Understanding Fusion and Defusion Cognitive fusion is treating thoughts as literal truth requiring a response. The thought ‘I am going to fail’ is experienced as a prediction of certain failure, not as a mental event that might or might not reflect reality. The fusion creates a compelling quality that makes thoughts feel like facts. You are not thinking about potential failure. You are experiencing certainty of failure through the thought. This fusion drives emotional and behavioral responses as if the thought accurately reflects reality: anxiety from a fused thought of failure, avoidance from a fused thought of danger. The responses...