•
	
What	is/was	the	hardest	thing	about	this	situation?
•
	
What	is/was	your	fear	in	this	situation?
•
	
What	is/was	your	imagined	worst-case	scenario?
•
	
What	thoughts	were	running	through	your	mind	during	the	event	or	after	or
even	now	as	you	revisit	it?
•
	
Rate	how	much	you	believe	each	of	these	thoughts.	(Use	a	1	to	10	scale,
with	1	being	you	don’t	believe	it	at	all,	and	10	being	you	believe	it
completely.)
Come	back	to	this	exercise	in	a	day	or	two,	or	even	a	few	hours,	and	revisit
how	much	you	believe	these	thoughts	now.
When	Your	Thoughts	Work	Against	You
When	we’re	caught	up	in	anxious	thinking,	our	thoughts	
feel
	
entirely	real	and
accurate	and	so	they	keep	us	keyed	up.	In	truth,	the	anxious	mind	isn’t	so
good	at	differentiating	the	real	from	the	unreal.	In	this	virtual	world,	we	feel
as	anxious	and	frightened	as	we	would	if	our	fear	was	based	on	something
really	happening.	However,	in	reality,	nothing	terrible	is	going	on	and	there
may	be	little,	if	any,	chance	our	feared	scenarios	will	ever	happen.