Core Beliefs Worksheet Overview
Core beliefs are the deeply held ideas you have about yourself, others, and the world. They often develop early in life based on your experiences and can influence how you interpret and respond to situations. They can range from positive to negative.
It can be hard to figure out your core beliefs because they sometimes seem to operate below the “surface” of our awareness. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) suggests that we can begin to identify our core beliefs by exploring the meaning of our more surface-level thoughts.
This core beliefs worksheet will help you think about a time you felt a very strong emotion, recall your thoughts, and follow them to a potential core belief.
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Beck, J. S. (2020). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
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Padesky, C. A. (1994). Schema change processes in cognitive therapy. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 1(5), 267-278. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.5640010502
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Osmo, F., Duran, V., Wenzel, A., Reis de Oliveira, I., Nepomuceno, S., Madeira, M., & Menezes, I. (2018). The Negative Core Beliefs Inventory: Development and psychometric properties. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 32(1), 67-84. https://doi.org/10.1891/0889-8391.32.1.67
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