When your mood takes a sudden dip, it helps to ask what just went through your mind. Often it’s a quick thought you barely noticed, like they’re annoyed with me or I’ve ruined it. A thought record is a way to catch that thought, weigh the evidence on both sides, and find a view you can believe.
Free. No account. What you write stays on your device.
- 1Situation
Tuesday, about 2 p.m., at my desk. Nobody answered my dinner invite in the group chat, and two people had read it.
- 2Feelings
Lonely 75, embarrassed 55, anxious 40
- 3Thoughts and images
They don’t want to hang out with me. I’m always the one who reaches out. Nobody really wants me around.
- 4Hot thought
Nobody really wants me around. Believed 80
- 5Evidence for
Two people read it and didn’t answer for an hour. I organized the last two dinners.
- 6Evidence against
It’s a Tuesday afternoon, and they’re at work until six. Priya answered within minutes last time. Sam invited me to his birthday.
- 7Balanced thought
Nobody has answered yet, and that stings. A slow reply is more likely about their afternoon than about me. Believed 70
- 8Feelings now
Lonely 75 → 45, embarrassed 55 → 30, anxious 40 → 20Hot thought 80 → 35
- 9What I learned
When I’m lonely I read silence as rejection. Next, wait until the evening, then text Priya on her own.
- In your browserThe feelings wheel, guiding questions, and ratings built in. It saves on this device.
- On paperA column version on one sheet and a guided two-page version, printable and fillable, in English and Spanish.
- iPhone, iPad, and AndroidKeep your records together, jot down the first steps fast, and finish later. On Google Play now, and coming soon to the App Store.
What it is
A thought record, sometimes called a thought log or thought diary, is one of the core tools of cognitive behavioral therapy. You take one moment that upset you and slow it down. What happened, what you felt and how strongly, and what went through your mind. Then you pick the thought that hit hardest and treat it as a claim to be checked, not a fact. What supports it? What doesn’t? Taking all of that into account, what is a fairer way to see it, and how do you feel now?
Aaron Beck and his colleagues published the first version in 1979, as part of cognitive therapy for depression. Since then it has been taught and published in many versions, and the best known is Christine Padesky’s seven-column record in Mind Over Mood, which gives the evidence on each side its own column. Most thought records, including this one, follow the same basic sequence. This one adds a separate step for choosing the hot thought and one at the end for writing down what you noticed.
The point isn’t to think positive. Sometimes the evidence mostly supports the worry, and that is useful to know too. The point is to see the situation more accurately, and usually to feel a bit less weighed down by it.
For therapists
Worksheets you can hand out or send, with the nine steps and ratings on 0 to 100 or 0 to 10. The column version fits the whole record on one sheet, with an example and the thinking styles on the back, and the guided version gives each step its own space and prompt. They come in English and Spanish, as printable and fillable PDFs. The client guide explains the method in plain language with a worked example on the back.
There are also notes on introducing records in stages, what to look for when a client brings one in, and when a record is the wrong tool, as with reassurance seeking in OCD or health anxiety.
Questions people ask
Isn’t this just positive thinking?
No. Positive thinking starts with the conclusion you’d like. A thought record starts with the evidence, and takes the side that supports the worry seriously. A good balanced thought often keeps part of the original, like “I rushed one section and it showed, which is worth fixing. One revision doesn’t make me bad at my job.”
What if the thought turns out to be true?
That happens. The record still helps, because it separates what is true from what the thought adds, like “forever” or “it’s all my fault,” and it points to what you can do. There’s an example of this.
I believe the new thought in my head but not in my gut.
Very common. Rate it anyway, and notice whether it grows over a few days. Testing the thought in real life can work better than more writing, which is what a behavioral experiment is for.
Is this therapy?
No. It’s a worksheet and a set of educational articles based on published CBT methods. Many people use thought records between sessions with a therapist, and support from a therapist tends to help more, especially when problems are more than mild. If the same worry keeps coming back however often you examine it, or you’re dealing with trauma, please talk to a professional. When a record isn’t the right tool.
Where does my writing go?
Nowhere. The online worksheet saves in your own browser. The app keeps everything on your device unless you turn on sync to your own iCloud or Google Drive. We have no server and never see what you write. Privacy.
The app
The same nine steps, in your pocket
Guidance and an example on every step. The feelings wheel for finding the right word. Gentle notes when a thought is written as a question or a guess is listed as evidence. A before and after view at the end, a Patterns screen, and a session summary PDF for your therapist.
No accounts, no ads, no analytics. English and Spanish. Free on Google Play now, and coming soon to iPhone and iPad.
