Digital Tool

Play The Script Till The End

Play The Script Till The End is a therapeutic exercise to help clients identify and process underlying fears by examining the cascade of potential outcomes.

Interactive and mobile-friendly
Assign securely to clients
Review client submissions
Psychology Tools resource: Play The Script Till The End

Play The Script Till The End

Worrying thoughts can be a bit like a scary ‘script’ or ‘story’ about terrible things that might happen in the future. However, we’re sometimes less aware of the fears, beliefs, and predictions behind these ‘surface-level’ worries.

The Play The Script Till The End exercise can help you:

  • Discover what lies underneath your worrying thoughts.
  • Judge how likely it is that your feared outcome will happen.
  • Decide whether it’s really worth worrying about.
  • Explore how you might cope if it happened.

Overview

Developed by Scott Waltman, PsyD, and Erin Murphy, PsyD, this technique addresses some of the limitations of traditional arrow methods by encouraging clients to extend their exploration beyond immediate anxieties. By 'playing the script till the end,' clients can discover core fears that often lie at the root of their worries. This method is particularly useful for clients whose fears are magnified by imagination and can be clarified by identifying feared outcomes and their consequences.

Also available as:

PDF Tool

Use this tool with your clients

Support therapeutic work between sessions.

Assign

Send the tool securely to your client.

Client completes

Your client works through it on any device, at their own pace.

Review

Review their responses before the next session.

Part of a complete library of evidence-based tools

Worksheets, guides, audio resources and interactive digital tools for mental health professionals.

Explore all tools