Extract from the CBTandFeelingGood.com workshop workbook page 1 of 5
Extract from CBTandFeelingGood.com Workbook - © Veronica Walsh
Introducing the ‘ABC(D)’ Technique - identifying ‘self-talk’...
The ABC of CBT
The ABC 3 column form is the staple CBT worksheet -: it helps us to
catch our ‘thoughts – and we use it to match the thoughts to feelings and
events – usually working backwards! With us filling in the ‘emotional and
behavioural’ that is troubling us or causing us problems first, and then
identifying the event(s) and the exact thought(s) that accompany it. These
simple forms help us to build awareness of ‘how’ we think – they help us
to see patterns and links over time – and most importantly, they help us see
that our thoughts are often irrational, illogical and unhelpful, so that we cn
dispute them and replace with postive self talk….
A = Activating Event B = Belief/thought
C = emotional and behavioural
Consequence
I have an important exam
approaching
‘I’m going to fail! This is unbearable, I can’t
stand it. I’ll never be able to prepare for it, not
with life the way it is right now. I’m useless,
why am I bothering?
Anxious. Can’t sleep or focus on
anything.
My partner has ended our
relationship.
I can’t live without her. I’ll never find
anybody like her again. Everybody always
breaks up with me. I’ll never be in a proper
relationship. Life is not worth living if I don’t
have somebody to love and take care of me.
Depressed – I have no interest in going
out, or even showering!
My friend got a job we went
for, not me!
That is unbelievable – he’s a thick. And he’s
not even good looking. Or funny. Or anything.
Oh no, I must be even worse than him then!
Or the interviewers are total idiots! Yes, they
are. And I hate him. It’s not fair!
Angry, aggressive – irritable and flying
off the handle.
Task: fill in an ABC worksheet to identify your thoughts (can be hypothetical or real)
( form and flip chart – use hypotheticals - use a separate sheet if you prefer and/or need more space)
A = Activating Event B = Belief/thought
C = emotional and behavioural
Consequence
Extract from the CBTandFeelingGood.com workshop workbook page 2 of 5
Introducing the A-B-C & D Worksheet with Examples
After identifying our thoughts, we need to challenge them when they are irrational
(dispute them with evidence and facts and alternative healthy thinking…) – so we
add a fourth column ‘D’…
The following table gives several examples to show you how it’s done…
Reminder – identifying your unhealthy thinking and deliberately disputing the thoughts
with healthy rational thinking will bring healthy emotional responses –
A = Activating
Event
B = Belief/thought C = Consequence
feelings/behaviour
D = Dispute with Evidence –
I have to give a
presentation!
I am going to make a
show of myself. It’s going
to be AWFUL. I’ll be
shaking, my mouth will
be dry, I can’t do it.
People will laugh at me.
Anxious, afraid, can’t
concentrate on putting
together the content…
feel ill, can’t stop
thinking about it.
Fortune telling as an absolute fact that ‘I AM’ going to make
a show of myself is irrational. That’s fortune telling a future
that I have no clue about. It would be more correct to say ‘I
am afraid I’ll make a show of myself, but I don’t know how it
will pan out’.
Same goes for ‘I will be shaking’, ‘I can’t do it’, and ‘People
will laugh at me’. Fortune telling! I simply fear these
imaginings, I have no actual evidence those thoughts are
rational and correct.
I will ‘thought stop’ and disagree with and derail these
thoughts as they occur rather than running them over and over
in my head.
I heard that the
gang were out for
dinner last week –
without me!
Nobody likes me. I’m
dull. I’m not nice. Life is
horrible. I’m not talking
to them, I want to ‘get
them back’. No – I want
to make them love me.
Oh, I can’t stop thinking
about it...
Ashamed, humiliated,
embarrassed, anxious,
worried. Can’t stop
thinking about it. Rerunning
movie of it
over and over in my
head. Keep talking to
everyone about it,
asking for reassurance.
It simply is not factual that ‘nobody’ in the world likes me. I
have and have had people in my life that have shown they
like me, it would be more correct to say that I’m having
problems with my social networking right now that I plan to
work on.
I’m being very hard on myself stating that I ‘am’ dull and not
nice – I’ve had plenty of experiences where I was happy and
had fun in situations, my feelings and behaviour varies
depending on situations and people and moods, just like
everybody else. It would be more correct to say that I’m not
happy with the way I feel and behave right now, and am
aiming to change it.
It’s not true that ‘life is horrible’, I can think of lots of things
that are the total opposite of horrible. It would be more
correct to say that I’m not enjoying life as I wish I would, I
find things difficult right now.
It’s not healthy for me to obsess about revenge on or
reassurance from the gang in this situation. I can make a
decision to live with this and accept it. I do not know the
circumstances of what happened and I shouldn’t assume the
worst. And, even if there is conflict, I don’t have to join in.
Just because someone thinks little of you, you don’t have to
agree with it.
