Quiet Your Overthinking Right NOW; Therapy Tools For Empathic High Achievers - Take Out Therapy: End Overthinking & Overwhelm for Empathic High Achievers

Episode Overview

Podcast: Take Out Therapy: End Overthinking & Overwhelm for Empathic High Achievers
Host: Rebecca Hunter, MSW
Episode: Quiet Your Overthinking Right NOW; Therapy Tools For Empathic High Achievers
Date: December 15, 2025

This episode is a “mini session” in which therapist and anxiety expert Rebecca Hunter shares a practical, three-step therapy-informed tool to help overthinkers—particularly empathic high-achievers—quiet their minds and actually rest. With relatable analogies and easy-to-remember techniques, Rebecca explores why it’s so difficult to turn off our thoughts and provides simple, actionable advice for shifting from mental busy-ness to present-moment calm.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Why Our Brains Stay Busy (01:15 – 02:35)

Rebecca acknowledges that it’s normal for empathic high-achievers to struggle with turning off their minds, even when they intentionally take a break.
Many people, despite knowing they “should” rest, find their brains remain active and distracted.
- “People struggle in the moment of chilling out to get their brain to be quiet too.” [02:22]

The “Put the Glass of Water Down” Analogy (02:36 – 03:13)

To illustrate letting go of thoughts, Rebecca introduces a memorable analogy:
- “Can you put the glass of water down right? You were thinking about something, you’ve already thought about it, now you’re done with it... Just put the glass of water down on a desk or the table or wherever. Picture it in your mind.” [02:45]
Visualizing this helps signal the brain that it’s time to pause or move on from current thoughts.

The Three-Step Tool for Quieting Overthinking (03:14 – 05:35)

Step 1: Name What’s Happening

Bring awareness to your busy mind by saying aloud:
- “Just say out loud to yourself, like, I’m having a lot of thoughts, or this is just thinking, or my brain is in overdrive.” [03:26]
Speaking it (even quietly) interrupts the thought spiral and externalizes what’s happening.

Step 2: Ground in One Sense

Use either sight or sound to anchor yourself in the present.
- “If you choose sight, you find something, you name it, you describe deeply what is in front of you, or you can do that with what you hear.” [03:54]
Deeply describing sensory input pulls your mind out of the rumination loop.

Step 3: Physically Release the Thought

Intentionally “let go” of thoughts using a physical cue:
- “Shake your hands a little, even if it looks silly. Sometimes I’ll run my fingers through my hair, kind of like do a good, like, head scratch, or I’ll brush my hands down my thighs.” [04:49]
You can also take a slow exhale, drop your shoulders, and imagine physically putting down your thoughts like the glass of water.

Why It Works & Encouragement to Practice (05:36 – 06:45)

Combining these three steps moves your brain from “processing to being present.”
The more often you try this sequence, the easier your brain will pick up on the cues.
- “Doing all these things in combination... will move your brain from processing to being present. And the more times you practice this, the more your brain will pick it up. I promise.” [05:58]

Additional Resources & Affirmations (06:46 – 07:19)

Rebecca offers a free 20-minute class on overthinking, available at takeouttherapy.com.
She underscores how deliberate rest is essential for mental health:
- “Your brain needs a signal to shut off. It needs you to be deeply involved in that process. Creating just a simple process for that can help you get an immediate shift in your ability to do that.” [06:59]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Can you put the glass of water down?... Picture it in your mind. That will help your mind create a picture of what it’s like to let things go for now.” [02:45]
“Just say out loud to yourself... this is just thinking, or my brain is in overdrive.” [03:26]
“Shake your hands a little, even if it looks silly... Drop your shoulders a little bit and imagine putting it down just like that glass of water.” [04:49]
“The more times you practice this, the more your brain will pick it up. I promise.” [05:58]
“Your brain needs a signal to shut off. It needs you to be deeply involved in that process.” [06:59]
“Take care of yourself and take care of your minds. I hope this was helpful.” [07:13]

Timestamps for Important Segments

01:15 — Why rest is hard for overthinkers; introducing the challenge
02:36 — The “put the glass down” metaphor for letting go of thoughts
03:14 — Step 1: Name what’s happening (“I’m having a lot of thoughts…”)
03:54 — Step 2: Grounding in one sense (sight or sound)
04:49 — Step 3: Physical release (shake hands, exhale, etc.)
05:58 — How practice shifts the brain from processing to presence
06:46 — Free resources for overthinkers
06:59 — Importance of deliberate rest for mental health

Tone and Presentation

Rebecca’s delivery throughout is warm, concise, and gently humorous—designed to feel like “chatting with a friend who’s also a therapist.” She makes technical psychological concepts relatable with analogies and focuses on actionable, zero-fluff advice.

