Strategic Psychotherapy for Overthinking – Break the Cycle and Build Mental Flexibility
- Brainz Magazine
- Dec 10
- 4 min read
Amanda Dounis is a Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist, and Clinical Supervisor based in Sydney, Australia. She is the founder of the Positive Thinking Clinic, where she supports children, teens, and adults through evidence-based therapies, including counselling, hypnotherapy, and EMDR.
Overthinking is one of the most common mental habits affecting people today, from high-performing professionals and parents to teenagers and even young children. Many of the clients I see describe their minds as “always busy,” “never switching off,” or “running ahead of me.” Although overthinking appears to be a cognitive problem, it is deeply emotional, driven by unconscious processes that influence perception, behaviour, and decision-making.
This is where Strategic Psychotherapy stands apart. Rather than analysing the past or trying to simply replace thoughts with positive ones, strategic work focuses on the process behind the client’s thinking, the habits, responses, and cognitive loops that keep the problem alive. Once those processes are brought into awareness, they can be interrupted and reshaped into more flexible and functional patterns. Ultimately, Strategic Psychotherapy teaches clients how to think differently, not just what to think.
Overthinking as a process, not an identity
Most people who overthink assume it is a personality trait, “I’ve always been like this.” In reality, overthinking is a learned strategy, a sequence of small internal steps that run automatically. A typical pattern may include scanning for potential problems, rehearsing worst-case scenarios, replaying conversations, over-analysing decisions, and holding back until absolute certainty is present. These steps create a self-reinforcing cycle. The more a person overthinks, the more anxious they feel, and the more anxious they feel, the more they lean on overthinking as a misguided form of control.
Strategic Psychotherapy disrupts this cycle by helping clients understand not why they overthink, but how the pattern operates moment to moment.
What makes the strategic model different
Unlike approaches that require clients to examine or debate every thought, Strategic Psychotherapy begins by mapping the unconscious “strategy” behind their experience. Most people do not realise how quickly they catastrophise, predict negative outcomes, or mentally rehearse imagined problems. Once these micro-processes are identified, the therapist helps the client install new, more flexible cognitive habits such as shifting attention, interrupting patterns early, and strengthening emotional awareness.
This approach also teaches clients to become active participants in their internal world. Rather than feeling swept away by their thoughts, they learn to lead themselves with clarity and confidence.
Understanding common cognitive loops
People who overthink often fall into predictable mental patterns. For instance, they may misuse imagination by imagining threats rather than possibilities. They may try to resolve emotional discomfort through thinking alone, despite the fact that feelings require regulation, not logic. Many seek a level of certainty that simply does not exist in life, resulting in paralysis. Others mentally construct worst-case outcomes as a way to feel prepared, unaware of how much emotional energy this drains.
Strategic Psychotherapy helps clients step out of these loops and develop the skill of mental flexibility, the ability to shift perspective quickly, change mental gears, and choose a different response when old patterns appear.
Interrupting the loop: How strategic techniques work
One of the core skills taught is pattern interruption. Clients learn to catch the very first moment the loop begins, the small, often unnoticed step that usually sets off a cascade of worry. Interrupting the sequence early prevents the escalation that typically leads to overwhelm.
Another important element is emotional discrimination. Overthinkers frequently treat all uncomfortable feelings as emergencies. By learning to differentiate between discomfort and danger, uncertainty and threat, stress and overwhelm, clients immediately reduce the emotional intensity that fuels the thinking loop.
Externalising the internal process also plays a powerful role. When clients begin mapping their overthinking out loud, they gain distance from it. They shift from being caught inside the experience to observing it objectively.
Strategic work also helps clients stop predicting the future and begin observing what is actually happening. This simple shift reduces anxiety and improves decision-making dramatically. Finally, the therapeutic process introduces the idea of “good enough” thinking. Overthinkers often search for perfect answers, perfect timing, or perfect outcomes. When they learn to aim for “good enough to move forward,” they find themselves acting more decisively and with less fear.
Building mental flexibility: The antidote to overthinking
Mental flexibility is at the heart of long-term change. It involves noticing thoughts without fighting them, shifting attention deliberately, allowing uncertainty without spiralling, regulating emotions before analysing them, and responding with intention rather than reacting impulsively.
When clients understand that thoughts are not instructions, merely mental events, they stop treating them as urgent. As their thinking softens, they become more grounded, more confident, and more available to life.
A realistic example of transformation
A woman in her mid-30s came to therapy overwhelmed by constant mental activity. She analysed text messages, rehearsed conversations, and second-guessed decisions. Together, we mapped her overthinking pattern: a moment of uncertainty triggered scanning for danger, which led to amplified possibilities, physical anxiety, and more overthinking in an attempt to calm the discomfort. By interrupting each stage through emotional labelling, pattern recognition, and shifting perspective, she quickly noticed shorter spirals, faster recovery, and less mental rehearsal. Most importantly, she began acting without waiting for perfect certainty.
The transformation came not from eliminating her thoughts but from changing her relationship with them.
Overthinking isn’t the problem, the process is
Strategic Psychotherapy reframes overthinking not as a flaw or diagnosis, but as a process that can be unlearned. When people understand how their mind creates the experience, they gain the ability to change it. Mental flexibility becomes a skill, confidence becomes a behaviour, and the mind becomes an ally instead of an obstacle.
Amanda Dounis, Counsellor, NLP, Psychotherapist, Coach, Teacher
Amanda Dounis is a Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist, and Clinical Supervisor based in Sydney, Australia. She is the founder of the Positive Thinking Clinic, where she supports children, teens, and adults through evidence-based therapies, including counselling, hypnotherapy, and EMDR. With a background in early childhood education and a passion for emotional wellness, Amanda empowers clients to overcome anxiety, overthinking, and self-doubt so they can thrive with confidence and clarity.
