Design, carry out, and reflect on behavioural experiments to test anxious predictions and unhelpful beliefs.
Behavioural Experiment Worksheet
PreviewA behavioural experiment is a way of treating a belief as a hypothesis - a guess about how things work - and gathering real-world evidence to test how accurate or helpful it is, rather than assuming it is simply true.
The belief or theme you are testing
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A more balanced or alternative view worth considering
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Plan each experiment before you do it (Prediction and Plan), then complete the Outcome and Next-step boxes afterwards. Add a new entry for each experiment you run.
What specifically do you predict will happen?
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How would you know if it came true?
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How strongly do you believe this prediction now? (0-100%)
How anxious do you expect to feel? (0-100%)
What will you do to test it?
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Safety behaviours to drop for a fair test
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What actually happened?
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Did your prediction come true?
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How anxious did you actually feel? (0-100%)
What did you learn?
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How much do you believe the original prediction NOW? (0-100%)
What next?
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What specifically do you predict will happen?
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How would you know if it came true?
—
How strongly do you believe this prediction now? (0-100%)
How anxious do you expect to feel? (0-100%)
What will you do to test it?
—
Safety behaviours to drop for a fair test
—
What actually happened?
—
Did your prediction come true?
—
How anxious did you actually feel? (0-100%)
What did you learn?
—
How much do you believe the original prediction NOW? (0-100%)
What next?
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Look back across your experiments.
What pattern do you notice across your experiments?
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Having tested it, how much do you believe the original belief/theme now? (0-100%)
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And how much do you believe the alternative, more balanced view now? (0-100%)
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This is a read-only preview. Sign up to assign it and let clients complete it on any device.
The Behavioural Experiment Worksheet is an interactive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) worksheet. As a core CBT skill it is used right across the model, with presentations including depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma and low self-esteem, rather than being tied to a single diagnosis.
It is designed to be used within therapy rather than as a standalone self-help tool: a therapist introduces it, works through it collaboratively, and helps make sense of what it surfaces. You can preview the full worksheet above, then assign it digitally for clients to complete between sessions on any device — or download it as a print-ready PDF.
Most people work through it in around 25 minutes. It moves through three short steps:
Completed on the Formulate platform, your client's answers are saved automatically and shared straight back to you, so you can review them before the next session rather than waiting for a paper copy to come back.
In common with other CBT methods, the Behavioural Experiment Worksheet works by testing fearful predictions through real-world behavioural experiments. The aim is not positive thinking but a clearer, shared understanding of what keeps a difficulty going — and practical, testable ways to change it.
Because it is a CBT tool it stays focused on the here-and-now links between thoughts, feelings, the body and behaviour, and it works best as one part of a wider course of therapy rather than as advice or a diagnosis.
This worksheet is grounded in established cognitive behavioural therapy theory and practice. Key sources include:
Formulate provides educational CBT resources for use with a qualified therapist. They are not a substitute for professional assessment, diagnosis, or crisis care.
If you need urgent help now:
Sign up free and send your client a link. They complete it on any device — you review their responses before the next session.
No credit card required. 10 free worksheets every month.