Given the focus on thoughts which are, by definition, fleeting, the first step is naturally to develop some skill at catching these thoughts as they fly by in particular situations. This takes some practice, but once you begin to notice automatic thoughts, you'll see how central they are in the development of your distress. Next, we engage in a systematic evaluation of these havoc-wreaking thoughts, identifying their inaccuracies so that we can consider alternative, more realistic views of the triggering situations.