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Why use thought records in CBT?
A thought record is a common cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) exercise. It’s a practical way to capture and examine your thoughts and feelings about a situation, and your evidence for them, using a set of 7 prompts. A thought diary is a journal in which you record your significant thoughts, behaviors and triggers to those thoughts in a sequenced and orderly manner. Usually, the psychotherapist will specify a format for you to write the journal in. These thought diaries are fodder to psychotherapy sessions. CBT is based on the cognitive model of mental illness, initially developed by Beck (1964). In its simplest form, the cognitive model ‘hypothesises that people’s emotions and behaviours are influenced by their perceptions of events. There are 7 steps to completing the Mind Over Mood thought record. I’ll give you an overview, though this isn’t meant as a comprehensive guide. The CBT Model Info Sheet is a one-page worksheet designed to explain the cognitive model through accessible writing and examples. Your clients will learn how their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors interact, and the value of changing their negative thinking patterns.
Why use thought records?
Thought records are a tool used in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you recognize and change your unhelpful thoughts. The purpose of a thought record is to get you into the habit of paying attention to your thoughts and working to change them. It involves writing down your thoughts, either in a journal or on a piece of paper, and examining them in more detail. Thought records break the cycle of automatic thinking – in which you immediately assume that your thoughts are real and accurate. Thinking is an important mental process. It helps us to define and organise experiences, plan, learn, reflect and create. But sometimes our thinking may for a variety of reasons become unhelpful and this has a negative impact on our well being. In the behavioural part of CBT, you learn to understand how your thoughts and your behaviour influence each other. This is Stage 3. Sometimes the things you do influence your thoughts. There are 7 steps to completing the Mind Over Mood thought record. I’ll give you an overview, though this isn’t meant as a comprehensive guide.