The Foundations of CBT (Diagram & Brief Explanation)

When we begin to develop a deeper understanding of ourselves

emotionally, CBT encourages us to break down our specific
problems into an A-B-C format, through which:

‘A’ is an activating event. An activating event means a real external

event that has occurred, a future event that we might anticipate occurring,
or an internal event in our mind, such as an image, memory, or even a
dream. The ‘A’ is often referred to as the ‘trigger’ of our emotional
responses.

‘B’ is representative of our beliefs. Our beliefs include your thought

patterns, the rules that we live by, the demands we make (on ourselves,
the world and even other people), and the meanings that we attach to the
external and internal events of our lives.

‘C’ stands for the consequences. Consequences include your emotions,

behaviours, and physical sensations that accompany different emotions as
a result of our experiences in life.

The above diagram illustrates the (broken down) A-B-C parts of every
problem that we will work with on, either within ourselves, or with our
clients as CBT practitioners.

Writing down any problem in A-B-C format (which is a core CBT technique)
helps us to differentiate between our (or our clients) thoughts, feelings,
behaviours, and the trigger event that sets the whole sequence in motion.

There is more information about the A-B-C form in the next

section, and you will also be able to download a form to practice
on either yourself or other people.