DBT for Private Practice ERwkst2.

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Blame and Guilt

Below, identify situations that cause you to feel either blame or guilt. In the first column write the situation, in
the second column identify your thoughts about the situation, and in the third column describe how those
thoughts increase your sense of blame or guilt.

The situation (Example:
I’m so depressed I can’t
force myself to go to work.)
Your thoughts about the
situation (Example: I should
be able to get to work, no
matter how I feel.)
How your thoughts increase blame
or guilt feelings (Example: I’m to
blame for my troubles because my
feelings should not cause me to miss
work, no matter what.)

© Thomas Marra/New Harbinger Publications 2005

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The problem with guilt and blame with emotional pain is that these feelings do nothing but make us feel worse.
Blame is a form of faultfinding. It does not point to a solution to the problem. Guilt increases depression. It, too,
does nothing to help you find a solution to the problem. Review the situations you wrote about in the previous
exercise (don’t create new ones, use the same situations you used in the worksheet above). In the following
worksheet, revise your thoughts about the situation so that they are problem focused, pointing to a solution to the
problem rather than kicking yourself with blame.

The situation you were in
(Example: I’m so depressed
I can’t force myself to go to
work.)
Thoughts about the
problem itself (not about
you) (Example: I need to get
to work even when I feel
depressed.)
Thoughts that help you solve the
problem rather than increase
blame and guilt (Example: I need to
stop asking myself if I feel like
getting to work and just get moving.
Lots of people don’t want to work on
a particular day, and that doesn’t
mean that they are bad people.)

© Thomas Marra/New Harbinger Publications 2005

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© Thomas Marra/New Harbinger Publications 2005

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