The core worksheet of cognitive behavioural therapy. Seven columns, one thought at a time. Here is what each column is for, a filled-in example, and a blank you can copy.
A thought record is a structured way of writing down one distressing thought and testing whether it holds up. It has been the backbone of CBT homework for about fifty years, and it is deliberately boring: the same columns, every time, so the structure does the remembering and you only have to do the thinking.
Therapists set them between sessions. You do not need a therapist to use one.
| Situation | Where you were and what happened. Facts only — a camera would agree with this row. |
|---|---|
| Automatic thought | The thought, in the words it arrived in. Not tidied up. |
| Distress (0–10) | How bad it feels right now. You will compare against this later. |
| Distortion | Which thinking trap the thought is using. Naming it turns a fact about the world into a habit of thought. |
| Evidence for | What genuinely supports the thought. Do this column first and honestly, or the exercise becomes an argument you have rigged. |
| Evidence against | What genuinely argues the other way. This is the column that does the work. |
| Balanced thought | A version that accounts for both columns. Fairer, not more positive. |
| Distress again (0–10) | Re-rate. It may not have moved — that is information, not failure. |
| Situation | Sent a message to a friend on Tuesday morning. No reply by Wednesday night. |
|---|---|
| Automatic thought | “She's had enough of me. I always do this to people.” |
| Distress | 8 |
| Distortion | Mind reading, and all-or-nothing thinking in “always”. |
| Evidence for | She usually replies within a day. The last thing I sent was a bit long. |
| Evidence against | She had a deadline this week and said so. She replied warmly last time. “Always” is not true — I can think of three friendships that have lasted years. |
| Balanced thought | “She's probably busy. If something is wrong I'd rather ask than decide it on her behalf.” |
| Distress again | 4 |
Note the balanced thought is not “everything is fine”. It leaves the possibility open and names an action. That is what makes it hold up tomorrow.
No download, no email address, nothing to sign up for. Copy these eight lines onto paper or into any notes app.
Situation: ______________________________________________ Automatic thought: ______________________________________ Distress (0-10): ____ Distortion: ____________________________________________ Evidence for: __________________________________________ Evidence against: ______________________________________ Balanced thought: ______________________________________ Distress again (0-10): ____
If you do not know which distortion you are looking at, the ten of them are explained here.
Paper is fine and always was. The one thing an app adds is that the distortions are in front of you rather than recalled from memory, and the old records are searchable.
Relief is these columns on an iPhone. Everything stays encrypted on the device — no account, no cloud — and five complete records every three months are free, with no card.