14 DAY

CBT JOURNALING
WORKBOOK
C OG N I T I VE B E H AV I O U R A L T H E R A PY

DA R L IN G , YO U ’ RE D I FFE RE N T.
 DISCLAIMER
This PDF is based on Aaron T Beck’s research into Cognitive Behavioural
Therapy and his traditional Thought Record worksheet. It is, however, all my
own work and must only be used for personal purposes.
YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

IN A NUTSHELL
This workbook is designed to help you recognise and counter self-critical and perfectionist thinking
patterns by taking you step by step through a series of thought monitoring questions, in just 10
minutes a day. The steps will show you how to breakdown your thoughts and assess how effective
and useful they are in building your confidence and self-compassion.

THIS EXERCISE IS FOR YOU IF:

• You feel easily overwhelmed or worried and those feelings stop you from taking positive action
• You find yourself having self-critical thoughts that knock your confidence
• Your high standards and need for perfection make it challenging to feel happy with yourself and
your abilities
• You feel regularly stressed because you lack the belief and confidence in yourself to do well

COMPLETING THIS EXERCISE DAILY FOR 14 DAYS WILL:

• Build up your awareness of the quality of your thoughts and how useful they are in achieving
your goals
• Help you to fully understand the impact critical thoughts have on your sense of confidence and
wellbeing
• Develop your ability to counter self-critical thoughts on an ongoing basis, without needing to
write them down
• Build your self-esteem and develop self-compassionate thinking

THROUGHOUT THIS EXERCISE YOU WILL BE:

• Recording specific thought patterns daily
• Evaluating the meaning behind your thoughts
• Assessing how truthful they are
• Questioning how useful they are in building up your confidence
• Reworking them to be based on reality and fact as opposed to assumptions and opinions
• Generating mood-lifting, confidence boosting thoughts
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY (CBT)

HOW IT WORKS
Our thoughts are the most important factor in human psychology because of the significant influence
they have on our lives. The way we think drastically impacts the beliefs we have about ourselves,
and in turn, effects our relationships, careers, health and overall wellbeing. While external factors will
always influence the quality of your life to a certain degree, it is mostly your interpretation of external
factors, i.e. the way you think, that has the greatest impact.

In CBT it is recognised that there are helpful and unhelpful ways of reacting to any situation. If
your tendency is to think that you and everything you do has to be perfect, then small mistakes or
setbacks will feel like major failures. If you dwell on anxious thoughts and worries, this will eventually
lead to feeling hopeless or overwhelmed and prevent you from taking positive actions forward. If you
regularly spend time thinking about your insecurities and weaknesses, this will eventually lead to low
self-esteem. How you interpret events and your ability to reframe them is the difference between a
joyful, confident and empowered mindset and one filled with anxiety and low confidence.

CBT helps to lessen the impact of negative thought patterns like these by breaking them down to
feel more realistic and self-compassionate, and ultimately improve the way you feel and think about
yourself. But just like building a strong, healthy body requires consistent attention and work, so does
improving the quality of our thoughts. This journaling exercise walks you through the steps required
to begin taking consistent action.

LET’S TRY A QUICK EXERCISE:

Picture a green apple in your mind.

Now picture a blue apple.

Now picture a pink apple.

Did you successfully manage to picture these 3 different apples? Yes? Great!

What this tells us is that you have control over what you think about. When you were instructed
to picture an apple in 3 different colours, you were able to do it. The same applies to your self-
critical thoughts - you have the power to decide what thoughts you have, to interpret experiences
differently and to create conclusions that will support your self-esteem and overall wellbeing.

IF YOU TAKE IN JUST 1 THING FROM THIS BOOK LET IT BE THIS:

Rather than thinking of individual thoughts as true or correct, think of them in terms of how they
affect you. Are your thoughts supporting you to achieve your goals, to build your self-esteem and to
take positive actions forward, or are they knocking your confidence and holding you back? If it’s the
latter, are they worth having and paying attention to?

While you cannot eradicate negative thoughts or feel eternally positive, you absolutely can:
• Become more aware of when you’re being self-critical
• Develop more control over your negative thoughts
• Counter your self-critical thoughts with self-compassionate ones
• Consciously increase the amount of positive thoughts you have to support you in feeling
confident and in control.
HOW TO USE THIS WORKBOOK

READY TO GET STARTED?

Within your workbook you will find a daily journaling exercise comprised of 9 questions. You will
complete these questions at a convenient time each day and your answers will relate to situations
from the previous 24 hours. It is the daily repetition of this task that will ensure you develop a strong
awareness of your thoughts, and will allow you to take this type of thinking from an exercise on
paper, to a natural habit in your own mind.

It is highly likely you will start to notice some patterns emerging throughout the 14 days, either
relating to triggering situations or specific thoughts. After 2 weeks of filling out the questions you will
assess your answers and draw conclusions on where your thinking is most critical. This will provide a
valuable insight into the areas of your life that need the most self-compassion and attention.

You can write as much as you like, but just 1 or 2 short sentences is all that’s required and it should
only take 10-15 minutes a day. If you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up. Just carry on the next day. Be
honest, open and consistent, and you’ll feel your thinking change in no time!

Once you complete your 14 days, take this type of thinking with you. Keep up the habit of noticing
when your thoughts are being critical. Assess how the thought is affecting you. Challenge those
thoughts with more compassionate and helpful ones. You will get self-sabotaging thoughts - they
won’t disappear. But the more you notice them and the more gentle you are with yourself, the greater
your confidence and sense of control will be.

