicing quick, flexible shifts of focus.
Phase Three: Divided Attention (total of two minutes) — In this final phase, you listen to all the sounds at once, broadening your awareness to take in the full soundscape rather than focusing on any single sound.
Altogether, the exercise lasts twelve minutes.
Practicing It Yourself
Timing three separate phases on your own can be a lot to manage, which is why many people find it easier to be guided through the exercise, either by another person or through a guided recording. I have created a video that walks you through a fully guided version of this practice, phase by phase, with the timing handled for you Guided ATT Exercise.
If you would prefer to practice on your own, without guided audio, here is how to set up the exercise:
Find a place where you can sit comfortably, and take a moment to identify three to five distinct sounds in your environment. These might include a ticking clock, traffic outside, birds in the distance, a voice, music, or a fan. Depending on your surroundings, this may be easy or more difficult — work with whatever sounds are available to you.
If it is helpful, write down the sounds you plan to focus on and number them, so you can keep track as you move through each phase.
Set a timer and move through the three phases in order: five minutes of selective attention, shifting to a new sound roughly every minute; four to five minutes of rapid switching, moving your attention every five to ten seconds; and two minutes of divided attention, in which you hold all the sounds at once.
Throughout the exercise, your mind will likely wander. When you notice this has happened, simply return your attention to the sound you were focusing on, without judgment. This is an expected part of the process, not a sign of failure.
When you finish, take a moment to notice your feet on the floor and your seat beneath you, and take a deep breath. Notice whether anything has shifted. Are you feeling anything now that you were not feeling before? Take a moment to check in with yourself physically, noticing any changes in your heart rate or breathing, for example. Check in yourself emotionally.
The Recommended Practice
The formal recommendation is to practice this technique for twelve minutes, twice a day. While positive results have been observed within a week, a full month of practice is generally recommended for the most meaningful benefit.
The goal of this practice is to strengthen your ability to redirect your attention — not to achieve perfect focus on a given sound at every moment. As you sit quietly and attempt to focus on a sound, thoughts will intrude. Ruminative thoughts, or other thoughts entirely, are likely to resurface. This is not something to worry about, dwell on, or interpret as failure. The moment you notice your attention has drifted, simply refocus on the sound.
This is a skill that builds gradually, over time.
Approach this practice with patience. Like any new skill, it requires repetition to develop. This technique is not designed to function like a fire extinguisher, instantly eliminating rumination the moment it is applied. Rather, strengthening your ability to direct your attention will benefit you across many areas of your life.
If you are currently in the midst of a difficult episode of rumination and need something to guide you through an immediate reset, I have created a video for that as well which you can access here. I recommend using both resources: turn to the guided reset video in moments when you need immediate support, and practice the Attention Training Technique twice a day for two weeks.
I would love to hear how this practice affects you. Was it useful? What did you notice? What questions came up for you? Share your experience in the comments below the YouTube video.
Blog Author: Barbara Heffernan, LCSW, MBA. Barbara is a licensed psychotherapist and specialist in anxiety, trauma, and healthy boundaries. She had a private practice in Connecticut for twenty years before starting her popular YouTube channel designed to help people around the world live a more joyful life. Barbara has a BA from Yale University, an MBA from Columbia University and an MSW from SCSU. More info on Barbara can be found on her bio page.
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