Cognitive Restructuring Worksheet (Free PDF Download)

Cognitive Restructuring Worksheet example

Page 1 of 2

What is the Cognitive Restructuring worksheet?

The cognitive restructuring worksheet takes one thought through numbered steps across two pages. Step 1: Identify Negative Thoughts records the situation, Step 2: Record Automatic Thoughts records the thought itself, and Step 3: Challenge Automatic Thoughts supplies six evaluation questions. The final steps ask for a reframed thought and a short reflection on what changed.

How to use the Cognitive Restructuring worksheet

Use this sheet both in session and as homework. Work Step 3: Challenge Automatic Thoughts aloud in session, since clients answer the evidence questions more honestly with someone else in the room. Hold the reframe back until every question has an answer. Your clients can take page two home and complete it after the next difficult situation, then bring Step 6: Reflect on Changes to the review. A reframe the client does not believe is worth naming rather than accepting.

Cognitive Restructuring Worksheet Download – What’s Included

The download is two printable pages. Page one introduces the technique, then gives writing space for the situation, the automatic thoughts it produced, and the first of the challenge questions. Page two carries the rest of those questions, the reframe prompt, and three closing questions about what changed, what was hard, and what to try next time.

Based on Aaron Beck’s cognitive therapy (CBT). Beck, J. S. (2020). Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.

Frequently asked questions

What is an example of cognitive restructuring?

A client leaves a meeting certain that everyone there thought he was incompetent. The sheet asks what evidence supports the thought, what contradicts it, and whether it is all-or-nothing. The reframe might be that two colleagues looked bored and a third asked a follow-up question.

How to do cognitive restructuring?

Work the steps in order. Describe the situation, write the automatic thought as it occurred, then answer each challenge question before attempting a reframe. Reframing early produces an answer the client repeats but does not hold. Finish by asking what changed, which is the sheet’s last step.

Used this worksheet in a session?

Mentalyc writes the note for you, including the homework you assigned.

Record or upload the session and get a compliant progress note, treatment plan, and client summary in minutes. More time for the clinical work these worksheets support, less time on paperwork after hours.

Watch real stories from Mentalyc users

4.8/5 rating, trusted by 30,000+ therapists

Try Mentalyc for Free

Your Author

Tracy Collins, LCP

Tracy Collins is a licensed clinical psychologist with over six years of direct clinical experience in outpatient and telehealth settings. She specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy, structured treatment planning, and measurable therapy outcomes. Tracy has extensive experience writing SOAP and DAP notes, developing insurance-compliant treatment plans, and aligning documentation with ICD-10 and DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria. Her clinical approach integrates cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, behavioral activation, exposure-based interventions, and mindfulness-based strategies to create structured and outcome-driven therapy plans. At Mentalyc, Tracy supports therapists by creating educational resources that simplify documentation workflows and improve treatment plan defensibility during audits.