A maintenance-focused formulation for psychosis — mapping triggers, experiences, appraisals, emotions, and coping responses.
CBTp Formulation
Previewsituation
Not answered
thoughts
Not answered
emotions
Not answered
physical
Not answered
behaviour
Not answered
This is a read-only preview. Sign up to assign it and let clients complete it on any device.
The CBTp Formulation is an interactive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) worksheet, most often used in CBT for psychosis.
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.
The CBTp Formulation is a guided formulation canvas: you take a single recent situation and map it across the five connected areas of the cognitive model — the trigger, the thoughts that arise, the emotions felt, the physical sensations, and the behaviours that follow — to reveal the cycle that keeps a difficulty going.
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 CBTp Formulation works by mapping how the parts of a problem connect and keep it going (formulation). 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.
Explore how common unusual experiences are in the general population — and how context, stress, and sleep deprivation can produce them in anyone.