No — the Attention Training Technique (ATT) is not a form of meditation. ATT is a short, externally focused attention exercise from clinical psychology: for about twelve minutes, a voice directs you to focus on, rapidly switch between, and finally divide your attention across several simultaneous sounds[1]. Meditation traditions vary enormously, but the widely practiced mindfulness styles cultivate an open, accepting awareness of present experience — often anchored on the breath, the body, or thoughts themselves. The two practices look similar from the outside (sitting still, audio guidance, wandering attention) and differ in aim, method, and origin.
What they share
Both are practiced in short, regular sittings. Both involve noticing that your attention has wandered and bringing it back — over and over. Both are usually guided by a voice, and neither requires any equipment beyond something to listen with. And in both, encountering a stream of thoughts is expected rather than a sign you’re doing it wrong.
The key differences
| ATT | Mindfulness-style meditation | |
|---|---|---|
| Aim | Practice deliberate, flexible control of attention, directed outward | Cultivate present-moment, non-judgmental awareness |
| Attention style | Effortful steering: hold, switch, widen — on command | Open monitoring, or gently resting on one anchor |
| What you attend to | External sounds and their locations | Breath, body, sounds, thoughts, sensations |
| Eyes | Open, resting on a fixed point[1] | Usually closed, or a soft unfocused gaze |
| Thoughts | Left alone as background noise while attention keeps returning to the sounds | Often the object of practice: observed and accepted |
| Structure | Fixed ~12-minute session, three prescribed phases with a set tempo[1] | Flexible; many forms and durations |
| Origin | Clinical psychology — first described by Adrian Wells in 1990[2] | Contemplative traditions, later adapted into secular programs |
Why the difference matters
The clearest practical difference is what a “good session” feels like. ATT is designed to be demanding, and to stay demanding with practice[1] — if your attention is being pulled away and you keep having to haul it back, that is the exercise working, not failing. Judged by meditation expectations (“I didn’t feel calm”), ATT will seem like a poor meditation, because it isn’t one.
The deeper difference is the target. ATT works at the level of the attentional process — where your focus goes and how flexibly you can move it — rather than engaging the content of any particular thought or feeling[1]. Mindfulness practices, in many forms, work directly with how you relate to that content.
Can you do both?
Yes. Nothing about ATT conflicts with keeping a meditation practice; they are different tools with different aims, and some people find the contrast clarifying — one trains steering attention on demand, the other trains an accepting stance toward whatever shows up. If you’re choosing where to start, choose by what you actually want to practice.
For what ATT is in full — its phases, its origins, and what published research reports — see the Attention Training Technique explained.
References
- Wells, A. (2009). Metacognitive Therapy for Anxiety and Depression. Guilford Press. Chapter 4: Attention Training Techniques.
- Wells, A. (1990). Panic disorder in association with relaxation induced anxiety: An attentional training approach to treatment. Behavior Therapy, 21(3), 273–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7894(05)80330-2
Published by the makers of Heed, an iPhone app for practicing ATT-style sessions. Heed is a self-practice tool inspired by ATT research — not therapy, and not a medical device.