I have an
interview!
I haven’t a hope of
getting this job. There’ll
be hundreds of applicants
and I can’t compete. I’ll
be nervous and ‘ordinary’
and tongue tied. It’s
unbearable. I can’t stop
worrying about it. It’s not
worth putting myself
through this, after all I
know what will happen.
Anxious, nervous, can’t
face preparing, trying
to ‘ignore it’ until I
have to face it.
Stating ‘I haven’t a hope’ or ‘can’t compete’ is irrational as I
cannot tell what will happen in the future. It would be more
correct to say that I’m nervous and worried that I won’t get it
and will contrast poorly with other applicants. Most people
would feel that way.
Yes, I expect I will probably be nervous, but that’s perfectly
normal and most people are nervous at interviews. I shouldn’t
label myself ‘ordinary’, everybody is unique, that term is
redundant.
I may or may not be ‘tongue tied, but what is that anyway?
It’s not rational to imagine my tongue actually ‘tieing’ and
being unusable, I will change that statement, it’s not useful.
Using the term ‘unbearable’ is not correct, I can in fact bear
it, it would be more correct to say I’m nervous and would
rather not be in a situation where I need to ‘bear’ it.
It’s not helpful or rational to opt out of it because of fortune
telling, it’s more correct to say that I have no idea what will
happen.
Extract from the CBTandFeelingGood.com workshop workbook page 3 of 5
WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE? Disputing: helpful strategies to challenge automatic negative thoughts:
Consider the following suggested questions to help you
dispute irrational thoughts…
1. What is the Evidence?
• What evidence do I have to support my thoughts?
• What evidence do I have against them?
2. What Alternative Views Are There?
• How might an outsider view this situation?
• How would I have viewed it before I got anxiety/depression?
• How much more likely are the new alternatives?
3. How much does thinking this way cost me?
• Does it help me, or stop me, from getting what I want? How?
• What might be the outcome of looking at things in a healthier way?
4. Is My Thinking Realistic? (review the common thinking errors)
• Am I thinking in all-or-nothing terms?
• Am I condemning myself as a total person on the basis of a single event?
• Am I concentrating on my weaknesses and forgetting my strengths?
• Am I blaming myself for something that is not my fault?
• Am I taking something personally which has little or nothing to do with me?
• Am I expecting myself to be perfect?
• Am I using a double standard - how would I view my best friend in this situation?
• Am I paying attention only to the bad side of things?
• Am I overestimating the chances of disaster?
• Am I exaggerating the importance of events?
• Am I doing ‘should must and ought’ instead of accepting and dealing with situations as they are?
• Am I assuming I can do nothing to change my situation?
• Am I predicting the future negatively instead of experimenting with it, even being excited by it?
5. What Action Can I Take?
• What can I do to change my situation?
• Am I overlooking solutions to problems on the assumption they won't work?
• What can I do to test out the alternative views I have arrived at?
Extract from the CBTandFeelingGood.com workshop workbook page 4 of 5
So – let’s try the A-B-C&D model with our original ABC table! See if you can add
hypothetical ‘disputes’ here (step into the protagonists shoes… use ‘empathy’)
Task: complete this ABCD worksheet with rational alternatives/disputes …
(Pair up – move around! - worksheet or flip chart – Tip: what would you advise your best friend if they
thought this?)
A = Activating
Event
B = Belief/thought C = emotional and
behavioural
Consequence
D = dispute with evidence /
rationality
I have an
important
exam
approaching
‘I’m going to fail! This is
unbearable, I can’t stand it. I’ll
never be able to prepare for it,
not with life the way it is right
now. I’m useless, why am I
bothering?
Anxious. Can’t
sleep or focus on
anything.
My partner
has ended our
relationship.
I can’t live without her. I’ll
never find anybody like her
again. Everybody always
breaks up with me. I’ll never
be in a proper relationship.
Life is not worth living if I
don’t have somebody to love
and take care of me.
Depressed – I have
no interest in going
out, or even
showering!
My friend got
a job we went
for, not me!
That is unbelievable – he’s a
thick. And he’s not even good
looking. Or funny. Or
anything. Oh no, I must be
even worse than him then! Or
the interviewers are total
idiots! Yes, they are. And I
hate him.
A Angry,
aggressive –
irritable and flying
off the handle.
Extract from the CBTandFeelingGood.com workshop workbook page 5 of 5
CBTandFeelingGood.com – Handout – A Blank ABCD form guide…
Reminder – We identify our bad feelings, then link the
event/situation, then identify the thoughts, then dispute …
Tips for disputing: What is the evidence? What alternative
views are there? What is the effect of thinking the way I do? Is
my thinking realistic? What would I tell my best friend?
Task: Fill in your own personal ABCD form
A = Activating Event B = Belief/thought C = Consequence feelings D = Dispute
(Note: you may create the ABCD table on a blank sheet if you don’t wish to write in your workbook)