Compassionate Thought Challenging Record
Download or send
Choose your language
Professional version
Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Client version
Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Fillable version (PDF)
A fillable version of the resource. This can be edited and saved in Adobe Acrobat, or other PDF editing software.
Editable version (PPT)
An editable Microsoft PowerPoint version of the resource.
Translation Template
Are you a qualified therapist who would like to help with our translation project?
Tags
Languages this resource is available in
Problems this resource might be used to address
Techniques associated with this resource
Mechanisms associated with this resource
Introduction & Theoretical Background
This Compassionate Thought Challenging Record is designed to help clients to generate alternate compassionate perspectives to their automatic negative cognitions. Once automatic cognitions have been identified clients are encouraged to consider what self-compassionate responses might look like. Clients can be cued to think about the qualities of compassion in order to enter a compassionate mindset.
Therapist Guidance
Clients should be instructed to record specific instances in which unwanted thoughts, feelings, or responses were prompted.
- In the first column (Situation) clients should be instructed to record what they were doing when they started to notice a significant change in how they were feeling. Training clients to record specific details (such as who they were with, where they were, and what had just happened) is often helpful when later elaborating a memory for an event, or simply in understanding the reasons for subsequent thoughts and responses
- In the second column (Emotions and body sensations) clients should be instructed to record their emotional reactions in that moment (which can typically be described using single words, e.g. angry, anxious, miserable) and associated body sensations (e.g. tension in my neck). Clients should be encouraged to rate the intensity of these sensations on 0–100% scale.
- In the third column (Automatic thought) clients
References And Further Reading
- Beck, A.T., Rush, A.J., Shaw, B.F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford.
- Gilbert, P. (2009). Introducing compassion-focused therapy. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 15(3), 199-208.
- Gilbert, P. (2010). An introduction to compassion focused therapy in cognitive behavior therapy. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 3(2), 97-112.
- Gilbert, P. (2014). The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53(1), 6-41.