Worksheet: ADCDE ~ Identifying & Challenging Negative Beliefs

By completing this worksheet, you can practice identifying and challenging negative beliefs and developing more effective and positive ways of thinking.

Step 1: Identify the Activating Event

Write down the event or situation that triggered your negative thoughts. Be as specific as possible. For example: “I received negative feedback on a project I worked hard on.”

Step 2: Identify the Belief

Write down the negative belief or thought that was triggered by the event. For example: “I’m not good enough.”

Step 3: Identify the Consequence

Write down the emotion or behavior that resulted from the negative belief or thought. For example: “I felt discouraged and unmotivated to work on anything else.”Step 4: Dispute the BeliefChallenge the negative belief or thought by asking yourself the following questions:

• Is there any evidence that contradicts this belief?
• Is this belief based on facts or just my interpretation?
• Would someone else have the same belief in this situation?
• What would I say to a friend who had this belief?

Write down your responses to these questions and use them to challenge the negative belief. For example:

• Evidence against the belief: I have received positive feedback on other projects in the past.
• The belief is based on my interpretation and assumptions, not facts.
• Another person may have a different interpretation of the feedback.
• I would tell a friend that one negative feedback doesn’t define their worth or ability.

Step 5: Develop an Effective Belief

Replace the negative belief with a more positive and realistic one.

For example: “I may not have done perfectly on this project, but I have the ability to learn and improve.”

Step 6: Evaluate the Outcome

Reflect on how changing your belief affected your emotions and behavior.

For example: “After changing my belief, I felt more motivated to work on improving my skills and tackling other projects.”