CBT Life Skills

🧩 What Are DECIDER Skills?

The DECIDER Skills model is based on CBT and DBT principles. It breaks down coping and problem-solving into practical, memorable skills, often using acronyms, gestures, and repetition to make them easier to learn and use in real life.

These skills fall under categories like:

💥

STOPP Skill (Core DECIDER Tool)

A grounding and impulse control tool used to pause and respond more wisely.

S – Stop
T – Take a breath
O – Observe (What am I thinking/feeling?)
P – Pull back (What’s the bigger picture?)
P – Practice what works (What can I do now?)

✅ Helps interrupt reactive thinking and behaviour.

🌿

What Is the 5-4-3-2-1 Technique?

It’s a sensory grounding strategy that helps calm the nervous system by shifting focus away from distressing thoughts and onto the environment using the five senses.

🖐️

How It Works:

5 – Look around and name 5 things you can see

👀 E.g. “A cup, a chair, a window, a book, my shoes.”

4 – Notice 4 things you can feel

🤲 E.g. “My feet on the floor, my ring, my clothes, a breeze on my face.”

3 – Listen for 3 things you can hear

👂 E.g. “Birds, a ticking clock, my breath.”

2 – Acknowledge 2 things you can smell

👃 E.g. “Fresh air, coffee.” (If you can’t smell anything, name 2 scents you like.)

1 – Breathe

👃 In through the nose, hold, then out through the mouth 👄

✅ The 5-4-3-2-1 technique is a grounding skill.

🔄

FACTS Skill – Reality-checking Thoughts

Used to challenge unhelpful thinking.

Focus on the facts
Assess accuracy
Consider alternatives
Think it through
Stick to the facts

✅ Encourages rational, evidence-based thinking.

🛑

A-C-E Skill – Emotional Regulation

A – Accept
C – Calm
E – Engage in coping action

✅ Helps move from emotional reactivity to effective behaviour.

🧠

WISE MIND – Integration of Emotion & Logic

Notice emotional mind (reactive, impulsive)
Notice rational mind (analytical, detached)
Find your wise mind (balanced action)

✅ Supports grounded, values-based decisions.

The Decider Skills use Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to teach children, young people and adults the skills to recognise their own thoughts, feelings and behaviours, enabling them to monitor and manage their own emotions and mental health.

Complex psychological theory has been distilled into highly effective, evidence based skills for individuals and organisations.

The Decider 32 CBT Skills App web version 👇👇👇 https://pwa.thedecider.org.uk/

Visit the Decider Skills website here:

https://www.thedecider.org.uk/resources-downloads/life-skills-videos/

💡 The Vagus Nerve & Stress

The vagus nerve is a key part of your nervous system that helps calm the body after stress. It slows your heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and helps you feel safe and grounded after a “fight or flight” response.

A healthy vagus nerve supports:

Faster stress recovery
Better emotional regulation
Improved heart rate variability (HRV)
Lower inflammation

CBT Life Skills

🧩 What Are DECIDER Skills?

The DECIDER Skills model is based on CBT and DBT principles. It breaks down coping and problem-solving into practical, memorable skills, often using acronyms, gestures, and repetition to make them easier to learn and use in real life.

These skills fall under categories like:

💥

STOPP Skill (Core DECIDER Tool)

A grounding and impulse control tool used to pause and respond more wisely.

S – Stop

T – Take a breath

O – Observe (What am I thinking/feeling?)

P – Pull back (What’s the bigger picture?)

P – Practice what works (What can I do now?)

✅ Helps interrupt reactive thinking and behaviour.

What Is the 5-4-3-2-1 Technique?

It’s a sensory grounding strategy that helps calm the nervous system by shifting focus away from distressing thoughts and onto the environment using the five senses.

🖐️

How It Works:

5 – Look around and name 5 things you can see

👀 E.g. “A cup, a chair, a window, a book, my shoes.”

4 – Notice 4 things you can feel

🤲 E.g. “My feet on the floor, my ring, my clothes, a breeze on my face.”

3 – Listen for 3 things you can hear

👂 E.g. “Birds, a ticking clock, my breath.”

2 – Acknowledge 2 things you can smell

👃 E.g. “Fresh air, coffee.” (If you can’t smell anything, name 2 scents you like.)

1 – Breathe

👃 In through the nose, hold, then out through the mouth 👄

✅ The 5-4-3-2-1 technique is a grounding skill.

🔄

FACTS Skill – Reality-checking Thoughts

Used to challenge unhelpful thinking.

Focus on the facts

Assess accuracy

Consider alternatives

Think it through

Stick to the facts

✅ Encourages rational, evidence-based thinking.

🛑

A-C-E Skill – Emotional Regulation

A – Accept

C – Calm

E – Engage in coping action

✅ Helps move from emotional reactivity to effective behaviour.

🧠

WISE MIND – Integration of Emotion & Logic

Notice emotional mind (reactive, impulsive)

Notice rational mind (analytical, detached)

Find your wise mind (balanced action)

✅ Supports grounded, values-based decisions.

The Decider Skills use Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to teach children, young people and adults the skills to recognise their own thoughts, feelings and behaviours, enabling them to monitor and manage their own emotions and mental health.

Complex psychological theory has been distilled into highly effective, evidence based skills for individuals and organisations.

The Decider 32 CBT Skills App web version 👇👇👇 https://pwa.thedecider.org.uk/

Visit the Decider Skills website here:

https://www.thedecider.org.uk/resources-downloads/life-skills-videos/

💡 The Vagus Nerve & Stress

The vagus nerve is a key part of your nervous system that helps calm the body after stress. It slows your heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and helps you feel safe and grounded after a “fight or flight” response.

A healthy vagus nerve supports:

Faster stress recovery

Better emotional regulation

Improved heart rate variability (HRV)

Lower inflammation

Simple activities like deep breathing, humming, or cold water on your face can gently activate the vagus nerve and support your wellbeing.