Self-focused thought allows us to reflect on our past, predict our future, and create a sense of having a stable, cohesive identity. At the same time, experiencing excessive self-focused thought corresponds with decreased well-being and is a common characteristic across many psychopathologies, including social anxiety disorder. My research investigates the contexts and conditions in which self-focused thought is maladaptive and seeks to identify the neural mechanisms behind these processes using EEG and fMRI, with a focus on exploring the mediating role of the default mode network. I am additionally interested in exploring the opposite end of the self-focus spectrum -- situations characterized by an absence of self-focus, such as states of flow and experiences of awe.