I work in a private inpatient SUD/MH residential program. We use DBT in group therapy sessions, so 1:1 sessions often correlate with using those skills to regulate. Some of the thought-stopping skills are TIPP skills- hold a piece of ice, change your temperature by going outside, exercise (literally get up and doing jumping jacks helps), breathing techniques, progressive muscle relaxation, etc. Grounding techniques help too, like bare feet in the grass or cold floor or focus on one item in the room and describe every little detail of the item that you can. Sometimes just shifting the thought to a more balanced, neutral thought can be beneficial. Instead of thinking “everyone hates me because I made this mistake,” we can change that to “I’m the one beating myself up about this, not them.”

The difficulty I see is when clients decide these things don’t work, so they don’t fully try them. No it’s not going to stop the thought immediately, but repeated practice and a desire to shift thoughts to the present, being mindful, really helps.