Summary Takeaway

Rebecca Hunter offers empathic high-achievers a short, practical method for calming overthinking:

Name the mental activity out loud.
Ground yourself in a present sense (sight or sound).
Physically release thoughts with an intentional cue, imagining you’re “putting the glass of water down.”

Practice these steps, she promises, and your mind will become easier to quiet, turning restorative breaks into a powerful tool for real mental health.

For more, visit: takeouttherapy.com

Transcript

A (0:00)

If life feels like a lot right now as it is for a lot of people, you're not imagining it. And you don't have to figure it out alone either. I built the Everyday Calm app because I wanted people to have real support in the moments that actually matter. Those hard mornings, the completely overloaded afternoons, those nights when your thoughts won't settle. Inside the app, you get the same tools I've taught for years in the therapy office, drawn from seven evidence based approaches and the teachers who shaped my work. And the best part is it adapts to your life. If you're anxious, it gives you calming tools. If you feel scattered, it brings you right back to center. If you're spiraling, it helps you shift your thinking. The Everyday Calm app is the closest thing to having me in your pocket. You can get it@studio.com Rebecca in this.

B (0:54)

Episode you'll discover a search simple three step tool that helps your mind turn off when you need a break. Welcome to Takeout Therapy Mini Session. I'm Rebecca Hunter, therapist, anxiety expert and a big fan of short, powerful mindset shifts. Each week I share one therapy informed insight to help you handle life with more calm, clarity and self compassion. Find out how to work with me and get free tools anytime@takeouttherapy.com okay, let's dive in. I'm so glad that you showed up today for this short session because you'll discover why on earth your brain stays so busy even when you're trying to take a break. And I'll give you a three step simple method to settle your mind. We talked about this a little bit on Friday and yeah, we know that we should be taking breaks during the day to take care of ourselves, to just chill out a little bit, to take up some space in our lives frankly. But when people try to rest, their brain is still clicking along. So what we talked about on Friday was a method where you have to create a bit of a transition so your brain actually understands it's time to chill out. But then what happens is that people struggle in the moment of chilling out to get their brain to be quiet too. I'm going to help you learn the skill for just putting things down brain wise for a little while and just taking a break. I have an analogy in my work and what I always say is can you put the glass of water down right? Yeah, you were thinking about something, you, you've already thought about it, now you're done with it. You were thirsty, you got the water, you drank some and now you're done with it. Just put the glass of water down on a desk or the table or wherever. Picture it in your mind. That will help your mind create a picture of what it's like to let things go for now. Sometimes I use analogies in my work with people because they really help us to help our brains to understand what it is we're asking it to do. So this is a quick little tool that you can use when your brain doesn't know that you are wanting a little break from all the thinking. It's very important to first name what's happening. Just say out loud to yourself, like, I'm having a lot of thoughts, or this is just thinking, or my brain is in overdrive. My brain is ticking away this specific action. When you say it. I mean, you might have to say it quietly, but when you say it out loud, it brings it into your life. And then what you want to do is something we talked about a little bit last week, but it's basically grounding in one sense. What you do is you choose either sight or sound. If you choose sight, you find something, you name it. You describe deeply what is in front of you, or you can do that with what you hear. You can pick a sound in your environment and describe how close it is, how far away, the different features of the noise that you hear. This simple and kind of silly little action will pull your mind out of mental rehearsal. And then, my friend, you want to release whatever it is that's rattling around in that noodle cage of yours, right? Release it with intention. And what I like to suggest that people do, because we learn this in trauma treatment as well, is use a physical cue. Shake your hands a little, even if it looks silly. Sometimes I'll run my fingers through my hair, kind of like do a good, like, head scratch, or I'll brush my hands down my thighs. Just creating some sort of a physical cue that you're kind of just letting something go. You can also take a longer than usual exhale and for sure drop your shoulders a little bit and imagine putting it down just like that glass of water. Doing all these things in combination, they're not that many things. I mean, I think we can handle. It will move your brain from processing to being present. And the more times you practice this, the more your brain will pick it up. I promise. If you want more simple tools like this, I have an entirely free class on overthinking thinking. It's 20 minutes long, and you'll learn a ton about why on earth the brain is so busy and how to get back in the driver seat again. Believe me, you friend, you don't want that thing running your life. You can find that free class@takeouttherapy.com as you can the rest of the free resources that I provide. The thing is, is your brain needs a signal to shut off. It needs you to be deeply involved in that process. And creating just a simple process for that can help you get an immediate shift in your ability to do that. You can and should use this tool anytime you need a break from your day. A little resty time to actually just chill out for a hot minute, which is frankly more important than I think people realize. It is for good mental health. So take care of yourself and take care of your minds. I hope this was helpful. Thank you so much for spending your time with me today. I really appreciate you being here and doing this work. And as always, while Takeout Therapy is a great educational resource, get the level of support you need for your situation. Head to takeouttherapy.com to learn how to work with me and check out my resources. Until next time, take really good care of yourself, friend.