Therapist

Evidence-based therapeutic techniques — CBT, ACT, mindfulness, and reframing for anxiety, rumination, and behavioral patterns.

Security Scan

This is an instruction-only therapy skill whose requested footprint (no installs, no env vars, no binaries) matches its stated purpose; it's informational and not a substitute for professional care.

Purpose & Capability

Name and description (CBT, ACT, mindfulness, reframing) align with the SKILL.md content. The skill requests no credentials, binaries, or config paths — all proportional to an instruction-only therapeutic guidance skill.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md contains step-by-step therapeutic techniques and explicitly includes appropriate boundaries and referral advice (e.g., refer for trauma, suicidal ideation). It does not instruct the agent to read files, access environment variables, or call external endpoints.

Install Mechanism

No install spec and no code files — the skill is instruction-only. This minimizes risk because nothing will be written to disk or executed beyond the agent following the prose.

Credentials

The skill requires no environment variables, credentials, or config paths. There are no requests for unrelated secrets or system resources; the requested access is proportional (none).

Persistence & Privilege

always:false and no special privileges requested. The skill is user-invocable and allows autonomous invocation by default (disable-model-invocation:false) which is platform-normal; this is noted but not by itself a security concern.

Assessment

This skill is internally coherent and low-risk from a system/credential perspective because it is instruction-only and requests no installs or secrets. However: 1) It's educational guidance — not a substitute for licensed therapy; do not rely on it for crisis situations (the SKILL.md correctly advises referral for suicidal ideation and complex trauma). 2) The skill's source/homepage are unknown — if you need accountability or clinically-reviewed material, prefer skills from identifiable, reputable sources. 3) Because the agent can invoke skills autonomously by default, disable autonomous invocation if you don't want unsolicited therapeutic interactions. 4) Avoid entering sensitive medical or legal details into any assistant; if you need clinical care, contact a licensed professional or emergency services.

Cognitive Restructuring (CBT)

• Identify the automatic thought first — "What went through your mind just then?"
• Challenge with evidence — "What facts support this? What facts contradict it?"
• Find cognitive distortions: catastrophizing, mind-reading, all-or-nothing, personalization, should-statements
• Generate alternative interpretation — not positive thinking, realistic thinking
• Test predictions behaviorally — "If your fear is true, what would we observe? Let's check"

Behavioral Activation

• Depression reduces activity, reduced activity worsens depression — break the cycle with scheduled action
• Start with mastery and pleasure activities — one thing that gives accomplishment, one that gives enjoyment
• Activity precedes motivation — don't wait to "feel like it", action creates momentum
• Track mood before and after activities — builds evidence that action helps
• Small wins count — a 5-minute walk beats zero, lower the bar until they succeed

Anxiety Techniques

• Exposure is the treatment — avoidance maintains anxiety, approach reduces it
• Build hierarchy from 1-10 — start with manageable discomfort (3-4), work up gradually
• Stay in the situation until anxiety decreases — leaving early reinforces avoidance
• Breathing exercises: 4-7-8 pattern (inhale 4, hold 7, exhale 8) activates parasympathetic response
• Distinguish between possibility and probability — anxious minds treat "could happen" as "will happen"

Acceptance and Commitment (ACT)

• Defusion: thoughts are mental events, not facts — "I notice I'm having the thought that..."
• Willingness: make room for discomfort to pursue what matters — control agenda often backfires
• Values clarification: "What do you want to stand for?" guides action when feelings mislead
• Present moment: worry lives in future, regret lives in past — anchor to now
• Self-as-context: you are not your thoughts, emotions, or roles — the observer remains constant

Mindfulness Exercises

• Body scan: attention through body parts systematically — notices tension without forcing change
• Anchor breathing: return to breath when mind wanders — wandering is expected, returning is the practice
• STOP technique: Stop, Take a breath, Observe experience, Proceed mindfully
• 5-4-3-2-1 grounding: name 5 things you see, 4 hear, 3 touch, 2 smell, 1 taste — interrupts spiraling
• Leaves on a stream: visualize thoughts as leaves floating by — observe without grabbing

Rumination Patterns

• Rumination feels productive but isn't — distinguish problem-solving (action-oriented) from rumination (circular)
• Schedule worry time: 20 minutes/day, postpone worries until then — contains without suppressing
• Ask "Is this solvable right now?" — if yes, solve it. If no, practice letting go
• Attention training: deliberately shift focus to external environment — builds mental flexibility
• Catch the trigger: often rumination starts with "What if..." or "Why did I..."

Reframing Techniques

• Find the hidden assumption — "I must be perfect" underlies "I failed at one thing, I'm worthless"
• Zoom out temporally — "How much will this matter in 5 years?"
• Perspective shift — "What would you tell a friend in this situation?"
• Best/worst/most likely — anxious minds skip to worst, explicitly generate all three
• Meaning reframe — "What could this experience teach you?"

Behavioral Experiments

• Treat beliefs as hypotheses — "If this belief is true, what would we predict?"
• Design tests collaboratively — they must believe the test is fair
• Predict outcome before experiment — makes disconfirmation salient
• Gather actual data — often predictions are wrong, experience teaches what logic can't
• "What did you learn?" — consolidate insight explicitly

Pattern Interrupts

• Habitual responses need disruption — same trigger, different response
• Implementation intentions: "When X happens, I will do Y instead of Z"
• Environmental design: remove triggers or add friction to unwanted behaviors
• Opposite action: fear says hide, do the opposite. Anger says attack, do the opposite
• Surfing urges: urges peak and pass in 15-20 minutes — wait without acting

Session Techniques

• Agenda setting at start — collaborative prioritization focuses the work
• Scaling questions: "On 1-10, how intense is this feeling?" — quantifies and tracks progress
• Socratic questioning: guide discovery, don't lecture — they remember what they figure out
• Homework is essential — change happens between sessions, not during them
• Review what worked — end by identifying takeaways they'll actually use

Boundaries and Referral

• These techniques complement professional care — don't replace it
• Trauma requires specialized approaches (EMDR, PE) — refer complex trauma
• Medication may be necessary — techniques work better when biology is addressed
• Suicidal ideation needs human professionals immediately — don't manage alone
• Know your limits — "This might be beyond what I can help with" is responsible