Prompts For Challenging Negative Thinking

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)

suggests that the way you think affects How could this tool help me?

ts
the way you feel. Everyone has hundreds
of ‘automatic’ thoughts each day. Unless This exercise provides prompts to help you:

lien
you pay attention to them, you might not
• Examine your negative thoughts, rather than accepting them as ‘true’.
even be aware that they’re happening.

wit nlo r:
• Evaluate whether your negative thoughts are accurate or useful.

ou s
Automatic thoughts can be positive • Look at your negative thoughts from more helpful perspectives.

ng ow fo
h y ad
(they lead to positive emotions like • Identify any biases in your thinking.

rc
joy or excitement), negative (they lead
to negative emotions like sadness or

an
anxiety), or neutral (they don’t make you
feel much at all). How should I use it?

sh free pl
These thoughts can also be biased. The
Each part of the exercise will ask you to consider different things.
thoughts you have about a situation
are an interpretation, and not every 1. What is your negative thought? Write down a thought that recently
for rk- aid
interpretation is 100% true. Because your distressed you. The thought might have been a statement that popped into

d
thoughts affect how you feel, biased your mind, something you said to yourself, a mental image, or a memory.
thinking can contribute to emotional 2. Evidence. Explore the evidence that supports (and does not support) your
ed ma a p

difficulties, like anxiety and depression. thought.

Challenging your negative thoughts 3. Helpfulness. Judge whether your thought seems useful or productive.
can help you correct these biases in
4. Alternative perspectives. Look at your thought from different points of
your thinking. Gaining a more accurate
view.
o

perspective on events may reduce how

ari

distressed you feel. You can practice re- 5. Thinking biases. Identify any ways in which your thought might be
t

evaluating your negative thoughts using distorted.

de

the Prompts For Challenging Negative 6. Write an alternative thought. Now that you have re-evaluated your
Thinking exercise. original thought, try to construct a more balanced alternative. What would
be a more accurate and helpful way of interpreting this situation?
- L - W gra
ns ter

Prompts For Challenging Negative Thinking

Use the list of prompts below to help you assess the truthfulness of your negative thinking.

Evidence
Am I confusing a fact with an opinion?
Helpful tips
Up

What is the evidence for the negative thought?

a

What is the evidence against the negative thought?

Are there any small things that contradict the thought? Perhaps things that I am discounting as unimportant?

Helpfulness
Are these thoughts helpful to me?
• If possible, practice challenging your negative thoughts with the help of
Will thoughts like this help me to achieve my goals?
Do thoughts like this truly have my best interests at heart?
your therapist first.
Alternative perspectives
• When you challenge your thought, make sure you work through more than
If a good friend knew I were having this thought, what would they say to me?

one set of prompts. Challenging a thought from several angles is most

If someone I loved had this thought, what would I tell them?
What would Batman say to me about this thought?
Am I making the mistake of assuming my perspective on this issue is the only one?
If I wasn’t interested in punishing or condemning myself would I think in this way?

effective.
Ten years from now, if I look back on this situation, will I look at it any differently?

• Some of the questions might lead to shifts in your thinking and others
ice

Thinking biases
Am I thinking in all-or-nothing terms? (Am I using words like ‘always’ or ‘never’?)

might not. That’s OK. Keep working through the list of prompts.
Am I catastrophizing?
Am I jumping to any conclusions that are not completely justified by the evidence?
Am I holding myself to a higher standard than I would hold other people?
Am I labelling myself?

• If you are unfamiliar with biases like ‘catastrophizing’ or ‘jumping to

Am I focusing on my weaknesses and minimizing my strengths?
Am I making unreasonable demands? (Am I using words like ‘should’, ‘must’, or ‘ought’?)
Am I condemning myself totally on the basis of a single event?
Am I blaming myself for something over which I do not have complete control?
When I am not feeling this way, do I still think about this type of situation in the same way?

PSYCHOLOGYT LS
®
Copyright © 2020 Psychology Tools Limited. All rights reserved.
conclusions’, the Psychology Tools Cognitive Distortions – Unhelpful Thinking
Styles (Extended) information handout describes each one in more detail.
See if any apply to your thought.

