Catching Your Thoughts (CYP)

The Catching Your Thoughts (CYP) worksheet supports young clients in recognizing and recording automatic thoughts, facilitating cognitive restructuring.

Download or send

Professional version

Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.

Client version

Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.

Editable version (PPT)

An editable Microsoft PowerPoint version of the resource.

Overview

This worksheet is designed for a young audience, focusing on helping them identify and understand automatic thoughts, situations triggering these thoughts, and their emotional responses. It serves as a practical tool for clinicians to guide cognitive restructuring. Therapists can use it as a springboard for conversations about how thoughts influence feelings, introducing the foundational cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principle that while we may not choose our first thought, we can learn to evaluate and respond to it.

Why Use This Resource?

Automatic thoughts can significantly impact emotional well-being. Catching Your Thoughts enables clinicians to:

  • Record triggering situations, automatic thoughts, and emotional reactions.
  • Facilitate cognitive restructuring for more accurate thinking.
  • Integrate easily with other CBT interventions for young people.

Key Benefits

Identification

Helps identify automatic thoughts linked to emotions.

Insight

Offers insights into cognitive and emnotional patterns.

Adaptability

Customizable for individual client needs and cognitive levels.

Who is this for?

Anxiety Disorders

Managing overwhelming worries and catastrophizing thoughts.

Depression

Addressing cognitive distortions such as discounting positives.

Low Self-Esteem

Challenging thoughts of inadequacy and low self-worth.

General Emotional Distress

Enhancing emotional awareness and regulation.

Integrating it into your practice

01

Identify

Encourage clients to notice strong emotions as triggers for automatic thoughts.

02

Situation

Record the context using "Who? What? When? Where?".

03

Feelings

Catalog emotions with intensity ratings from 0 to 10.

04

Thoughts

Reflect on the thoughts, images, or memories preceding the feelings.

05

Analyze

Use the gathered data to assist in cognitive restructuring exercises.

06

Refinement

Guide clients in reframing thoughts with focus on accuracy.

07

Continuation

Foster ongoing usage of the worksheet to track and manage thought patterns.

Theoretical Background & Therapist Guidance

Catching Your Thoughts is a CBT self-monitoring record for young people. Self-monitoring helps clients become aware of the links between situations, thoughts, and emotional responses (Beck et al., 1979), while thought records supports the process of identifying, evaluating, and restructuring maladaptive cognitions (Beck & Beck, 1995).

Self-monitoring in CBT is grounded in Beck’s cognitive model, which posits that automatic thoughts — quick, situation-specific interpretations — have a powerful influence on emotion and behavior. When distorted or negatively biased, these thoughts can contribute to psychological distress across a range of disorders. Recording these thoughts enables clients to notice patterns, reflect on the accuracy of their appraisals, and consider more balanced alternatives.

This tool is particularly useful for young clients, who often benefit from external structure and concrete language when learning CBT skills (Kendall, 2000). The prompts guide children and adolescents to break down emotionally charged moments into component parts: the situation, their feelings, and the thoughts that preceded them. This process lays the groundwork for cognitive restructuring, which involves testing the helpfulness and accuracy of automatic thoughts and generating more adaptive responses.

In addition, using a thought record encourages cognitive decentering — the ability to view thoughts as mental events rather than truths—which has been shown to improve emotional regulation and reduce vulnerability to mood disorders (Teasdale et al., 2002). By repeatedly engaging in this structured reflection, clients build metacognitive awareness and learn to respond to their thoughts with greater flexibility.

What's inside

  • Instructions for young clients on using a thought record.
  • Sections for recording triggering situations, emotions, and thoughts.
  • Structured prompts to elicit detailed client responses.
  • Guidance for clinicians on cognitive restructuring techniques.
Get access to this resource

FAQs

Cognitive restructuring involves techniques used to identify cognitive biases and develop more accurate thinking patterns.
It helps them recognize and articulate automatic thoughts and feelings, offering a foundation for addressing and modifying cognitive distortions.
Begin by explaining how thoughts influence feelings and guide them through recording their thoughts during situational triggers.
Yes, it's versatile and can be tailored to fit the cognitive level and specific challenges faced by individual clients.

How This Resource Improves Clinical Outcomes

Integrating the Catching Your Thoughts worksheet into therapy facilitates:

  • Enhanced emotional awareness through systematic observation.
  • Effective identification and correction of cognitive distortions.
  • Development of skills for self-regulated cognitive restructuring.
  • Greater client engagement in therapeutic processes for lasting change.

Clinicians benefit by:

  • Having a structured framework for recording client insights.
  • Tools for consistent and thorough cognitive analysis.
  • Flexibility to adapt techniques across diverse clinical presentations.

References And Further Reading

  • Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. Guilford Press.
  • Beck, J. S., & Beck, A. T. (1995). Cognitive therapy: Basics and beyond. Guilford Press.
  • Kendall, P. C. (2000). Child and adolescent therapy: Cognitive-behavioral procedures (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
  • Teasdale, J. D., Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., Ridgeway, V. A., Soulsby, J. M., & Lau, M. A. (2002). Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70(2), 275-287. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.70.2.275