Reground gives you guided exercises from four proven modalities: DBT, CBT, IFS, and ACT. Each one targets different emotional challenges. Here's what they are, who they help, and how to use them between sessions.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy was developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan for people experiencing intense, dysregulated emotions. At its core, DBT holds two truths at once: acceptance of where you are and the commitment to change. It's built around four skill modules that work together to give you practical tools for the hardest moments.
DBT is especially effective for people who feel emotions more intensely than others, who act impulsively under distress, or who struggle with interpersonal conflict. Research shows significant reductions in self-harm, suicidal ideation, and emotional volatility in clients who practice DBT skills consistently. The key word is practice — these skills work because you use them repeatedly, not because you understand them intellectually.
Survive a crisis moment without making it worse. TIPP, STOP, and grounding techniques give you immediate relief when emotions are at a 10.
Understand what you're feeling, why, and how to shift it. Opposite action, checking the facts, and building mastery over time.
Observe your experience without judgment. The foundation of all DBT skills — notice what's happening inside without reacting to it.
Ask for what you need, say no, and maintain self-respect in relationships. DEAR MAN, GIVE, and FAST skills for navigating conflict.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the most researched and widely practiced therapeutic modalities in the world. The core principle is straightforward: your thoughts shape your emotions, and distorted thinking patterns create unnecessary suffering. CBT gives you a structured method to identify those distortions, challenge them with evidence, and replace them with more balanced perspectives.
CBT is particularly effective for anxiety disorders, depression, and rumination. If you find yourself catastrophizing ("the worst will happen"), mind-reading ("they think I'm stupid"), or black-and-white thinking ("if it's not perfect, it's a failure"), CBT skills can break those cycles. The thought record is the gold standard — a structured exercise that walks you through identifying the trigger, the automatic thought, the cognitive distortion, and a reframed alternative. It works because it externalizes the spiral and forces you to examine it with evidence.
Capture the situation, automatic thought, emotion, evidence for and against, and a balanced alternative. The core CBT skill.
Identify distortions like catastrophizing, personalization, and all-or-nothing thinking. Then replace them with realistic assessments.
When depression kills motivation, start with small, values-aligned actions. Activity scheduling breaks the withdrawal cycle.
Gradually face feared situations with coping strategies. Build evidence that you can handle what anxiety says you can't.
Internal Family Systems, developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, proposes that the mind is naturally made up of multiple "parts" — sub-personalities that each carry their own feelings, memories, and motivations. There are no bad parts. Even the ones that cause problems (the inner critic, the people-pleaser, the numbing-out part) developed as protective strategies. IFS helps you understand what each part is protecting you from and find a more compassionate relationship with all of them.
At the center of the IFS model is the "Self" — a core state characterized by curiosity, calm, compassion, and clarity. When you're in Self, you can relate to your parts without being overwhelmed by them. IFS is especially powerful for shame spirals, inner critic attacks, conflicting feelings, and trauma processing. If you've ever felt like part of you wants one thing and another part wants the opposite, IFS gives you a framework for understanding why and resolving the conflict from within.
Learn to notice and name the different parts that show up. "The critic," "the protector," "the anxious one" — naming creates distance.
Access your core Self and relate to activated parts from a place of curiosity instead of reactivity. Ask: "What is this part afraid of?"
Help parts release the extreme beliefs or emotions they've been carrying. A structured process of witnessing, validating, and letting go.
Understand why your protective parts (managers, firefighters) activate. Honor their intention while helping them find less extreme strategies.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, developed by Dr. Steven Hayes, flips the script on how we relate to difficult internal experiences. Instead of trying to control or eliminate painful thoughts and emotions, ACT teaches you to hold them lightly while taking action toward what matters to you. The goal isn't to feel better — it's to get better at feeling, and to build a life that's meaningful even when difficult emotions are present.
ACT is organized around six core processes that create psychological flexibility: acceptance, cognitive defusion, present moment awareness, self-as-context, values clarification, and committed action. It's particularly effective for avoidance patterns, feeling stuck, values misalignment, and chronic conditions where the goal shifts from elimination to living well alongside difficulty. If you've been avoiding things that matter to you because of fear, anxiety, or discomfort, ACT gives you a path forward.
Unhook from your thoughts. Instead of "I'm a failure," practice "I'm having the thought that I'm a failure." Small shift, huge impact.
Clarify what genuinely matters to you — not what you think should matter. Then use those values as a compass for daily choices.
Open up to difficult emotions without trying to fix or avoid them. Willingness to feel discomfort is the doorway to meaningful action.
Set values-aligned goals and take concrete steps toward them, even in the presence of difficult thoughts and feelings.
No account needed to start. Tell Reground how you're feeling, and it'll match you with the right skill from the right modality. Takes 5–10 minutes. Built by a licensed therapist.
Start a Free Exercise 3-day free trial · $49/mo after · Cancel anytimeNot a replacement for therapy. Reground is a between-session support tool — not a substitute for professional mental health treatment or crisis intervention. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or a mental health emergency, please call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) immediately.