Noticing patterns in IBS symptoms
Keep brief notes about bowel symptoms, toilet visits, eating times, stress and your responses to review with your therapist.
Written by Tarun Vermani, Trainee Clinical Psychologist Last reviewed
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Noticing patterns in IBS symptoms
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One brief daily entry
Use words, not a score: none, mild, moderate or severe for symptoms and stress. Leave out food and drink details.
Try it here — nothing you type is saved. Sign up to assign it and let clients complete it on any device.
When to use ‘Noticing patterns in IBS symptoms’
‘Noticing patterns in IBS symptoms’ 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.
How it works
Most people work through it in around 5 minutes. It centres on one focused exercise:
- One brief daily entry: Use words, not a score: none, mild, moderate or severe for symptoms and stress. Leave out food and drink details.
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.
The CBT approach behind it
In common with other CBT methods, ‘Noticing patterns in IBS symptoms’ works by noticing the links between situations, thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviour and finding practical ways to change unhelpful patterns. 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.
Evidence & sources
This worksheet is grounded in established cognitive behavioural therapy theory and practice. Key sources include:
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2008). Irritable bowel syndrome in adults: diagnosis and management. NICE guideline CG61.
- Drossman, D. A. (2016). Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: History, Pathophysiology, Clinical Features, and Rome IV. Gastroenterology.
For use alongside professional support
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:
- Emergency services: 999 — if you or someone else is in immediate danger
- NHS 111 (NHS 24 in Scotland): 111 — choose the mental health option for urgent help, in England, Scotland and Wales (in Wales, press 2)
- Lifeline: 0808 808 8000 — for urgent help in Northern Ireland, free, day or night
- Samaritans: 116 123 — free, day or night, 365 days a year
- Shout: 85258 — text SHOUT, free, day or night
- SANEline: 0300 304 7000 — 4pm–10pm, every day
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