Overthinking › Submodalities

Submodalities for Overthinking

In short: Submodalities are the qualities of your mental images and sounds (size, distance, brightness, volume). Changing them often changes how strongly a thought affects you. Here is how to apply this neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) technique to overthinking and replaying decisions, step by step.

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Why overthinking sticks

Overthinking often runs on an automatic inner sentence like "What if I chose wrong? Let me think it through one more time". Submodalities works on the structure of that experience rather than arguing with it, which can give you room to respond differently. Context: this most often shows up in everyday life.

Steps

  1. Think of overthinking and replaying decisions and notice the mental picture that comes with it.
  2. Note its qualities: Is it big or small? Close or far? Bright or dim? Color or black and white? Moving or still? Is there a voice, and what does it sound like?
  3. Change one quality at a time: push the image further away, shrink it, drain the color.
  4. If there's a critical voice, make it slower, quieter, or give it a silly cartoon tone.
  5. Keep the changes that reduce the intensity. Undo the ones that don't.
  6. Lock it in: imagine the image stays that way and notice how you feel now.

Example script

"When I think about it, the picture is big and close. I'll push it back... smaller... dimmer... and that voice saying 'What if I chose wrong? Let me think it through one more time' now sounds slow and far away, like a radio in another room."

The reframe

Old frame: "What if I chose wrong? Let me think it through one more time"

New frame: More thinking won't create more certainty; a good-enough decision now beats a perfect one never.

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Other NLP techniques for overthinking

Submodalities for other problems

Related techniques

Swish Pattern · Anchoring · Timeline Work

FAQ

Does submodalities work for overthinking?

Many people find submodalities a useful structured way to reflect on overthinking and replaying decisions, but there is little rigorous scientific evidence that NLP techniques work better than chance. Treat it as an experiment: try it a few times and keep what helps.

How long does it take?

Most people can run through these 6 steps in 5 to 15 minutes. Repeating the exercise over several days usually matters more than doing it once perfectly.

What is a good reframe for overthinking?

Instead of "What if I chose wrong? Let me think it through one more time", try: More thinking won't create more certainty; a good-enough decision now beats a perfect one never.

Is this the same as therapy?

No. This is a self-help exercise from neuro-linguistic programming. If overthinking is seriously affecting your work, health, or relationships, an evidence-based approach such as cognitive behavioral therapy with a licensed professional is a better first step.

What should I try if this doesn't help?

Try a related technique such as Swish Pattern, Anchoring, Timeline Work, or one of the other approaches for overthinking listed on this page.

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Background

Developed by Richard Bandler in the early 1980s; see Using Your Brain for a Change.

Sources and further reading

Honest note: Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a popular personal-development approach, but its scientific evidence base is limited and it is widely criticized as unsupported (Sturt et al., 2012). These exercises are self-reflection tools, not therapy or medical advice. If a problem is seriously affecting your life, please talk to a licensed professional.

Last updated 2026-10-16