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Thought Record
Slow a hard moment down. Write what happened, what you felt and what went through your mind, then weigh the thought against the facts.
Where were you, who was there, and what happened? Just the facts, like a camera would record it.
What went through your mind? If several thoughts came up, pick the one with the most feeling attached.
Facts that support it. Facts only, not feelings or guesses.
Facts that do not fit it. The questions below can help if you get stuck.
Stuck? Questions that help you weigh a thought
- What do I know for sure, and what am I guessing?
- Has this happened before? How did it turn out?
- What would I tell a friend who had this thought?
- What would someone who cares about me say?
- Am I leaving anything out, or brushing off something good?
- Am I in a thinking trap, like mind reading or catastrophizing?
- If the worst did happen, how would I cope?
- Will this matter in a week? In a year?
A thought that takes all of the evidence into account. It does not have to be positive, just fair.
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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 CBT worksheets
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) works on the link between what happens, what we think about it, and how we feel and act. These four worksheets each come at that link from a different side. Every one can be filled in online, then printed or copied, or printed blank from the PDF.
| Worksheet | Use it to | Ages |
|---|---|---|
| Thought record | Work through one hard moment from start to finish, from the situation to a balanced thought. | Teens and adults |
| ABC worksheet | Show how the same event can lead to different feelings depending on the belief in between. | Older kids, teens and adults |
| Evidence for and against | Test one stubborn thought, fact by fact. | Teens and adults |
| Thought bubbles | Teach children that thoughts change feelings, with faces and speech bubbles. | Kids about 6 to 11 |
Thought record worksheet
The thought record is the workhorse of CBT. It takes one moment when a feeling spiked and walks through it in seven parts:
- Situation. Where were you, who was there, and what happened? Just the facts, like a camera would record it.
- Feelings. Name each feeling in one word and rate how strong it was, from 0 to 100.
- Automatic thought. What went through your mind? If several thoughts came up, pick the one with the most feeling attached.
- Evidence for the thought. Facts that support it. Facts only, not feelings or guesses.
- Evidence against the thought. Facts that do not fit it. The questions below can help if you get stuck.
- Balanced thought. A thought that takes all of the evidence into account. It does not have to be positive, just fair.
- Feelings now. Rate the same feelings again, from 0 to 100. A drop of even 10 or 20 points is worth noticing.
Feelings are usually one word (anxious, hurt, ashamed). If a client writes a sentence in the feelings box, it is often the thought, and it belongs in step 3. The online version rates each feeling on a slider and shows the before and after side by side, which makes the change easy to see.
ABC worksheet
The ABC model comes from Albert Ellis, who developed rational emotive behavior therapy in the 1950s. A is the activating event, B is the belief about it, and C is the consequence: the feeling, the body's reaction and what the person does. People tend to assume A causes C. The worksheet shows that B sits in the middle.
Our version adds a second row: keep the same A, write a different B, and imagine the C it would lead to.
- A: A friend walks past me in the hallway without saying hi.
- B: She is ignoring me. I must have done something wrong.
- C: Hurt (70) and worried. Stomach in knots. I avoided her at lunch.
- A different B: Maybe she did not see me, or she had something on her mind.
- The C it leads to: A little hurt (20) but curious. I texted her later to say hi.
Evidence for and against worksheet
When one thought keeps coming back, put it on trial. Write the thought, rate how much you believe it, and list the facts on each side. The online version builds each list one fact at a time and counts them. Then write a balanced thought that fits both lists and rate the first thought again. These questions help when the "against" side is empty:
- What do I know for sure, and what am I guessing?
- Has this happened before? How did it turn out?
- What would I tell a friend who had this thought?
- What would someone who cares about me say?
- Am I leaving anything out, or brushing off something good?
- Am I in a thinking trap, like mind reading or catastrophizing?
- If the worst did happen, how would I cope?
- Will this matter in a week? In a year?
If a client has trouble naming the pattern in a thought, play the cognitive distortions game first. It teaches twelve common thinking traps.
CBT worksheets for kids
The thought bubbles worksheet is made for children from about 6 to 11. It asks what happened, what their brain said, how they felt (by picking a face), what they did, and what a more helpful thought could be. Children who get stuck can tap an idea to borrow, such as "Mistakes help me learn" or "I can ask for help." It ends with how they feel now.
Model it first with a small, made-up problem, like a dropped ice cream cone. Younger children can draw in the bubbles on the printed sheet instead of writing. Keep the helpful thought true rather than cheerful: "I can try again tomorrow" works better than "Everything is great."
Using CBT worksheets in a session
- Fill in the first one together, out loud, so the client sees how each part works before trying it alone.
- Start with a moment from the past week that was a 5 or 6 out of 10, not the hardest thing they have been through.
- Look for the gap between the feelings at the start and at the end, and ask what made the difference.
- If the balanced thought feels fake to the client, it is not balanced yet. Keep working on it until they can believe it.
- Send the link as homework. Nothing is stored, so clients can fill it in at home without an account.
Using them over telehealth
- Open this page before the session and choose the worksheet.
- Share your screen and press Present mode, so the worksheet fills the screen in larger print.
- Type what the client says, or send the link so they can fill it in on their own device.
- At the end, press Copy as text to paste it into your notes, or Print this worksheet to save it as a PDF. Nothing is sent to us.
CBT worksheets PDF
The free PDF has four pages, one per worksheet: the thought record, the ABC worksheet, evidence for and against, and thought bubbles for kids. Print all four, or choose the page you need in your print settings. To print just one worksheet, use Print this worksheet above: leave it empty for a blank copy, or fill it in first. Learn more about cognitive behavioral therapy at Crown Counseling, or see our anxiety worksheets.
