Feeling Overwhelmed? Practical Tips to Handle Stress

Have you been feeling stretched thin lately? Like there’s too much to do and not enough time, energy, or focus to do it? If so, you’re not alone. It seems like more and more people are sharing about their stress levels and indicating that stress is a major issue in their life that is difficult to tackle.

 While stress is a natural response to life’s demands, when it builds up or is too much to handle, it can leave us feeling anxious, irritable, or even frozen or numb. The good news is that stress buildup isn’t just something that happens to us. With the right tools, we can learn to change how we think about and respond to it. That’s where Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be especially helpful.

Understanding Stress Through the CBT Lens

CBT is a technique that teaches clients that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interconnected. When we feel overwhelmed, it’s often because our thoughts about a situation amplify our stress response, leading to dysregulated emotions, and ultimately problematic behavior.

For example, imagine looking at a long to-do list and thinking, “I’ll never get all of this done.” That thought can instantly trigger feelings of anxiety or frustration, leading to avoidance or procrastination—behaviors that, in turn, make the situation feel even more unmanageable.

CBT helps us interrupt that cycle by slowing down, examining these thoughts that are generally automatic, challenging these thoughts, and choosing new ways to think and act. Instead of, “I’ll never get this done,” we might reframe it as, “I can take one step at a time and finish what I can.” This simple shift can reduce emotional intensity and help us feel more in control and less helpless than the initial thought may have caused us to feel.

Practical CBT Strategies to Manage Stress

Here are a few evidence-based techniques drawn from CBT that can help you manage stress more effectively:

1. Identify and Challenge Unhelpful Thoughts

Write down the thoughts that show up when you feel overwhelmed. Then ask yourself:

• Is this thought 100% true? And, if it is true, is it helpful to me?

• What’s the evidence for and against it?

• How might I view this situation if a friend were in my shoes?

This process is called cognitive challenging and restructuring. It helps you step back and see your thoughts as mental events, not facts. It allows you to replace catastrophic or self-critical thinking with something more balanced and helpful toward solving the problem.

2. Break Problems into Manageable Steps

Stress can make everything feel urgent and unsolvable, leading to helplessness and feeling frozen at times. CBT encourages behavioral activation, or the idea of breaking big tasks into small, doable actions in an effort to do something when our brains sometimes feel like there is nothing that can be done. A way to do this is to choose one thing you can realistically accomplish, even if it’s minor. Checking off that first step can often restore momentum and reduces paralysis.

3. Practice Relaxation Techniques That Ground You in the Moment

CBT often incorporates mindfulness and body-based coping strategies. Deep breathing, guided imagery, or a five-minute grounding exercise can help calm the nervous system so you can think more clearly.

Try the 5 senses technique: notice 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch or feel, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, and 1 you can taste. This brings your focus back to the present and away from racing thoughts.

4. Reconnect with Values and Balance

Ask yourself: What truly matters to me right now?
CBT helps you realign behavior with your values rather than reacting to stress automatically. Taking small steps in the direction of what matters—like spending time with loved ones, caring for your health, or setting boundaries—creates a sense of purpose that can buffer against stress.

When Stress Becomes Chronic

Everyone experiences stress, but when it starts interfering with work/school, sleep, relationships, or daily functioning, it may be time for professional support. CBT can help you uncover the underlying thought patterns or behavioral habits that keep stress cycling in your life. Working with a trained therapist can help you build personalized coping strategies and strengthen resilience so that life’s challenges feel more manageable.

Finding Calm with East Side CBT

At East Side CBT, our therapists specialize in helping people understand the underlying causes of their stress and to develop practical, evidence-based ways to manage it. Through CBT, you’ll learn how to shift unhelpful thinking patterns, regulate emotions, and create routines that support your mental well-being.