{"schema_version":"1.0","id":"cbt-cards-practice-v1","canonical":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/data/practice.json","updated":"2026-08-18","review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed","safety_scope":"General wellness and self-reflection only. Do not use these practices to override genuine safety measures, protective boundaries, accessibility aids, medication or professional instructions, urgent action, or qualified advice.","ontology_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/data/practice-ontology.json","evidence_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/data/practice-evidence.json","relations_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/data/practice-relations.json","recommendation_contract_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/data/practice-recommendations.json","practices":[{"id":"practice-test-your-prediction","title":"Test Your Prediction","canonical_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/practice/#practice-test-your-prediction","mechanism_id":"prediction-testing","situation_ids":["sit-feared-prediction"],"best_used_when":["the feared outcome is specific enough to observe","a small ordinary-risk test or observation is available"],"avoid_when":["genuine danger or urgent safety issue","required safety, professional, legal, or accessibility rule","medical, legal, financial, or safeguarding decision","the action is irreversible or unusually high stakes"],"micro_action":"Write one prediction, one safe observation, and one result.","prompt":"Turn one anxious prediction into something observable, then compare it with what actually happens.","reflection_question":"What changed, if anything, about how certain you are?","evidence_ids":["ev-nice-social-anxiety","ev-nhs-thought-record"],"review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed"},{"id":"practice-problem-or-worry","title":"Problem or Worry?","canonical_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/practice/#practice-problem-or-worry","mechanism_id":"actionable-vs-hypothetical-worry","situation_ids":["sit-looping-worry"],"best_used_when":["you can state the concern clearly enough to ask whether a practical action exists"],"avoid_when":["genuine danger or urgent safety issue","required safety, professional, legal, or accessibility rule","medical, legal, financial, or safeguarding decision","you would use hypothetical to dismiss a concrete problem you could reasonably act on"],"micro_action":"Classify one concern and either schedule one action or park it for review.","prompt":"Ask whether this concern has a practical next action or is mainly a future-focused what-if.","reflection_question":"Did more thinking create a usable action, or another version of the same what-if?","evidence_ids":["ev-nhs-problem-solving","ev-nhs-worries"],"review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed"},{"id":"practice-spot-the-safety-behavior","title":"Spot the Safety Behavior","canonical_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/practice/#practice-spot-the-safety-behavior","mechanism_id":"safety-behavior-learning","situation_ids":["sit-extra-protection"],"best_used_when":["the situation is objectively low risk","the behavior is not a genuine safety requirement"],"avoid_when":["genuine danger or urgent safety issue","required safety, professional, legal, or accessibility rule","medical, legal, financial, or safeguarding decision","you are unsure whether the behavior is protective in the real world"],"micro_action":"Identify one possible safety-seeking behavior; change nothing until real safety is clear.","prompt":"Name one extra behavior used mainly to prevent anxiety or embarrassment, then check whether it is genuinely protective.","reflection_question":"What did the behavior prevent you from learning?","evidence_ids":["ev-nice-social-anxiety"],"review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed"},{"id":"practice-park-and-return","title":"Park and Return","canonical_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/practice/#practice-park-and-return","mechanism_id":"worry-postponement","situation_ids":["sit-worry-keeps-returning"],"best_used_when":["the concern is non-urgent","you can choose a realistic later review point"],"avoid_when":["genuine danger or urgent safety issue","required safety, professional, legal, or accessibility rule","medical, legal, financial, or safeguarding decision","delaying action would materially worsen a concrete problem"],"micro_action":"Write it once and choose when you will review it.","prompt":"Capture the worry once, choose a later review point, and return to the current task without requiring the worry to disappear.","reflection_question":"Did postponing create space, or was there a real action that should not have been delayed?","evidence_ids":["ev-nhs-worries"],"review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed"},{"id":"practice-reflection-or-replay","title":"Reflection or Replay?","canonical_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/practice/#practice-reflection-or-replay","mechanism_id":"rumination-disengagement","situation_ids":["sit-replay"],"best_used_when":["you have already identified the main facts and any usable lesson","the loop is non-urgent"],"avoid_when":["genuine danger or urgent safety issue","required safety, professional, legal, or accessibility rule","medical, legal, financial, or safeguarding decision","you are still missing information needed for a concrete decision or accountability step"],"micro_action":"Ask: what new information did the last round produce?","prompt":"Check whether another minute of analysis is producing a new fact, decision, or action. If not, end the review deliberately.","reflection_question":"Did stopping avoid a real task, or simply stop repetition?","evidence_ids":["ev-nhs-worries","ev-editorial-low-risk"],"review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed"},{"id":"practice-one-less-check","title":"One Less Check","canonical_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/practice/#practice-one-less-check","mechanism_id":"uncertainty-reassurance-reduction","situation_ids":["sit-one-more-check"],"best_used_when":["the