Copyright © 2023 Psychology Tools Limited. All rights reserved.

Prompts For Challenging Negative Thinking
Use the list of prompts below to help you assess the truthfulness of your negative thinking.

ts
Evidence
Am I confusing a fact with an opinion?

lien
What is the evidence for the negative thought?

wit nlo r:
What is the evidence against the negative thought?

ou s
Are there any small things that contradict the thought? Perhaps things that I am discounting as unimportant?

ng ow fo
h y ad
rc
an
Helpfulness

sh free pl
Are these thoughts helpful to me?
Will thoughts like this help me to achieve my goals?
Do thoughts like this truly have my best interests at heart?
for rk- aid
d
ed ma a p

Alternative perspectives
If a good friend knew I were having this thought, what would they say to me?
o

If someone I loved had this thought, what would I tell them?

ari

What would Batman say to me about this thought?

t

Am I making the mistake of assuming my perspective on this issue is the only one?
de

If I wasn’t interested in punishing or condemning myself would I think in this way?

Ten years from now, if I look back on this situation, will I look at it any differently?
- L - W gra
ns ter
Up
a

Thinking biases
Am I thinking in all-or-nothing terms? (Am I using words like ‘always’ or ‘never’?)
Am I catastrophizing?
Am I jumping to any conclusions that are not completely justified by the evidence?
Am I holding myself to a higher standard than I would hold other people?
Am I labelling myself?
Am I focusing on my weaknesses and minimizing my strengths?
ice

Am I making unreasonable demands? (Am I using words like ‘should’, ‘must’, or ‘ought’?)
Am I condemning myself totally on the basis of a single event?
Am I blaming myself for something over which I do not have complete control?
When I am not feeling this way, do I still think about this type of situation in the same way?

PSYCHOLOGYT LS
®
Copyright © 2020 Psychology Tools Limited. All rights reserved.
Prompts For Challenging Negative Thinking
Use the list of prompts below to help you assess the accuracy of your thinking.

What is your negative thought:

ts
lien
wit nlo r:
ou s
ng ow fo
Evidence

h y ad
rc
[ ] Am I confusing a fact with an opinion?
[ ] What is the evidence for the negative thought?
[ ] What is the evidence against the negative thought?

an
[ ] Are there any small things that contradict the thought? Perhaps things that I am discounting as unimportant?

sh free pl
Helpfulness
[ ] Are these thoughts helpful to me?
[ ] Will thoughts like this help me to achieve my goals?
for rk- aid
[ ] Do thoughts like this truly have my best interests at heart?

Alternative perspectives
d
[ ] If a good friend knew I were having this thought, what would they say to me?
ed ma a p

[ ] If someone I loved had this thought, what would I tell them?

[ ] What would Batman say to me about this thought?
[ ] Am I making the mistake of assuming my perspective on this issue is the only one?
[ ] If I wasn’t interested in punishing or condemning myself would I think in this way?
o

[ ] Ten years from now, if I look back on this situation, will I look at it any differently?
ari
t

Thinking biases
de

[ ] Am I thinking in all-or-nothing terms? (Am I using words like ‘always’ or ‘never’?)

[ ] Am I catastrophizing?
[ ] Am I jumping to any conclusions that are not completely justified by the evidence?
- L - W gra

[ ] Am I holding myself to a higher standard than I would hold other people?

ns ter

[ ] Am I labelling myself?
[ ] Am I focusing on my weaknesses and minimizing my strengths?
[ ] Am I making unreasonable demands? (Am I using words like ‘should’, ‘must’, or ‘ought’?)
Up
a

[ ] Am I condemning myself totally on the basis of a single event?

[ ] Am I blaming myself for something over which I do not have complete control?
[ ] When I am not feeling this way, do I still think about this type of situation in the same way?

Write an alternative thought now:

ice

PSYCHOLOGYT LS
®
Copyright © 2020 Psychology Tools Limited. All rights reserved.