CBT basics
“What happened? Be specific.”
What is the situation?
Believing the worst possible outcome will happen.
What is catastrophizing?
This type of evidence supports your original thought.
What is evidence for the thought?
This is a negative thought you often have about yourself.
What is a self-critical thought?
This sentence begins with: “Even when I struggle…”
What is a self-worth statement?
These are the immediate thoughts that pop into your mind during a situation.
What are automatic thoughts?
Seeing things as all good or all bad with no middle ground.
What is all-or-nothing thinking?
This type challenges or weakens your original belief.
What is evidence against the thought?
This describes how a thought makes you feel emotionally.
What is emotional impact?
These are positive qualities you identify about yourself.
What are strengths?
These are rated from 0–100 and include anxiety, sadness, anger, and shame.
What are emotions?
Assuming you know what others are thinking without evidence.
What is mind reading?
This step helps you form a more fair and realistic perspective.
What is cognitive restructuring?
This asks where a belief originally came from.
What is the origin of the belief?
These are difficult experiences you have overcome.
What are challenges survived?
This CBT step involves identifying thinking errors like catastrophizing or mind reading.
What are cognitive distortions?
Using feelings as proof that something is true.
What is emotional reasoning?
After reframing, you rate these again to see improvement.
What are emotions (new emotion rating)?
This step focuses only on facts, not feelings.
What is an evidence-based reality check?
These guide your decisions and what matters most to you.
What are values?
This step asks you to rewrite your thinking into something more realistic.
What is a balanced thought?
Making broad conclusions based on one event.
What is overgeneralization?
This CBT process involves analyzing and changing unhelpful thoughts.
What is a thought record?
This is rewriting a harsh thought in a kind, realistic way.
What is a compassionate reframe?
This overall concept reflects how you see your value as a person.
What is self-worth?