ABC Model Worksheet
The classic CBT and REBT exercise for seeing that it is your beliefs about an event, not the event itself, that drive how you feel and act.
About this tool
The ABC model was developed by psychologist Albert Ellis as the heart of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), and it became a building block of cognitive behavioral therapy. It captures a deceptively simple idea: an Activating event (A) does not directly cause your emotional and behavioral Consequences (C). What sits in between is B, your Beliefs about the event. Two people can face the same event and react completely differently because their beliefs differ.
Most of us collapse A and C together. We say "the traffic made me furious" or "his comment ruined my day," as if the event reached in and set the feeling. The ABC model pries that apart so you can see the belief doing the real work, often a rigid demand ("this should not be happening") or a catastrophic interpretation ("this is unbearable"). Once the belief is visible, it can be examined and, if it is unhelpful, disputed.
Filling in the worksheet trains a precise habit of mind. The discipline is to keep A strictly factual, write the belief out in plain words, and notice how the feeling and the behavior both flow from it. That separation is what gives you a place to intervene, rather than feeling at the mercy of events.
- Ellis A, Harper RA. A Guide to Rational Living. 3rd ed. Wilshire Book Company; 1997.
- Dryden W, Branch R. The CBT Handbook. Sage Publications; 2012.
ABC Model Worksheet FAQ
What does ABC stand for in CBT?
A is the Activating event, B is your Beliefs about it, and C is the Consequences, meaning the emotions and behaviors that follow. The model shows that B, not A, mainly drives C.
How is the ABC model different from a thought record?
They overlap. The ABC model is a compact way to separate event, belief, and consequence, drawn from REBT. A thought record adds a structured evidence-weighing step. Many people use ABC to understand a reaction quickly, then a thought record to work through it in depth.
What is the D in ABCD?
D stands for Disputing the belief: questioning whether the belief at B is true, logical, and helpful, then forming a more flexible alternative. It is the change step that REBT adds to the basic model.
Is my information saved?
No. Everything stays in your browser and is never uploaded or stored. The PDF is generated on your own device.