Leaves on a Stream: Unhooking From Your Thoughts
An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) defusion practice. Thoughts are mental events - words and pictures the mind produces - not commands, facts, or threats. Using the image of a gently flowing stream, you practise stepping back to watch thoughts come and go, placing each one on a leaf and letting it float by, rather than being hooked by them or treating them as literally true.
Written by Tarun Vermani, Trainee Clinical Psychologist Last reviewed
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Leaves on a Stream: Unhooking From Your Thoughts
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First, a Reminder About Thoughts
Before you start, hold this idea lightly: a thought is a mental event - words and pictures that your mind produces. A thought is not a command you must obey, not a fact that must be true, and not a threat you must fight. You can have a thought, notice it, and let it be there, without having to act on it or believe it. This practice is a way of seeing that for yourself.
Step 1 - Picture the Stream
Settle into a comfortable position and let your eyes close, or rest them softly on a spot in front of you. Take a couple of slow breaths to arrive. Now picture yourself sitting beside a gently flowing stream. The water moves slowly and steadily past you. Here and there, leaves drift along the surface, carried by the current. Take a moment to let the scene build in whatever way comes to you - you do not need a perfect picture, just a sense of the stream flowing by.
Step 2 - Place Each Thought on a Leaf
Now, as thoughts begin to show up in your mind - any thoughts at all - gently place each one on a leaf, and let it float past. A thought in words can go on the leaf as words. A picture or memory can simply rest on the leaf as it is. Then watch it drift away down the stream at its own pace. There is no need to make the leaves speed up or slow down, and no need to make them go away. You are simply noticing each thought and letting it pass.
Step 3 - Don't Push Away, Don't Hold On
Let the stream do the work. You are not trying to get rid of any thought, and you are not trying to keep any thought either - just placing each one on a leaf and letting the current carry it. Pleasant thoughts, unpleasant thoughts, boring thoughts, and 'this is silly' thoughts all go on leaves the same way. If your mind goes blank for a while, just watch the stream and wait for the next leaf. Whatever the mind offers, it goes on a leaf and floats by.
Step 4 - When You Get Hooked, Gently Come Back
Sooner or later you will get hooked by a thought and carried off - you will stop watching the stream and get lost in thinking, planning, worrying, or remembering. This will happen many times, and it is completely normal. The moment you notice it has happened, that noticing IS the skill working. Gently, without criticising yourself, return to the bank of the stream and start again, placing the next thought on the next leaf. Continue like this for a few minutes, then take a slow breath, feel your feet on the floor, and when you are ready, open your eyes.
Reflect On What Happened
Take a moment to notice how that was. Remember, the aim is willingness and observing, NOT relaxation or emptying your mind - so getting hooked, having lots of thoughts, or not feeling calm are all fine and expected.
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When to use ‘Leaves on a Stream: Unhooking From Your Thoughts’
‘Leaves on a Stream: Unhooking From Your Thoughts’ is an interactive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) worksheet. As a core CBT skill it is used right across the model, with presentations including depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma and low self-esteem, rather than being tied to a single diagnosis.
It is designed to be used within therapy rather than as a standalone self-help tool: a therapist introduces it, works through it collaboratively, and helps make sense of what it surfaces. You can preview the full worksheet above, then assign it digitally for clients to complete between sessions on any device — or download it as a print-ready PDF.
How it works
Most people work through it in around 10 minutes. It moves through six short steps:
- First, a Reminder About Thoughts — Before you start, hold this idea lightly: a thought is a mental event - words and pictures that your mind produces. A thought is not a…
- Step 1 - Picture the Stream — Settle into a comfortable position and let your eyes close, or rest them softly on a spot in front of you. Take a couple of slow breaths to…
- Step 2 - Place Each Thought on a Leaf — Now, as thoughts begin to show up in your mind - any thoughts at all - gently place each one on a leaf, and let it float past. A thought in…
- Step 3 - Don't Push Away, Don't Hold On — Let the stream do the work. You are not trying to get rid of any thought, and you are not trying to keep any thought either - just placing…
- Step 4 - When You Get Hooked, Gently Come Back — Sooner or later you will get hooked by a thought and carried off - you will stop watching the stream and get lost in thinking, planning,…
- Reflect On What Happened — Take a moment to notice how that was. Remember, the aim is willingness and observing, NOT relaxation or emptying your mind - so getting…
Completed on the Formulate platform, your client's answers are saved automatically and shared straight back to you, so you can review them before the next session rather than waiting for a paper copy to come back.
The CBT approach behind it
In common with other CBT methods, ‘Leaves on a Stream: Unhooking From Your Thoughts’ works by noticing the links between situations, thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviour — and finding practical ways to change unhelpful patterns. The aim is not positive thinking but a clearer, shared understanding of what keeps a difficulty going — and practical, testable ways to change it.
Because it is a CBT tool it stays focused on the here-and-now links between thoughts, feelings, the body and behaviour, and it works best as one part of a wider course of therapy rather than as advice or a diagnosis.
Evidence & sources
This worksheet is grounded in established cognitive behavioural therapy theory and practice. Key sources include:
- Hayes, S.C., Strosahl, K.D., & Wilson, K.G. (1999). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. New York: Guilford Press.
- Harris, R. (2009). ACT Made Simple. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
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
- Samaritans: 116 123 — free, day or night, 365 days a year
- SANEline: 0800 689 5555 — 4:30pm–10:30pm, every day
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