The CBT Appraisal Model worksheet is a transdiagnostic tool designed to help clients explore and identify their cognitive appraisals, which underlie emotional and behavioral reactions.
Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
An editable Microsoft PowerPoint version of the resource.
The CBT Appraisal Model aids in identifying clients' appraisals of triggering events. It helps clients to make the link that their appraisals are key in understanding their emotions and behaviors in response to an event. Separate versions provide both cross-sectional and longitudinal perspectives to understand past influences while focusing on the present.
The CBT Appraisal Model is helpful in cognitive-behavioral interventions to:
Including panic, social anxiety, and generalized anxiety disorder.
Exploring negative self-appraisals and beliefs about self-worth.
Identifying intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors.
Exploring appraisals of traumatic memories and current safety.
Assisting clients in identifying stress-related appraisals.
Begin by having clients describe a recent upsetting event.
Encourage exploration of the initial appraisal and emotional impact.
Use suggested questions to clarify client appraisals.
Explore the emotions and behaviors that followed from an appraisal.
Consider the emotional and behavioral effects of alternative appraisals.
The CBT Appraisal Model is rooted in the cognitive-behavioral principle that how we interpret events — not the events themselves — determines our emotional and behavioral responses. This idea is often represented as a triangle linking thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Key to the model are appraisals — the immediate interpretations we make when something happens.
When clients experience distress, it’s often because their appraisals are biased, distorted, or shaped by past experiences and unhelpful beliefs.
The worksheet helps clients slow down and examine these appraisals in context. One version takes a cross-sectional view — zooming in on a single moment to explore how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact. The longitudinal version encourages clients to reflect on how earlier experiences and beliefs may influence their current appraisals and responses.
