Slowing down when mood is rising
Choose your own advance rules for decisions, spending and new projects while you feel well. Record what happens when you use one.
Written by Tarun Vermani, Trainee Clinical Psychologist Last reviewed
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Slowing down when mood is rising
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My choices while well
Agree how supporters can help, with your consent. No one gains control of your money or decisions from this sheet.
Giving plans time
Keep ideas without having to act on them now.
A short record of using a rule
Brief notes are enough. A rule that was hard to use is something to review together.
Try it here — nothing you type is saved. Sign up to assign it and let clients complete it on any device.
When to use ‘Slowing down when mood is rising’
‘Slowing down when mood is rising’ is an interactive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) worksheet, most often used in CBT for bipolar disorder.
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 15 minutes. It moves through three short steps:
- My choices while well: Agree how supporters can help, with your consent. No one gains control of your money or decisions from this sheet.
- Giving plans time: Keep ideas without having to act on them now.
- A short record of using a rule: Brief notes are enough. A rule that was hard to use is something to review together.
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, ‘Slowing down when mood is rising’ 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:
- Lam, D. H., Jones, S. H. & Hayward, P. (2010). Cognitive Therapy for Bipolar Disorder: A Therapist's Guide to Concepts, Methods and Practice. Wiley-Blackwell.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2014). Bipolar disorder: assessment and management. NICE guideline CG185.
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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