A working tool of this practice, created by psychotherapist J.R. Hernandez, now also a book: a structured way of taking a reaction apart, step by step, so it can be worked with instead of obeyed.
The Protocol
The Baseline Psychotherapy Protocol is a structured sequence used in this practice to examine a single reaction: one situation, one activation, one episode at a time. It is not the whole of the practice, and it is not a school of therapy. It is a base tool: the kind of instrument a clinician reaches for again and again because it makes the invisible part of a reaction observable.
The premise is simple to state. Between what happens and what you do, there is a system: the body responds, the mind builds a story, an impulse to stop feeling something appears, and behavior follows. Most of this runs automatically. The Protocol slows that chain down and makes each link visible, in order.
I built it by integrating the approaches that hold the strongest evidence for this kind of work: cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, emotional intelligence training, and somatic, body-first awareness. Each step of the sequence comes from one of those traditions; the integration, the order, and the clinical logic that binds them are mine.
The clinical map
This is a clinical map, not a diagram of the brain. Its purpose is practical: when a reaction can be laid out on the map, it stops being a single automatic unit and becomes a set of parts that can be examined one by one. Which part started it. What the body did. What the mind said it meant. What the urge to fix it demanded. And what was actually true.
Origin
I created the Protocol in session, not at a desk. Over years of clinical work with professionals, expats, and couples, the same combination kept proving itself: a CBT-grounded reading of the story the mind builds, ACT's defusion and values work, the emotional granularity that emotional intelligence training develops, and the body-first attention of somatic approaches. I refined the sequence because clients used it between sessions and reported back what held and what did not. The book version exists because they kept asking for the tool in a form they could keep.
The book
A Process-Based Manual for Working With Your Own Reactions
The Baseline Psychotherapy Protocol: A Process-Based Manual for Working With Your Own Reactions presents the full tool: the clinical map explained chapter by chapter, and a step-by-step sequence you can practice on your own. Twelve chapters, written in clear language, with every scientific claim referenced. Available in paperback and Kindle, in English and Spanish.
The thought record on this site is the practical companion to that chapter.
In session
In session, the Protocol is applied with clinical guidance: the steps are the same ones the book teaches, but a therapist calibrates them to your history, keeps the work honest when the mind negotiates, and connects what the tool reveals to a treatment plan. The book is complete on its own for self-practice. Therapy is where the tool meets a clinician. If you want to see how that works in your case, the first conversation is free and takes fifteen minutes.
Protocol FAQ
A structured clinical tool used at Baseline Psychotherapy to examine one reaction at a time: what triggered it, what the body did, what story the mind built, what impulse followed. It is published as a process-based manual, in English and Spanish, in paperback and Kindle.
Psychotherapist J.R. Hernandez, founder of Baseline Psychotherapy, created the Protocol in clinical practice and refined it over years of work with professionals, expats, and couples. It integrates cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, emotional intelligence training, and somatic awareness into one structured sequence.
No. It is a working tool used within therapy, and published as a manual for self-practice. Therapy at this practice is process-based and uses the Protocol as one of its base instruments, alongside clinical assessment and a treatment plan.
Yes. The book was written for exactly that: a step-by-step sequence with clear instructions, practiced on one reaction at a time. It also states honestly what self-practice cannot replace, and when structured therapeutic work is the right next step.
No. In session the Protocol is applied directly, with guidance. Some clients read the book first, some during the process, some never: all three work.
The Protocol integrates established, well-researched clinical approaches: cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, emotional intelligence training, and somatic awareness work, and every scientific claim in the book is referenced against verified sources. The Protocol itself, as a specific sequence created by J.R. Hernandez, is a clinical tool from this practice, not a standalone validated treatment, and the book says so plainly.
The book is published in English and Spanish, in paperback and Kindle. Sessions at this practice run in both languages as well.
Get Started
The Protocol is the tool. The first conversation is where we see whether it fits your situation: fifteen minutes, free, no referral needed. You will hear back directly from J.R. Hernandez.