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Worry Log
Write down each worry and what you feared would happen. Later, add what actually happened. Over time, the log shows how often worry gets it wrong.
Worry 1
0 calm10 the most anxious
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An educational aid to use with a therapist, teacher or parent. It is not a medical device and does not diagnose anything.
Free anxiety worksheets
Anxiety pulls people toward two things that keep it going: worrying more and avoiding more. These five worksheets each work against one of those habits. All of them can be filled in online with a Teens and adults or a Kids version, then printed or copied, or printed blank from the PDF.
| Worksheet | What it does |
|---|---|
| Worry log | Compares what a worry predicted with what actually happened. |
| Worry time planner | Moves worrying into one short slot a day. |
| Fear ladder | Ranks avoided situations from 0 to 100 and logs practice, one step at a time. |
| My body when I'm anxious | Maps where anxiety shows up in the body and finds the early warning sign. |
| Coping cards | Pocket cards: when this happens, what I can tell myself, what I can do. |
Worry log
Write each worry, how anxious it made you from 0 to 10, and what you feared would happen. Later, add what actually happened and whether it was better, about the same, or worse than you feared. The online version keeps a running count of how many worries turned out better than feared.
The point is not to prove that bad things never happen. It is to notice how often worry overestimates them. In one study, people with generalized anxiety disorder wrote down their worries and later checked what happened, and most of what they worried about did not happen (LaFreniere and Newman, 2020). Nothing is saved online, so for a week of logging, print the PDF or copy the log as text each day.
Worry time planner
Worry postponement was studied by Thomas Borkovec and colleagues in the 1980s. Instead of trying not to worry, which rarely works, you give worry a set appointment. The planner sets the time, place and length, and keeps a list of worries saved for later. At worry time, each one is sorted: is there a step I can take, or is it out of my hands?
- When a worry shows up outside worry time, notice it and write it down in a few words.
- Tell it "later," and bring your attention back to what you were doing.
- At worry time, read through the list. Some worries will already feel smaller.
- For each one, ask: is there something I can do about this? If so, plan one small step.
- If not, notice that you cannot solve it right now, and let it be.
- When the time is up, stop, even if you are not finished, and do something that needs your attention.
Fear ladder (exposure hierarchy)
Avoidance brings relief in the moment, which teaches the brain that the situation really was dangerous. Gradual exposure, facing feared situations step by step, is one of the best-supported parts of CBT for anxiety. The fear ladder is how you plan it.
- Write a goal at the top: something anxiety is stopping you from doing.
- List 6 to 10 situations on the way there and rate each from 0 to 100 for how much distress it would cause. Ratings like these are sometimes called SUDS, subjective units of distress, a scale from the behavior therapist Joseph Wolpe.
- The online ladder sorts itself, hardest at the top, and marks where to start.
- Practice a step often, and log your distress before, at the highest point and after. When a step feels clearly easier, move up.
Only put situations on the ladder that are safe but feel scary. For OCD, panic, trauma or a phobia, build the ladder with a therapist who is trained in exposure therapy. Learn more about exposure therapy at Crown Counseling.
My body when I'm anxious
Anxiety is the body's alarm system, and it often shows up in the body before the mind catches on: a racing heart, a tight chest, butterflies, sweaty hands. Tap the sensations you notice and the body outline shades in where they are. Then name your early warning sign, the first thing you usually notice, so you can use a coping skill sooner.
These sensations can have other causes too. New or unexplained symptoms should be checked by a doctor, and chest pain, fainting or trouble breathing that is sudden or severe needs medical care right away: call 911.
Coping cards
A coping card is a small reminder written while calm, for a moment that will not be calm. Each card has a trigger on top ("When I notice my heart racing before a meeting"), something to tell yourself, and something to do. Tap an idea to fill a line, or write your own. Ideas include:
- This feeling is uncomfortable, not dangerous.
- I have gotten through this before.
- Anxiety rises and falls. This will pass.
- I do not have to solve this right now.
Print up to six cards on a page, cut them out, and keep one in a wallet, phone case or backpack.
Anxiety worksheets for kids
Press Kids and every worksheet changes: the worry log asks what the worry said would happen, worry time becomes a worry box opened with a grown-up, the fear ladder becomes a brave ladder rated from 0 to 10, the body map uses words like "butterflies in my tummy," and the coping cards become brave cards. They suit children from about 6 to 11, with a parent or therapist helping.
Many children like to treat worry as a character that is trying to protect them but gets things wrong. "What is your worry telling you?" is easier to answer than "What are you anxious about?" Parents can help most by joining worry time and cheering on brave steps, rather than helping their child avoid.
Anxiety worksheets for teens
Teens use the Teens and adults version. A few ideas that tend to land with teenagers:
- Build a fear ladder for social anxiety: ask a teacher a question after class (30), order at a counter (40), answer a question in class (60), present to the class (90).
- Use the worry log before tests, and compare the predicted grade with the real one.
- Make coping cards for the phone case. Many teens prefer a photo of the card on their phone to a paper one.
- Nothing is saved, so a teen can fill a worksheet in on their own phone without anything being kept or shared.
Using them in a session and over telehealth
- Fill in the first worksheet together, so the client knows what each part is for.
- Over telehealth, share your screen and press Present mode, or send the link so the client fills it in on their own device.
- Press Copy as text at the end to paste it into your notes, or Print this worksheet to save a PDF. Nothing is sent to us.
- For the thoughts behind the worry, pair these with our CBT worksheets and the cognitive distortions game.
Anxiety worksheets PDF
The free PDF has four pages: a worry log with a worry time plan, a fear ladder with a practice log, a body map with a checklist of sensations, and six cut-out coping cards. Print it for a client binder or a school counseling office. To print one worksheet, filled in or blank, use the print button in the tool above. If anxiety is getting in the way of daily life, read about anxiety therapy at Crown Counseling.
