Check the Facts Worksheet: See If Your Emotion Fits the Situation
The Check the Facts Worksheet is a DBT exercise that separates observable events from assumptions. Use it to understand an emotion and choose a response that fits the situation.
Reviewed by Jack Bartel, PsyD 
About this tool
The Check the Facts Worksheet is an emotion regulation exercise from dialectical behavior therapy that helps you separate observable events from assumptions. It addresses the moment when an interpretation makes an emotion feel urgent, so you can consider whether the feeling and its intensity fit what you know. This skill usually comes before opposite action. Emotions can reflect events, interpretations, physical states, past experiences, and predictions about what will happen next; an interpretation deserves examination without dismissing the feeling.
The skill is to slow down and sort what actually happened from the story you added on top of it. You describe the prompting event in plain, observable terms, then notice the interpretations, assumptions, and worst-case predictions you layered onto it. From there you can ask the key question: given the facts, does my emotion fit the situation, and does its intensity match?
When an emotion does fit the facts, that is useful information and you can act on it wisely. When it does not, or when it is far more intense than the situation warrants, that is your cue to change it, often with opposite action. Either way, checking the facts replaces a reflexive emotional reaction with a clear-eyed look at what is real, which is one of the most practical skills DBT teaches.
Check the facts comes from Marsha Linehan's emotion regulation module in dialectical behavior therapy, which treats emotions as having a function and a built-in action urge, rather than as random noise to suppress. The module distinguishes justified emotions, ones that fit the facts of the situation, from emotions that formed around an inaccurate read of what happened. Checking the facts is the step that tells the two apart, before you decide whether to act on the emotion or work to change it.
A completed worksheet is most useful when you look across several of them rather than judging any single entry. If the same interpretation keeps appearing, such as assuming other people are annoyed with you or predicting the worst outcome by default, that pattern is worth naming on its own, because it may shape your reactions across different situations. Check each event on its own merits: noticing a familiar interpretation does not automatically make it inaccurate. If checking the facts consistently feels impossible in the moment, or the same painful pattern keeps repeating despite your best efforts, a therapist trained in DBT can work through it with you; you can search the Psychology.com therapist directory to find one.
Linehan’s DBT Skills Training Manual describes checking the facts within emotion regulation. A 2014 pilot randomized trial by Neacsiu and colleagues found that a DBT skills training program improved emotion regulation more than an activities-based support group in the adults studied. The program taught a collection of skills. Those findings do not establish that this standalone worksheet has the same effects or that every painful emotion comes from an inaccurate belief.
Leave room for uncertainty. If a friend cancels a plan, the cancellation is known; whether they are disappointed in you may be unknown. You can acknowledge hurt, consider possible explanations, and decide whether to ask a direct question. The goal is a response you can explain from the available evidence. Repeatedly checking messages or asking for reassurance until you feel certain can turn the exercise into another source of distress. If clarification is needed, make the question concrete: "Are we still planning to meet, or should I make other arrangements?" Then use the reply as new information. Leaving an unanswered question open is a valid worksheet outcome when the evidence is incomplete.
Use the completed sheet to choose a practical next action. A clear problem may call for problem-solving or a boundary; an unsupported prediction may be a reason to pause before acting on an urge. The Opposite Action Worksheet and Wise Mind Worksheet offer related practice within the DBT Skills Library. The Emotional Dysregulation Test is a self-assessment that can provide context for a conversation with a clinician, without diagnosing you.
Checking the facts should never be used to pressure someone to dismiss threats, coercion, discrimination, or mistreatment. If there is a credible safety concern, focus on protection and support. You can take a feeling seriously while deciding carefully what action to take, and you do not need to complete this worksheet before asking for help.
References
- Linehan MM. DBT Skills Training Manual. 2nd ed. Guilford Press; 2015.
- Linehan MM. DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets. 2nd ed. Guilford Press; 2015.
- Neacsiu AD, Eberle JW, Kramer R, Wiesmann T, Linehan MM. (2014). Dialectical behavior therapy skills for transdiagnostic emotion dysregulation: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 59, 40-51. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24974307/
Cite this source
Psychology.com. (2026, September 16). Check the Facts Worksheet. Psychology.com. https://psychology.com/tools/check-the-facts
Check the Facts Worksheet FAQ
What is check the facts in DBT?
It is an emotion regulation skill where you separate what actually happened from your interpretations of it, then decide whether your emotion fits the facts. It often comes before opposite action. The aim is to choose a considered response while acknowledging that the feeling itself is real.
How is this different from a CBT thought record?
They overlap, since both examine the thoughts behind a feeling. Check the facts is a focused DBT step that asks specifically whether the emotion and its intensity fit the actual situation, which then guides whether to act on the emotion or change it. A Thought Record also gives you space to examine evidence and develop a balanced alternative thought.
What if my emotion does fit the facts?
Then the emotion is giving you useful information and you can act on it wisely. Check the facts is not about dismissing feelings, it is about telling justified emotions from ones driven by inaccurate interpretations. A fitting emotion still leaves you choices about timing, boundaries, and how to communicate your needs safely.
Is my information saved?
No. Everything stays in your browser. Your entries are never uploaded or stored, and the PDF is generated on your own device.
How do I tell a fact from an interpretation?
A fact is something a camera or a stranger in the room could confirm: words said, actions taken, times, places. An interpretation is anything you added about meaning, motive, or what will happen next, such as deciding someone is angry with you or that a mistake means you will lose your job. You can also record what you directly experience, such as feeling tense or hurt. Separate that experience from a conclusion about another person's intentions; feelings are real even when their explanation is uncertain.
What is an example of checking the facts?
A colleague does not reply to your message for a day. The fact is a delayed reply. An interpretation might be that they are upset with you. Checking the facts means noticing that interpretation, considering other explanations, such as a busy day, and asking whether strong anxiety actually fits a one-day delay. The context matters: a delayed casual reply and a missed urgent work deadline have different implications. Choose a response based on the actual agreement and practical stakes, while leaving the colleague's motive open.