What Is a Thought Record?

If you've ever spiralled into anxiety over something that turned out to be fine, you've experienced the power of your thoughts to shape how you feel. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is built on this insight, and the thought record is one of its most practical tools.

The CBT Model: Thoughts, Feelings, Behaviours

CBT is based on a straightforward idea: it's not events themselves that cause our emotional reactions, but our interpretation of those events. The same situation can make one person anxious and another person completely unbothered, depending on the thoughts each person has about it.

A thought record helps you slow down and examine this process. Instead of being swept along by automatic thoughts, you learn to catch them, question them, and develop more balanced alternatives.

How Thought Records Work

A thought record typically has several columns that walk you through a structured process:

1. The Situation

Start by describing what happened, as factually as possible. Not your interpretation of it — just the observable facts.

Example: "My manager didn't reply to my email for two days."

2. Your Emotions

Name what you felt and rate the intensity from 0 to 100.

Example: Anxious (80), worried (70), slightly embarrassed (40)

3. Automatic Thoughts

This is the core of the exercise. What went through your mind? What were you telling yourself about the situation? Write down the thoughts exactly as they occurred, even if they seem irrational.

Example: "She's ignoring me on purpose. I must have done something wrong in my last project. She's probably going to bring it up in my review. I might get fired."

4. Evidence For

Look for objective evidence that supports the thought. This needs to be factual, not based on feelings or assumptions.

Example: "She usually replies within a day. My last project had a few revisions."

5. Evidence Against

Now look for evidence that contradicts the thought. This is where the real shift begins.

Example: "She mentioned last week that she had back-to-back meetings this week. She's been late replying to the whole team recently. My last performance review was positive. She's never given me any indication that my job is at risk."

6. Balanced Thought

Based on all the evidence, write a more balanced, realistic interpretation of the situation.

Example: "She's probably just busy. Most people don't reply to every email immediately, and there's no evidence that she's unhappy with my work. If there were a real problem, she would have raised it directly."

7. Re-Rate Your Emotions

Check in with your feelings again. Most people find that the intensity drops significantly.

Example: Anxious (30), worried (20), embarrassed (10)

Common Cognitive Distortions

As you practise thought records, you'll start to notice patterns in your thinking. CBT identifies several common cognitive distortions — habitual thinking errors that fuel anxiety:

• Catastrophising: Jumping to the worst-case scenario. "If I fail this exam, my whole future is ruined."
• Mind reading: Assuming you know what others are thinking. "Everyone in the room noticed my mistake."
• Black-and-white thinking: Seeing things in extremes with no middle ground. "If it's not perfect, it's a failure."
• Overgeneralisation: Drawing broad conclusions from a single event. "I got rejected once, so I'll always be rejected."
• Emotional reasoning: Treating feelings as facts. "I feel like a failure, so I must be one."
• Should statements: Rigid rules about how things must be. "I should never feel anxious. I should be able to handle this."

Recognising these patterns is half the battle. Once you can name the distortion, it loses much of its power.

Tips for Effective Thought Records

Write it down. Doing this exercise in your head is far less effective than putting pen to paper (or fingers to screen). Writing forces you to be specific and slows down the thought spiral.

Be honest with the evidence. The goal isn't positive thinking — it's accurate thinking. Sometimes the evidence does support a concern, and that's useful information too.

Practise with smaller anxieties first. Don't start with your deepest fear. Build the skill with everyday worries, then apply it to bigger challenges.

Look for patterns over time. After several thought records, you might notice that you consistently catastrophise about work, or that you tend toward mind reading in social situations. These patterns point you toward the core beliefs that are worth exploring further.

Be patient with yourself. Thought records feel mechanical at first. That's normal. With practice, the process of catching and questioning automatic thoughts becomes more natural.

Why Thought Records Work

Thought records work because they give you a structured way to do something your brain struggles to do on its own: evaluate anxious thoughts objectively. When you're anxious, your brain is in threat-detection mode. It's designed to assume the worst and act quickly. A thought record forces you to slow down and engage your rational, evaluative thinking.

Over time, this practice actually changes your automatic thought patterns. The neural pathways that produce catastrophic thinking weaken, while the pathways for balanced thinking strengthen. It's not just a coping tool — it's a way of retraining your brain.

The Takeaway

Thought records are simple but genuinely powerful. They give you a concrete way to step back from anxious thoughts, examine them with curiosity instead of fear, and develop a more realistic perspective. If anxiety is something you deal with regularly, this is one of the most evidence-based tools you can add to your toolkit.