Automatic pilot, doing mode and being mode
Understand automatic pilot, useful problem-solving and another way of relating to difficult thoughts and feelings.
Written by Tarun Vermani, Trainee Clinical Psychologist Last reviewed
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Automatic pilot, doing mode and being mode
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Automatic pilot and useful doing
On automatic pilot, familiar actions and thoughts unfold with little awareness of the present. This saves effort, but a worry can also run without your choosing it.
Doing mode compares how things are with how you want them to be and tries to close the gap. It helps you mend a leak or plan a journey. The difficulty comes when it gets stuck trying to make an unwanted feeling disappear.
When feelings become a problem to solve
Repeatedly asking why you feel low or are not happier yet can keep attention on what seems wrong, without producing useful action.
Fictional illustration: Someone feels sad after a quiet weekend. Asking why they are still sad leaves them caught in explanations while the afternoon passes.
Being mode and a point of choice
Being mode means noticing current experience without testing it against how it should be. A thought can be noticed as a thought; sadness need not be solved before you act. This is not resignation, approval of harm or a promise of calm.
Recognising a familiar loop opens a choice: does this need practical action, or am I trying to think a feeling away? Doing and being are flexible modes, not good and bad minds. Real problems still deserve help.
What fits for you?
Tick ideas to discuss. You do not need to monitor yourself all day.
A question to take with you
You can leave this blank.
Try it here — nothing you type is saved. Sign up to assign it and let clients complete it on any device.
When to use ‘Automatic pilot, doing mode and being mode’
‘Automatic pilot, doing mode and being mode’ is a psychoeducation handout based on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), for work with depression and low mood. Consider this resource when exploring recurring patterns of low mood and how a client notices thoughts and feelings, particularly within relapse prevention work for recurrent depression.
It is designed to be read within therapy rather than as a standalone self-help tool: a therapist introduces it and discusses it with the client. You can preview the full handout above, then assign it for clients to read between sessions on any device or download it as a print-ready PDF. Where a short reflection is included, it offers space to respond to the reading.
How it works
Most people work through it in around 10 minutes. It moves through five short sections to read:
- Automatic pilot and useful doing: On automatic pilot, familiar actions and thoughts unfold with little awareness of the present. This saves effort, but a worry can also run…
- When feelings become a problem to solve: Repeatedly asking why you feel low or are not happier yet can keep attention on what seems wrong, without producing useful…
- Being mode and a point of choice: Being mode means noticing current experience without testing it against how it should be. A thought can be noticed as a thought; sadness…
- What fits for you? Tick ideas to discuss. You do not need to monitor yourself all day.
- A question to take with you: You can leave this blank.
The handout can be read on a phone, tablet or computer, or downloaded as a print-ready PDF. If it includes a reflection, answers entered on the Formulate platform are saved automatically and shared back with the therapist for review before the next session.
The MBCT approach behind it
‘Automatic pilot, doing mode and being mode’ draws on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). MBCT draws on mindfulness practice and cognitive therapy, with a focus on relapse prevention for recurrent depression. It invites clients to notice thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations without becoming caught up in them. The emphasis is on recognising familiar patterns as they arise and exploring how to respond, rather than treating every thought as a fact or instruction.
It is intended as one part of a wider course of therapy rather than as advice or a diagnosis. The therapist can help decide how it fits the work and discuss what emerges.
Evidence & sources
This handout draws on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Key sources include:
- Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., & Teasdale, J. D. (2013). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression. Guilford Press.
- Williams, M., Teasdale, J., Segal, Z., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2007). The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness. Guilford Press.
For use alongside professional support
Formulate provides educational CBT resources for use with a qualified therapist. They are not a substitute for professional assessment, diagnosis, or crisis care.
If you need urgent help now:
- Emergency services: 999 — if you or someone else is in immediate danger
- NHS 111 (NHS 24 in Scotland): 111 — choose the mental health option for urgent help, in England, Scotland and Wales (in Wales, press 2)
- Lifeline: 0808 808 8000 — for urgent help in Northern Ireland, free, day or night
- Samaritans: 116 123 — free, day or night, 365 days a year
- Shout: 85258 — text SHOUT, free, day or night
- SANEline: 0300 304 7000 — 4pm–10pm, every day
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