Thought diary
Lily
Here’s an example of Lily, who believed her dinner party was ruined and viewed herself a failure as a person because her cake did not turn out well.
| 1) Event: What was the event, situation, thought, image or memory? |
| Making a cake that looked bad for my party |
| 2) Beliefs: What went through my mind? What does it say about me as a person? Am I using unhelpful thinking styles e.g. double standards, overgeneralizing, should statements? Rate how strongly I believe in each thought 0-100%. |
| I have failed as a host and screwed up the dinner party (90%) – noticing the negative, ignoring the positive Because the cake looked wrong, I am a bad host and a failure (90%) – over-generalizing, labelling I should be more careful (70%) – should statement |
| 3) Feelings: What was I feeling? (use the circle of feelings, and you can have more than one feeling) Rate how strongly you feel it 0-100%. |
| Anxious 95%; sad 50% |
| 4) Challenge the thought: What would a friend say? Is there another way of viewing this thought? |
| Everyone said they had a good time, the food was delicious. One of my friends said the cake tasted good and it is the taste that matters, not the looks. I have not failed as a person because of the cake; the dinner was very good overall and the dessert made little difference. |
| 5) Result: How do you feel now? Rate how strong your feelings are now 0-100%. |
| Anxious 60%; sad 30% |
It's your turn!
(PS: it doesn’t have to be perfect, and it’s normal to find it difficult the first time you do it!)
Think of a time recently when you felt upset for not meeting a goal. Follow the steps below to challenge your thinking by seeing it from a different view:
| 1) Event: What was the event, situation, thought, image or memory? |
| 2) Beliefs: What went through my mind? What does it say about me as a person? Am I using unhelpful thinking styles e.g. double standards, overgeneralizing, should statements? Rate how strongly I believe in each thought 0-100%. |
| 3) Feelings: What was I feeling? (use the circle of feelings, and you can have more than one feeling) Rate how strongly you feel it 0-100%. |
| 4) Challenge the thought: What would a friend say? Is there another way of viewing this thought? |
| 5) Result: How do you feel now? Rate how strong your feelings are now 0-100%. |
What did you discover after challenging your thoughts? Could you name your unhelpful thinking and replace it with more helpful, balanced thinking? Did this reduce your negative feelings and strength of belief in those unhelpful thoughts?
You may find the first time to be quite difficult. This is completely normal: If you have been thinking in a way for a long time, it can be difficult to change it at the start. But once you have had a little practice, it gets much easier. The key is writing the thoughts down, rather than trying to challenge them in your head, and to keep practising.
To master this skill, try completing 2 or 3 thought diaries of your past experiences, or doing one whenever you experience some strong feelings for the next week. You will probably notice that the same unhelpful thinking styles come up each time. This is useful, as you can start to come up with helpful options that will apply in more than one area of your life.