Small Steps Out of the Fog
A behavioral activation starter for when motivation is gone.
- Written by Brett Larsen, MA, LPCC-S
- Grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- 15 minutes to read, tools you can use today
Waiting to feel like it rarely works. This guide explains why, then lays out one week of very small, specific actions that tend to bring energy back, the same behavioral activation plan Brett builds with clients who feel stuck.
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Open the guideOr call Brett: (513) 204-9295If the days have gone gray and flat
- Things you used to enjoy feel like chores, so you skip them, and then feel worse for skipping.
- You are tired in a way that sleep does not fix.
- You keep telling yourself you will start when you have more energy, and the energy does not come.
- People say you seem fine, which somehow makes it lonelier.
Movement first, motivation after
Understand the trap you are in
Why low mood shrinks your life, and why shrinking your life keeps the mood low. Seeing the cycle is half of breaking it.
A seven-day plan you can actually do
Tiny scheduled actions, sized for a bad week, with space to write what happened. No willpower required.
A plan for the day it falls apart
It will. The guide tells you exactly what to do on that day so one missed step does not become a missed month.
Clear signs it is time to talk to someone
Without drama, and without waiting until things are worse than they need to be.
The approach has a track record
Nothing in this guide is a hunch. It is the same Cognitive Behavioral Therapy work Brett does in the room, trimmed to what you can start on your own.
In a large randomized trial, behavioral activation was as effective as full cognitive behavioral therapy for depression, and it is simpler to learn.
Richards and colleagues, COBRA trial, The Lancet, 2016.
Across 26 trials, behavioral activation outperformed control conditions for depression, including in people with more severe symptoms.
Ekers and colleagues, meta-analysis, PLOS ONE, 2014.
Scheduling specific, valued activities, rather than waiting to feel motivated, is the mechanism that lifts mood. Motivation tends to follow action.
Jacobson and colleagues, component analysis of CBT for depression, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1996.
15 minutes, start to finish
- 01
The motivation trap, and why it is not a character flaw
- 02
Choosing three activities that used to matter
- 03
The seven-day plan, one page per day
- 04
How to make an action smaller when it feels too big
- 05
The day it falls apart: a script
- 06
When a plan is not enough, and what counseling adds
Written for people who
Have been low for a while and want a place to start
Are supporting a partner or family member and want something practical to share
Would rather try a plan before deciding about counseling
This guide is educational and is not a substitute for counseling or medical care. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
Brett Larsen, MA, LPCC-S
Brett has been a licensed counselor for 24+ years, holds independent licenses in clinical counseling, social work, and marriage and family therapy, and completed 3,500+ psychiatric assessments in a hospital emergency department before opening this practice. He sees adults in person in Cincinnati and by secure video across Ohio and Kentucky. The guide is written the way he talks in session: plain, practical, and without judgment.
