For ten minutes the instruction has been the same in shape: here is a sound, put your attention on it. Then, in the last two minutes, it changes — and a lot of people finish an ATT session genuinely unsure what they were just asked to do.
The instruction
In the divided attention phase you expand the breadth and depth of your attention and take in all of the sounds at once, attempting to process multiple sounds and locations simultaneously[1], including a covert count of how many you can hear at once[1]. The manual describes it as the briefer instruction, one to two minutes — the shortest of the three phases in the 5–5–2 split[1].
Two words in that are worth separating. Breadth is how many things attention covers. Depth is how fully each is being held rather than merely registered. The phase asks for both to increase — not for attention to skim.
How it differs from the two phases before it
| Phase | The motion |
|---|---|
| Selective attention | One target, held against competition; return to it when captured[1] |
| Attention switching | One target at a time, but moving — every ten seconds, then every five[1] |
| Divided attention | No moving. Attention widened to hold several at once[1] |
The first two phases train a spotlight — pointing it, and moving it quickly. The third asks for something the spotlight metaphor does not describe: a floodlight, or a field.
That is why it feels different rather than harder-of-the-same. You are not being asked to switch faster. You are being asked to stop switching.
The counting
The covert count is part of the instruction — how many sounds you can hear at the same time[1]. It is doing something specific: it gives an otherwise unbounded instruction (“take it all in”) a definite task, and it is a check on whether attention has actually widened or has quietly gone back to hopping between sounds one at a time.
The count is not a score. There is no number you are aiming for, and nothing in the protocol treats a higher one as better practice.
Common confusions
“I keep flicking between them instead of holding them together.” Extremely common, and noticing it is the phase working. The instruction is to widen; catching yourself switching and widening again is the repetition.
“Am I supposed to hear them all equally?” The instruction is breadth and depth, not equality. Nothing asks for a perfectly even distribution.
“I lose the quiet ones.” Expected — some locations in the arrangement may not be sounding at all, which the manual calls potential sounds[1]. See what if you can’t hear one of the sounds?.
“It felt easier than the switching.” For most people it is. In a component study that rated effort per phase, the attention switching condition drew the highest effort ratings of the three[2].
Why the session ends here
The manual gives the reason outright, and it is not the one people usually guess. The procedure is configured so that it consistently loads attention — multiple simultaneous sounds are used, the switching pace can be modulated, and, in Wells’ own words, “the procedure ends with divided attention so that the technique retains a resource-demanding character”[1].
So the closing phase is not a wind-down. It is there to stop the session becoming one. A session that tapered off at the end would leak exactly the demand the exercise is built to sustain[1] — which is worth knowing if you have been treating the last two minutes as the easy part where it finally relaxes.
For the full session shape, see what the ATT script says.
Questions and answers
- What is the divided attention phase?
- The final phase of an ATT session, about two minutes long. Instead of attending to one sound at a time, you expand the breadth and depth of your attention to take in all of the sounds simultaneously, covertly counting how many you can hear at once.
- Am I supposed to hear all of them at the same time?
- That is what the instruction asks for — attention widened to hold several at once rather than moved between them. Whether you manage it fully is not the criterion; the widening is what is being practised.
- Why does the session end with it?
- To keep the session demanding to the end. The manual states it plainly: the procedure ends with divided attention so that the technique retains a resource-demanding character.
References
- Wells, A. (2009). Metacognitive Therapy for Anxiety and Depression. Guilford Press. Chapter 4: Attention Training Techniques.
- Rosenbaum, D., Maier, M. J., Hudak, J., Metzger, F. G., Wells, A., Fallgatter, A. J., & Ehlis, A.-C. (2018). Neurophysiological correlates of the attention training technique: A component study. NeuroImage: Clinical, 19, 1018–1024. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6039840/
Published by the makers of Heed, an app for practicing ATT-style sessions. iPhone · Android. Heed is a self-practice tool inspired by ATT research — not therapy, and not a medical device.