Printable thought record worksheet

A free CBT thought record worksheet as a PDF. Print it and fill it in by hand, or type into the fillable version on screen. Two pages, nine steps, and a short prompt under every heading, in English and Spanish.

Page 2 of the printable thought record worksheet, with boxes for the evidence for and against, a balanced thought, feelings now, and what you learned — Page 2: weighing the evidence and finding a balanced thought

Download the worksheet

Thought record, fillable PDFTwo pages, US Letter. Type into it in any PDF reader, then save or print. The nine steps with short prompts and 0 to 100 ratings. In Spanish.
Thought record, printable PDFThe same layout with ruled lines for writing by hand. In Spanish.
How to do a thought record, client guideTwo pages on the method, with a worked example on the back. Good to hand over with the first worksheet. In Spanish.
Thought record, 0 to 10 scaleThe same worksheet for clients who find ten points easier to use. Only the scale and the examples change. Fillable PDF or printable PDF. In Spanish: fillable, printable.

What’s on the worksheet

The record follows the sequence most thought records share, with one step for choosing the hot thought and one at the end for what you learned.

Situation. One specific moment, just the facts a camera would have caught.
Feelings. Each feeling in a word, rated from 0 to 100.
Thoughts and images. What went through your mind, written as statements.
Hot thought. The thought most tied to your strongest feeling, and how much you believe it.
Evidence for. Facts that support the hot thought.
Evidence against. Facts that don’t, or that suggest it isn’t the whole story.
Balanced thought. A view that takes both lists into account and that you can believe.
Feelings now. The same feelings rated again, and how much you still believe the hot thought.
What I learned. What stands out, and one small next step.

The step by step guide covers each part in more depth, and the worked examples show eight finished records, from a group chat that went quiet to a thought that turned out to be true.

Printing and filling it in

Both versions print on US Letter paper. Use one worksheet for each upsetting moment, so it helps to print a few at a time.
To type into the fillable version, open it in a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or Preview on a Mac, fill in each box, and save a copy.
If ten points are easier to use than a hundred, the 0 to 10 version is the same worksheet with a shorter scale.

Other ways to do one

If you’d rather type, the online thought record has the same nine steps, with the feelings wheel and guiding questions built in, and it saves in your own browser. The Thought Record app keeps your records together on your phone and lets you jot down the first steps fast and finish later.

Free to copy

The worksheets and the guide are free to copy for personal, clinical, and educational use. Therapists can find group session materials and notes on using records in session on the page for therapists.