Challenging negative thoughts worksheet
By
HappierTherapy
Author bio
The Happier Therapy editorial team is made up of Masters and PhD counselling psychologists. Each worksheet is created by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The worksheet then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
Download Worksheet
What is the theory behind this Challenging negative thoughts worksheet?
Challenging negative thoughts is an important technique in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). There are certain automatic negative thought patterns that greatly affect clients’ views about themselves and the world around them. It is important to identify such thoughts so that an effort can be made to replace them with helpful alternatives.
How will the worksheet help?
The worksheet will help clients in reframing their thought process. It will give them a chance to pause and analyze the negative automatic thoughts so that they can consider helpful alternatives. Doing so will enable them to have adaptive emotional and behavioral outcomes.
How to use the worksheet?
The clients can begin by listing an event or situation that has recently triggered negative emotions. Then, they can note the automatic negative thoughts and analyze them by listing down supporting and contradictory evidence. Once they complete a thorough analysis, they will have an objective, more balanced view of the situation.