situation is ordinary and objectively low risk","the extra check is non-essential and not required"],"avoid_when":["genuine danger or urgent safety issue","required safety, professional, legal, or accessibility rule","medical, legal, financial, or safeguarding decision","the check prevents a plausible material harm"],"micro_action":"Skip one clearly non-essential check in an ordinary low-risk situation.","prompt":"In a low-risk situation, choose one clearly non-essential check or reassurance request to skip and observe the uncertainty without replacing it.","reflection_question":"What happened to the outcome, and what happened to the urge for certainty?","evidence_ids":["ev-editorial-low-risk"],"review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed"},{"id":"practice-smallest-approach-step","title":"The Smallest Approach Step","canonical_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/practice/#practice-smallest-approach-step","mechanism_id":"graded-approach","situation_ids":["sit-avoid-starting"],"best_used_when":["the task is genuinely safe","a smaller first step can be defined"],"avoid_when":["genuine danger or urgent safety issue","required safety, professional, legal, or accessibility rule","medical, legal, financial, or safeguarding decision","avoidance is serving a legitimate protective boundary or recovery need"],"micro_action":"Take one safe approach step small enough to finish now.","prompt":"Shrink a safe avoided task until you can approach one observable part without making completion the goal.","reflection_question":"What did you learn from approaching that planning alone could not show?","evidence_ids":["ev-nice-social-anxiety","ev-nhs-facing-fears"],"review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed"},{"id":"practice-good-enough-contract","title":"Set the Good-Enough Contract","canonical_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/practice/#practice-good-enough-contract","mechanism_id":"flexible-standards","situation_ids":["sit-never-done"],"best_used_when":["the task has discretionary quality rather than a mandated exact standard","you can define fit-for-purpose criteria before more checking"],"avoid_when":["genuine danger or urgent safety issue","required safety, professional, legal, or accessibility rule","medical, legal, financial, or safeguarding decision","the work has a legitimately strict safety, compliance, accuracy, or professional standard"],"micro_action":"Write three completion criteria before doing another pass.","prompt":"Define the minimum fit-for-purpose criteria before the next round of work, then stop when those criteria are met unless new evidence appears.","reflection_question":"Did extra work improve the required outcome or mainly reduce discomfort about stopping?","evidence_ids":["ev-cci-perfectionism"],"review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed"},{"id":"practice-continuum-not-verdict","title":"Use a Continuum, Not a Verdict","canonical_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/practice/#practice-continuum-not-verdict","mechanism_id":"continuum-evaluation","situation_ids":["sit-total-verdict"],"best_used_when":["you are evaluating quality, progress, or performance that can reasonably vary by degree"],"avoid_when":["genuine danger or urgent safety issue","required safety, professional, legal, or accessibility rule","medical, legal, financial, or safeguarding decision","the situation truly has a binary safety/compliance requirement"],"micro_action":"Rate one result on two specific dimensions instead of success/failure.","prompt":"Replace a total success/failure verdict with a 0–10 description of specific dimensions.","reflection_question":"What becomes visible when the result is not forced into one total verdict?","evidence_ids":["ev-nhs-thought-record","ev-cci-perfectionism"],"review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed"},{"id":"practice-behavior-not-identity","title":"Describe the Behavior, Not the Identity","canonical_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/practice/#practice-behavior-not-identity","mechanism_id":"specific-self-evaluation","situation_ids":["sit-identity-attack"],"best_used_when":["a specific behavior, choice, or skill can be named"],"avoid_when":["genuine danger or urgent safety issue","required safety, professional, legal, or accessibility rule","medical, legal, financial, or safeguarding decision","the reframing would erase responsibility or harm that needs repair"],"micro_action":"Turn one identity label into one specific behavior statement.","prompt":"Translate a global label about yourself into a specific, reviewable description of what happened and what can change.","reflection_question":"Does the specific version preserve responsibility while making change more possible?","evidence_ids":["ev-nhs-thought-record","ev-editorial-low-risk"],"review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed"},{"id":"practice-same-standard-check","title":"Run the Same-Standard Check","canonical_url":"https://cbt-cards.github.io/practice/#practice-same-standard-check","mechanism_id":"balanced-standards","situation_ids":["sit-double-standard"],"best_used_when":["the comparison person is in genuinely similar circumstances","you want to test whether the rule changes only because it is you"],"avoid_when":["genuine danger or urgent safety issue","required safety, professional, legal, or accessibility rule","medical, legal, financial, or safeguarding decision","the roles, duties, risks, or prior commitments are materially different"],"micro_action":"Write the self-rule and same-situation rule for someone else.","prompt":"Compare the standard you use for yourself with the standard you would use for another person in the same role and circumstances.","reflection_question":"Is the difference explained by real responsibility or only by who is judged?","evidence_ids":["ev-cci-perfectionism","ev-nhs-thought-record"],"review_status":"editorial_and_safety_reviewed_for_publication","clinical_validation_status":"not_claimed"}]}