STEP 1

NAME THE CRITIC

To kick off this 14 day journey you’ll begin by naming the critical voice we’re trying to quieten here.
This might sound a little odd, but this is actually a really effective exercise for three reasons:

1. It aids the process of building up your awareness by creating a persona for what is otherwise an
invisible, rambling voice in your own imagination. You can now visualise the person behind the
voice - and it’s not you.
2. It detaches you from the thoughts. Of course, you’re the one thinking them but by naming the
voice you are giving the thoughts to someone else, and observing the thoughts happening
instead of being the thoughts. The more you disassociate yourself from it, the more you’ll stop
embodying what’s being said.
3. It provides a clear way of handling those thoughts. ’I’m not smart enough’, or ‘I’m not thin enough
for that dress’, are immediately countered with, ‘Oh be quiet Rachel, that’s not helpful!’. By telling
your Caroline/Michael/Jenny to shut up, you are actively quietening the thoughts.

So pick any name that feels fitting and begin to notice when they start chatting!

MY INNER CRITIC IS CALLED:

STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 1 - EXAMPLE PAGE

1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

I’m no good at my job because I always make mistakes.

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

My manager sent me an email expressing her disappointment about a task

I’d forgotten.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?

No. Someone who is no good at their job would be uninvested in their work. They
would have no success, they wouldn’t understand how to do their job correctly and
would get regular warnings from their manager. I dropped the ball this one time, but
I’m usually good at my job. I’ve never had a complaint before now.
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 1 - EXAMPLE PAGE

5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

Evidence to support the thought ‘I’m no good at my job’ includes: The mistake I made,
the email I received pointing it out and being slow to reply to emails. Evidence to
contradict the thought includes: I’ve been promoted, I am included in all important
meetings, and I’ve had positive feedback off our clients and my colleagues. It’s not
accurate when considering everything I’ve achieved.

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

The thoughts knock my confidence and make me question myself and my

decisions at work. They do not help me to feel more confident and to grow in
my job, like I would want. The thought it not useful.

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

I screwed up this one task, but everything else this week has gone to plan. Its not the
end of the world and I can correct it tomorrow.

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

That I am jumping to conclusions and don’t need to listen to my own criticism.

My own criticism is not helpful in moving me forward at work. I should and can be
kinder to myself.

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?

- I got everything done on my to-do list for the day.

- I had a great meeting with someone from another department, in which I learnt a lot.
- I didn’t snooze my alarm today.
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 1
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 1
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 2
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 2
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 3
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 3
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 4
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 4
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 5
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 5
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 6
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 6
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 7
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 7
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 8
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 8
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 9
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
 STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 9
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 10
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 10
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 11
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 11
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 12
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 12
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 13
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 13
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 14
1. What is the one main critical thought you had today?

2. Describe the triggering situation (for example, an event, memory, dream, conversation etc) that led to your critical thought.

3. Tick the 1 or 2 thinking patterns below that best describe this type of critical thought.

Mind reading - Assuming you know what others are feeling and thinking, without asking or hearing it from them.
Catastrophising/Worst-case scenario thinking - Expecting the worst and blowing situations out of proportion.
Personalising - Blaming yourself and taking responsibility for things beyond your control.
Jumping to conclusions - Drawing conclusions with no evidence to back it up.
Emotional reasoning - Believing something is the case because you feel it, not because there is evidence for it.
Applying excessive pressure with ‘should’ and ‘must’ statements - Having rules for how you and others ‘should’ behave.
Blaming - Blaming others for your problems, or blaming yourself for other people’s problems.
Filtering - Focusing only on a negative event and ignoring any positives.
Overgeneralising - Basing your opinion on one or few events and expecting all others to have the same outcome.
Black and white thinking - Viewing things as right or wrong, perfect or disaster, without seeing a middle ground.
Minimising - Belittling the importance of your own value, abilities and achievements.
Critically labelling - Calling yourself negative names such as ‘idiot’ or ‘loser’.
Other - Write your answer below.

4. Thinking objectively, do you actually embody a literal definition of your critical thought in question 1?
STEP 2 - YOUR CBT JOURNALING EXERCISE

DAY 14
5. How much real world evidence is there to support and contradict your critical thought? Is it an accurate statement when
considering the triggering situation?

6. How does the critical thought affect you? What feelings does the thought evoke? Is the thought useful in helping you to
move closer to your goals? Does the thought make you feel confident and thriving day-to-day?

7. What is a kinder and more realistic alternative statement that you can counter the thought with? Is the situation as bad as
you first thought? What other ways could you interpret the trigger situation?

8. What have you learnt from this process of breaking down your thought that will benefit you going forward?

9. What are 3 ‘wins’ you have had today, big or small, that you can celebrate?
STEP 3 - REFLECT BACK

GREAT JOB
Congratulations on completing your daily journaling exercise. Really well done. This work is a vital
step towards improving the quality of your thinking. Now that you have completed these questions
your mind will be much more used to questioning your thoughts, dealing with criticism, from yourself
and others, and coming up with more positive interpretations of your trigger situations that are
actually useful to you and your confidence.

Now it’s time to reflect back over the your answers and draw some conclusions.

1. Reading back over your workbook answers, were there any thinking patterns you noticed recurring?

2. Did certain situations trigger you more than others?

3. Come up with 2 ideas for limiting your recurring thinking patterns, and 2 ideas for managing the most triggering situations.

4. What have you learnt about your thinking over the last fortnight?