One of the things that distress people struggling with mental health challenges like anxiety and depression is the inability to make a decision or sometimes feeling like they do not know what it is they want in a given situation. This can cause much distress and make undesirable situations even more difficult. There are many insight-building strategies that help people clarify what is important to them and what choices they want to make. In this blog, we will be going over one of those strategies in the form of a four-square pros and cons exercise. This is inspired by that from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy but includes a few differences. This exercise is designed to help you access your wisdom regarding a particular choice. Please keep in mind that when using this exercise, each time it is used it is used for the positive statement of a choice, and then the negative statement of the choice. For example, this tool would be done with statements such as “attending my friend’s birthday party” and “not attending my friend’s birthday party” instead of 2 different statements such as “Attending my friend’s birthday party” and “Going to the mall”. Now, let’s review more about how this exercise is used.