Build a hierarchy of feared situations ranked by anxiety level, from least to most challenging, to guide graded exposure work.
Graded Exposure Hierarchy
PreviewWhat fear or avoidance pattern is this hierarchy for?
Not answered
What would you like to be able to do by the end?
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Feared Situations
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This is a worksheet calculation, not a validated clinical score.
Strategies to use during exposures (not safety behaviours)
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This is a read-only preview. Sign up to assign it and let clients complete it on any device.
The Graded Exposure Hierarchy 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 20 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 Graded Exposure Hierarchy works by gradually and safely facing avoided situations so anxiety can subside (exposure). 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.