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THOUGHT ANALYSIS WORKSHEET

1. EMOTION: what was the emotion you were experiencing that motivated you to take

out this worksheet? Sometimes people have so many emotions at the same time that they get confused, or sometimes people don’t know which emotions they are having. Here are some common emotions. Check the emotion you experienced and rate how strong it was

from 0-100% where 0 means a lack of emotion and 100% is as much emotion as you can experience.

Emotion	Percent 0-100%	Emotion	Percent 0-100%
Anxiety/Worry		Frustration
Fear		Inadequacy
Sadness
Anger

2. Think about what was happening around you just before you had a negative feeling

and write it down. Sometimes even things that may seem unimportant have meaning. Did

you get an upsetting phone call? Were your family members arguing with you? Write it down.

3. What did you think about the situation OR yourself? What was your basic assessment

of the events? Did you assess the situation as a threat, or a loss? List all of the thoughts

that went through your mind. This is the tricky part as our thinking tends to happen so quickly and so automatically, but you need to practice.

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4. Consider the common mistakes in thinking that people make. Often times one thought

can fit into more than one category. Go ahead and check off the cognitive distortions that

match your thoughts. Refer to the full description of cognitive distortions if you need help remembering what the different distortions mean or how they work.

All or nothing thinking	Fortune telling
Labeling	Magnification
Overgeneralization	Emotional reasoning
Mental Filter	Should, ought, must, have-to statements
Discounting the positive	Personalization
Mind reading	Blame

5. Now its time to examine your thinking. Sometimes it helps to get someone you trust,

someone who is on your side to help you with this part if you are stuck. What I need you to do is look at the thoughts you wrote down in part 3 and ask yourself if there are ANY other possible explanations or interpretations for the situation in question. Write them all down. The more the merrier.

6. Now that you have gone through the exercise, re-rate your emotional state. Even if

there is a slight reduction in the intensity of emotion you have succeeded. The greater the reduction in emotion, the less motivated you will be to take actions that are dramatic or unhelpful, the better you will feel physically, and the more you will feel in control of yourself.

Emotion	Percent 0-100%	Emotion	Percent 0-100%
Anxiety/Worry		Frustration
Fear		Inadequacy
Sadness		Shame
Anger		Guilt