REBT Worksheets

What is an REBT Worksheet?

Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is a form of therapeutic treatment that helps individuals identify negative thought patterns and potentially irrational beliefs, to help ensure these don’t result in harmful behaviors. The primary purpose of REBT is to teach the client unconditional self-acceptance, other-acceptance, and life-acceptance. There is a range of different strategies that therapists employ to achieve this goal, but one of the most effective is encouraging clients to complete worksheets. Worksheets empower clients to be engaged within their own care, asking them to reflect on their experiences and focus on developing positive changes. To help therapists empower their clients to achieve desired outcomes, we have designed an intuitive and easily used

The core principles of REBT are based on the ABC model. This attempts to show clients that the perception of events can be harmful to psychological states, and by rewiring how we perceive things, we can ultimately improve our well-being. Because this is such an integral component of REBT, we have designed our worksheet according to the ABC model.

This worksheet has been developed to be given out to clients, who can either complete it in their own time or during a therapy session with you. It is designed to encourage clients to reflect on their experiences and develop useful tools to assist them in overcoming challenges.

How To Use This REBT Worksheet

If you are already familiar with how to access and use our REBT worksheet, feel free to skip to the next section – a completed REBT worksheet example. Otherwise, check out these simple steps to quickly understand how our template can be utilized.

Step One: Download the worksheet

This step may seem self-explanatory, but it nevertheless needs to be said. The first thing you need to do to use our worksheet is download it onto your device. We have included links to the template on this page, and by clicking on them the worksheet will open in your device’s PDF reader. You can choose to store it on your device to be used electronically or print out a physical copy.

Step Two: Patients complete the worksheet

The next part of the process is to give the worksheet to your patients. It has been designed to be completed primarily by the clients themselves, although you may find you have patients who require some assistance. This is fine, and guidance can prove beneficial, but it’s important the worksheet genuinely reflects the client’s experiences, thoughts, and behaviors.

Step Three: Use the responses to guide your treatment

The answers that a client leaves on the worksheet will give you a good insight into the type of treatment that they require. You can use this information to guide your session plans and ensure you are targeting appropriate areas requiring improvement.

Step Four: Store the worksheet securely

Completed REBT worksheets contain confidential client information, so it is important that you store them in a HIPAA-compliant manner. We recommend using an online EHR system that is integrated with robust safeguards to ensure 24/7 protection of client privacy.

Who Can Use these Printable REBT Worksheets (PDF)?

This worksheet has been designed to be completed by patients who are undergoing rational emotive behavioral therapy. Although this type of therapy is fairly specific in regards to the treatment methods it uses, clients who are experiencing any of the following will benefit from the worksheet:

• Anxiety
• Addiction
• Depression
• Eating Disorders
• Anger Management
• Shame
• Loneliness
• Grief

In relation to the clinicians who can use this worksheet, it is primarily designed for therapists, counselors, psychologists, and psychotherapists. With that being said, you may work in an entirely different field, or be treating a client with another issue, and this worksheet can still be extremely useful. You should use your professional experience and opinion of the situation to determine the applicability of the worksheet and go from there.

Why Is This Form Useful For Therapists?

If you choose to implement the REBT worksheet into your therapy practice, you will no doubt see a range of uses. Some of these include:

• Teach clients key skills: One of the main treatment methods of therapy is teaching clients skills during sessions that they can then implement into their everyday lives. Using this worksheet is one of the best ways you can ensure clients effectively adopt these strategies. The worksheet encourages them to reflect on their daily experiences and apply key REBT techniques.
• Go paperless: The worksheet will also have significant uses for your healthcare practice. We have ensured that the resource can be accessed, shared, completed, and saved entirely online, reducing the need to generate physical copies. In addition to having positive environmental impacts, going paperless is also advantageous in its elimination of printer-related costs and ability to improve organization.

Improve workflow: Our REBT worksheet can also help you improve workflow at your practice. The template is already structured and formatted, eliminating the need for you to spend any time on organizational aspects and you can get straight to distributing the worksheet to your clients.

Benefits of REBT Worksheet Template

The REBT worksheet template additionally has various benefits, for you, your healthcare practice, and your clients. These benefits include:

Gain insight into your client’s health

The worksheet prompts clients to reflect on different events in their life, as well as the associated thoughts that they had. Obtaining this information directly from a worksheet will allow you to develop a more accurate understanding of your client’s health, which will in turn lead to more informed clinical decisions. Before you give the worksheet to your clients, you should encourage them to be as transparent as possible. We understand that honesty is sometimes a difficult thing to achieve, but the more accurate the completed worksheet is, the more effectively you’ll be able to treat your clients.

Increase patient engagement

As value-based care becomes more prominent in the healthcare industry, finding meaningful ways to engage clients in their care has never been more important. Distributing this worksheet shows your clients that you value their experiences and want to develop a treatment plan that prioritizes their needs. Patient engagement is also another good way to work toward desired outcomes – the more involved and committed your clients are, the more likely they will persist toward their goals.

Better clinical decisions

The information that therapists gather from a completed REBT worksheet is particularly useful for developing a treatment plan. With the insight that they have into a client’s condition, they can determine specific areas that require improvement. In turn, the treatment plan can reflect this knowledge, enabling the client to achieve their goals.

Foster a meaningful client/therapist relationship

Having a strong and meaningful client/therapist relationship is often a very important aspect of therapy. Although there is a range of different ways that this kind of relationship can be achieved, encouraging your clients to complete a worksheet can be a useful tool. This type of resource shows your clients that you are interested in their perspective and are willing to prioritize their needs and desired outcomes.

Rewire how clients perceive external events

At the heart of REBT is a desire to change how clients perceive external events. Encouraging them to reflect on their responses to certain situations and determine possible ways that they could change these responses is an important component of REBT therapy treatment. With this worksheet, clients can continuously work toward the goal of improving how they experience their everyday life.