Countering Anxiety Thought Log Worksheet
GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Worksheet updated on April 17th, 2025
Managing anxious thoughts can be challenging, especially without proper tools for coping. Anxious thoughts can be triggered by many things, like prolonged stress, low self-esteem, or unexpected issues. When left unmanaged, those thoughts can affect confidence, motivation, and the ability to cope with trials healthily.
Clients in therapy often feel like a victim of their anxiety. It is not easy to live with and is a common reason to seek counseling. Anxious thoughts can have a major impact on a client’s ability to get through their day. Teaching clients how to challenge their negative thoughts can help them ease their symptoms and cope with life’s stressors.
About This Worksheet
Teaching clients how to cope with anxious thoughts can help them manage anxiety so it has less of an impact on their day. The Countering Anxiety Thought Log worksheet uses skills and techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help clients practice skills for challenging their anxious thoughts.
This worksheet helps a client identify and modify patterns of anxious thinking, learn how to reduce the stress that comes from their anxious thoughts and find a resolution for their triggers. The Countering Anxiety Thought Log worksheet can help adults in individual therapy learn how to cope with stress and anxious thoughts.
Instructions
Introduce the Countering Anxiety Thought Log to the client and explain how using it can help with managing anxious thoughts. Ensure that they understand the instructions and complete each step on the worksheet with them for practice.
Guide the client through the process of countering their anxious thoughts. After you and the client have completed the worksheet together, reflect on how the client is feeling. You may ask them:
- “How intense is your anxiety after completing this worksheet?”
- “What situations do you think you would find this worksheet useful?”
Provide them with at least one blank copy of the worksheet with their completed worksheet as a reference. Encourage them to use this worksheet as a homework assignment when they struggle with anxious thoughts. Follow up on how the worksheet helped them manage anxious thoughts in the following session.
