Free CBT guides and worksheets

CBT foundations

A practical starting point for understanding how situations, thoughts, feelings, body responses and actions can interact. This set helps you map a pattern, choose a useful direction and notice what affects mood and energy.

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Guides and worksheets included

Each topic includes a short guide and a companion worksheet you can complete on screen or print.

Your CBT map

Slow down one recent situation and notice the links between what happened, what went through your mind, what you felt in your body and what you did next.

Choosing a direction

Turn a broad hope such as “feel better” into a specific change you can recognise and review over time.

Activity and mood

Track daily activity alongside mood, energy, pleasure and a sense of achievement without judging yourself for the result.

Using the worksheets

Choose a worksheet that relates to something you want to understand or practise. You can use it to prepare for therapy or work on an idea between appointments, and you can leave questions for discussion with your psychologist.

01
Read the short guide before completing the worksheet.
02
Use a recent, manageable example rather than the most distressing event you can remember.
03
Write in brief notes. You do not need to produce a polished account.
04
Bring questions, uncertainty or unexpected reactions back to therapy.

Free fillable PDF

Download the complete set

The PDF contains the illustrated guides and matching fillable worksheets. Typed information remains in your own copy of the file and is not sent to or stored by Axis.

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Related CBT resources

Taking action

These worksheets cover planning activities when mood or motivation is low, testing an anxious prediction and working through a specific practical problem. You can use the guide that relates to what you want to work on.

View guides and worksheets

Working with thoughts

Thoughts can arrive quickly and feel like facts, particularly when you are anxious, low, ashamed or under pressure. This set helps you notice automatic thoughts, examine them fairly and develop a more balanced response.

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Approaching avoidance and uncertainty

Avoidance can reduce distress in the short term while making the feared situation harder to approach next time. These guides cover safety behaviours, graded exposure and ways to respond to worry or rumination.

View guides and worksheets

Deeper patterns and staying well

These guides examine recurring beliefs and personal rules, including how they developed and how they affect current situations. The final worksheet helps you record useful strategies and plan how to respond to setbacks.

View guides and worksheets

A general resource, not individual clinical advice

These worksheets do not replace assessment or personalised care. They may not suit every person, problem or stage of therapy. If a worksheet increases distress or feels unhelpful, pause and discuss that reaction with a suitably qualified health professional.

Individual support

Individual psychological therapy

If you would like help with a concern raised by these resources, read about therapy for adults or contact Axis with a brief enquiry.

Read about adult psychological therapy