The Ninety-Second MARCH Tool
An anxious thought is not a fact. Here is how to check.
Print this page — Ctrl‑P on a PC, Cmd‑P on a Mac. Copy it freely for your classroom, your caseload, your team or your family. No attribution required.
M — Mark it.
What is the thought? Write it down in the exact words it used. Unnamed thoughts run the room. Named ones can be examined.
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A — Ask: is it true?
Not "does it feel true." Is it true? Four questions:
Is it true always, or just right now? · Is it true for everyone, or just me? · What is the actual evidence? · Would I say this out loud to a friend?
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R — Replace it with what's accurate.
Not a slogan. Not "everything is fine." Something accurate you would actually defend. A thought cannot be evicted by an empty room — something has to move in.
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C — Catch it next time.
Say it out loud: "That's a thought, not a fact." Naming it as a thought is what puts you back in charge of it.
☐ I said it out loud.
Where does this one usually show up? (Bedtime? Before a test? Sunday night?)
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H — Head it out.
Now get up and do the next small thing. Movement is part of the method, not a reward for finishing it. What is the next thing?
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Mark it, ask it, replace what's true —
Catch it early, and head it on through!
When this tool is not enough
MARCH is a self-regulation tool, not a treatment, and it is not a substitute for assessment or care. If anxiety is affecting sleep, appetite, attendance or functioning for weeks at a time — in a student or in yourself — that is a referral to a counselor, physician or clinician. Refer early. Nobody has ever regretted it.
Adapted from the ANT framework developed by Dr. Daniel Amen. Built for classrooms and families by Dr. Beau Abernathy — teacher, principal and assistant superintendent, Texas and Alaska.
Free to copy and distribute for classroom, clinical, family or team use.
The full method and classroom materials