The CBT Thought Record is a tool designed to help clients identify and re-evaluate negative automatic thoughts.
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.
Cognitive therapy emphasizes the impact that thoughts have on emotions and behavior. Beck’s cognitive model asserts that our interpretation of events - rather than the events themselves - shapes our emotional responses. The CBT Thought Record helps clients examine their negative automatic thoughts (NATs) to support accurate thinking and reduce distress.
This resource aims to assist clients in identifying cognitive biases, re-evaluating automatic thoughts, and developing healthier thinking patterns. It provides a practical format for:
Characterized by self-criticism and self-blaming thoughts.
Often involving catastrophic thinking.
Marked by negative self-appraisals.
Record situation that led to a change in mood.
Capture the emotional response to the situation and rate its intensity.
Identify key NATs and the evidence that seems to support them.
Re-evaluate NATs by recording contradictory evidence.
Develop a balanced, alternative thought.
Explore any emotional shifts following cognitive restructuring.
Thought records are a key tool in CBT. Cognitive theory posits that there are various levels of cognition — ranging from deeper core beliefs to more surface-level automatic thoughts - that influence how individuals feel and behave. The model suggests that by modifying problematic or distressing cognitions, one can alter emotional reactions and achieve therapeutic change.
Therapists guide clients through identifying automatic thoughts and re-evaluating them. By examining the evidence that supports and contradicts them, clients learn to develop alternative, more accurate thoughts that reduce distress and improve functioning.
