Thought Records - A simple CBT tool to break the cycle of anxiety
- caitlyn50
- Feb 11
- 3 min read
Thought records are a fundamental tool in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy designed to help you identify, understand, and challenge that patterns that are getting you stuck. Taking the time to notice what you are thinking helps build your awareness and gain perspective. Thought records are also a tool you can use beyond your time in individual therapy.
Here's how it works:
#1 - Identify of the Situation:
Begin by describing the situation or triggering event that led to distressing thoughts and emotions. This could be a specific event, interaction, or a recurring circumstance. It can also be something internal, like a memory, an intrusive thought or an image.
#2 - How do you feel?
Record the emotions experienced in response to the identified situation. This step helps in recognizing the emotional impact and understanding the connection between thoughts and feelings.
"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." – Jon Kabat-Zin
#3 -What are you thinking?
Identify the automatic thoughts that arise in response to the situation. Automatic thoughts are immediate, and sometimes subconscious. You may be quite surprised by what goes through your mind when you are feeling anxious, sad, or overwhelmed. But you will also find that your emotions make perfect sense when you identify how you are speaking to yourself.
#4 - How are you coping?
When we experience negative emotions it is natural to want them to go away. Sometimes you we respond by surrendering, feeling hopeless that the situation can change. Other times we might seek to avoid situations that trigger the upsetting thoughts and feelings. Sometimes we try to solve the problem with worry and rumination or repetative compulsive behaviors. Notice what you are doing in response to the thoughts and feelings and how you are trying to solve the problem.
#5 - Evaluate your thoughts and coping
Now that we've laid out the connections between our thoughts, emotions and behaviors, it's time to step back. We are taught to believe our thoughts but just because you think it doesn't make it true! And the solutions that make us feel better in the moment can hurt us in the long run. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help evaluate your thinking and response patterns:
What parts of my thought process and feelings feel valid?
What parts feel exagerated or don't make sense when I read them back?
Are there any thinking traps like all or nothing thinking, generalizing, personalizing, mind reading?
Are these thoughts useful to me? Do they help me productively solve my problem?
Would I tell a friend the same thing if there were dealing with the same problem?
#6 - Gain a balanced perspective and try something new
Based on your evaluation, take some time to consider different ways of looking at the situation. Are your coping strategies making things better or worse for you in the long run? Sometimes the new perspective become clear quickly, but often working with a cognitive behavior therapist is necessary to build this skills.
Learn more about Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Thoughts records are an important toll in cognitive behavior therapy for learning to manage anxiety, depressions and the ups and downs of life.
Want to learn more? Read more about CBT on my website or reach out to work with me directly.
Caitlyn Oscarson is a therapist in private practice in Campbell (San Jose), CA. She specializes in evidence-based treatment for anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder.
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