Can Therapy help with Overthinking and Rumination?
YES. Absolutely.
Overthinking and rumination often show up when anxiety creeps in—when we start worrying about what others think of us, replaying conversations, or analyzing how we sounded, what we said, or how we were perceived.
When was the last time you caught yourself ruminating?
Was it last night while you were lying in bed, exhausted but unable to sleep—thinking about everything?
How you sounded. What you said. The face they made. How they reacted. Wondering how you could’ve handled it differently.
Maybe it was while driving to work or dropping off the kids, mentally running through all the things that need to get done and wondering how you’re supposed to fit it all in.
Or maybe it was after one of your child’s sporting events:
“Why did I say that?”
“I probably said too much.”
“Oh no… they probably think I’m ___.”
When I first learned that not everyone thinks this way, I remember thinking, How in the world do people do that?!
If this resonates—you’re not alone. I’ve been there too. And while overthinking still pops up for me occasionally, it looks very different now than it used to.
So if you’re wondering whether therapy can help you stop overthinking and ruminating about every. little. gosh. darn. thing…
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: let’s talk about why—and how.
Why Do We Overthink and Ruminate?
Overthinking and rumination often come from anxiety and a need for safety or control.
For many people—especially those with high-functioning anxiety—rumination becomes a way to:
Try to prevent mistakes
Avoid rejection or judgment
Stay emotionally “prepared”
Feel a sense of control in uncertain situations
We also tend to dwell on things more when we’re not feeling secure within ourselves. Sometimes that insecurity is situational (a hard day, a stressful interaction), and other times it’s a long-standing pattern.
Over time, rumination can:
Increase anxiety
Disrupt sleep
Lower self-confidence
Keep you stuck in self-doubt
Make it harder to be present in your life
Instead of helping, the mind gets caught in a loop.
“So What Do I Do About It? How Do I Stop Overthinking?”
This is the part people often don’t love hearing—but it’s important:
It’s usually not about forcing yourself to “just stop thinking.”
Instead, therapy helps you train your brain to respond differently when overthinking shows up.
One of the first steps is learning to pause and check in with yourself:
What am I feeling right now?
What do I notice in my body?
What might have triggered this?
When you can identify the emotion and notice what’s happening physically, it naturally slows the spiral and helps your nervous system settle. That grounded state makes it easier to shift out of rumination.
How Therapy Helps With Overthinking and Rumination
In therapy, we look deeper than just the thoughts themselves.
We explore:
When overthinking and rumination first started
The narratives or stories you tell yourself
The underlying beliefs driving the spiral
At its core, overthinking is often trying to protect you from something—even if it no longer serves you. Therapy helps uncover what that “something” is.
For many people, underlying beliefs sound like:
I’m not good enough.
I’m too much.
I’m not smart/funny/interesting enough.
I need to be more outgoing or likable.
It’s my responsibility to manage how others feel.
These beliefs often form in childhood or adolescence, shaped by experiences, environments, or expectations placed on you early on.
Once those patterns are understood, therapy helps you:
Build self-trust
Feel safer in your body
Respond to thoughts without getting pulled into them
Develop compassion instead of self-criticism
So… Can Therapy Help With Overthinking and Rumination?
Yes—and not by “fixing” you.
Therapy helps you understand why your mind does what it does, loosen the grip of old patterns, and create a more supportive internal experience.
Overthinking doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It often means you learned to cope the best way you could.
And with the right support, it can change.
If overthinking and rumination are taking up too much space in your life, working with a therapist can help you feel calmer, more grounded, and more confident in yourself—without having to fight your own mind.
