CBT Thought Record

Print a fresh sheet every time a thought catches you. Work through it in order — don’t skip the evidence steps, that’s where the shift happens.

What happened? Who, what, when, where — stick to the facts.

Describe the situation

Name each feeling and rate its strength now (0–100).

Emotion 1 + intensity (0–100)

Emotion 2 + intensity (0–100)

Emotion 3 + intensity (0–100)

The loudest thought in your head. Write it word-for-word, then rate how strongly you believe it (0–100%).

Hot thought

Belief in the thought (0–100%)

Check any that apply to the hot thought.

All-or-nothing thinking Things are either perfect or a disaster Catastrophizing Jumping to the worst-case outcome Mind reading Assuming you know what others think Fortune telling Predicting the future negatively Emotional reasoning "I feel it, so it must be true" Labeling "I’m a failure" instead of "I failed this" Should statements Rigid rules about how things must be Personalization Blaming yourself for things outside your control Discounting the positive Brushing off good things that happened Mental filter Fixating on one negative detail Overgeneralization One bad event = a pattern forever Magnification / minimization Blowing up negatives, shrinking positives

Only facts. What actually supports it?

Evidence for

Facts that don’t fit. What would you tell a friend?

Evidence against

A more accurate view that holds both sets of evidence.

Balanced thought

Belief in the balanced thought (0–100%)

Now, how strong are those feelings? (0–100)

Emotion 1 now

Emotion 2 now

Emotion 3 now

Situation

Emotions

Automatic thought

Cognitive distortions

Evidence FOR the thought

Evidence AGAINST the thought

Balanced thought

Re-rate emotions