The exercise catalog draws from four evidence-based therapeutic frameworks. They overlap, but each emphasizes different things.
CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
Core idea: Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are linked. Changing one shifts the others. CBT focuses on identifying distorted thought patterns and testing them against reality.
Best for: anxiety, depression, panic, phobias, OCD (in pathway form), and most "I keep telling myself X and it spirals" patterns.
In our app: Thought Records (the canonical exercise — capture a triggering event, name the thought, identify distortions, generate a balanced alternative), Behavioral Activation, Problem Solving, Behavioral Experiments, ABCDE.
Time commitment: moderate — 10-20 min per exercise.
ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy)
Core idea: Don't fight your thoughts; defuse from them. Move toward what you value even when difficult feelings are present. ACT is less about changing thoughts and more about changing your relationship to them.
Best for: chronic struggles where CBT-style restructuring has plateaued, values-clarification work, working with painful feelings that aren't going away (grief, chronic illness, identity transitions).
In our app: Defusion (e.g., "I'm having the thought that..."), Values Clarification, Committed Action, Present-Moment, Self-as-Context, Acceptance.
Time commitment: ranges — defusion exercises can be 5 minutes; values exercises can run 30-40.
DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy)
Core idea: Hold seemingly contradictory truths simultaneously ("I'm doing the best I can AND I need to do better"). Build skills in four buckets: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness.
Best for: intense emotions, relationship conflict, self-harm urges, BPD patterns, chronic emotional dysregulation.
In our app: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance (TIPP, ACCEPTS), Emotion Regulation (PLEASE skills, opposite action), Interpersonal Effectiveness (DEAR MAN, GIVE).
Time commitment: mostly short — 5-15 minutes. DBT skills are designed for in-the-moment use.
Positive Psychology
Core idea: Wellbeing isn't the absence of suffering; it's the presence of meaning, engagement, and positive emotion. Pos Psych focuses on what works rather than what's broken.
Best for: when you're not in crisis but want more from life — building gratitude practices, savoring positive experiences, finding flow, identifying and using character strengths.
In our app: Gratitude, Savoring, Strengths, Flow, Resilience, Self-Compassion (overlaps with ACT).
Time commitment: typically short — 5-10 minutes daily.
How does the app pick which to recommend?
The recommendation engine looks at:
- Personality: high Neuroticism users tend to get more CBT (anxiety-focused) and DBT (emotion regulation); high Openness users tend to get more ACT (defusion, values).
- Recent mood: low mood → behavioral activation, gratitude. Acute distress → DBT distress-tolerance.
- Pathway state: if you're in a Pathway, the day's scheduled exercise comes from whichever modality the Pathway uses.
- Bookmarks + history: the engine learns what you've completed before and rotates.
None of this is rigid. Every exercise stays searchable; the recommender is a sort, not a filter.
Mixing modalities
Fine and encouraged. Most people don't fit neatly into one modality. A common pattern: CBT thought records for the daily-grind anxiety, DBT distress tolerance for the acute moments, ACT values for the bigger questions, Pos Psych gratitude for the long-game wellbeing.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-04