The Cloud Technique
When One Moment Feels Like Everything
When something embarrassing, painful, or frustrating happens, it can be hard to see anything else. That one moment can start to feel like the whole picture.
The Cloud Technique is a simple way to create some distance and see things from a wider perspective.
Try it
- Picture yourself sitting on a cloud, looking down at your life from above.
- From up there, notice the bigger picture—not just what’s happening right now.
- Think about the people in your life. Things you’re looking forward to. Things that are going well. Things you’ve gotten through before. The parts of your life that are still there, even while this particular moment hurts.
The goal isn’t to convince yourself that the painful thing doesn’t matter.
It’s to remember that it isn’t everything.
Why it can help with ADHD
When emotions are intense, it can be difficult to access that bigger-picture perspective. Creating some psychological distance can help you see the painful moment as one part of your experience instead of the entirety of it.