Testing a worrying prediction before a stressful event can be hard when avoidance feels safer, and this behavioural experiment worksheet gives a clear way to plan it, try it, and review what actually happened. It is aimed at adults and older teenagers using CBT for anxiety, stress, avoidance, low confidence or unhelpful assumptions.
In everyday CBT practice, behavioural experiments are used to turn anxious predictions into something observable and reviewable. The worksheet starts by asking for the target belief or assumption being tested, with a 0% to 100% belief rating, followed by a more helpful alternative belief and its own rating.
The layout then moves into the chosen situation, making it suitable for planning exposure tasks, confidence building, social anxiety practice, work-related stress experiments, panic coping exercises or tests of self-critical assumptions. The prompts keep the focus on one specific scenario rather than a broad worry.
Later sections ask the person to write down predictions about behaviours, feelings and physical reactions, then prepare coping strategies that do not rely on avoidance, withdrawal or safety behaviours. After the experiment, there is space to record the outcome and compare it with the original predictions.
Therapists, counsellors, CBT practitioners and wellbeing workers could use it in sessions or as homework between appointments, while motivated self-help users may find it useful for structured reflection. It finishes with learning, revised belief ratings and next steps, helping the experiment lead into continued practice. Produced by Think CBT.
