Self-Care Assessment

When to use the Self-Care Assessment

The Self-Care Assessment 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 10 minutes. It moves through six short steps:

1. What self-care really means — Self-care is not bubble baths and treats - though it can include them. It is the everyday business of meeting your own basic needs so you…
2. Physical - looking after your body — This covers sleep, eating regularly and reasonably well, moving your body, drinking enough water, taking rest when you are tired, and…
3. Emotional - looking after your feelings — This is about letting yourself feel and name your emotions, doing things that bring comfort or joy, being kind to yourself rather than…
4. Social - connection with others — This covers spending time with people who matter to you, staying in touch with friends and family, asking for help, doing things that are…
5. Practical and work life — This is about managing the demands of daily life without grinding yourself down: keeping your workload at a level you can handle, taking…
6. Meaning - what matters to you — This covers the things that give life a sense of purpose: living in line with your values, spending time in nature, faith or reflection if…

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, the Self-Care Assessment 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.

It follows the same evidence-based cognitive behavioural therapy structure as the rest of the Formulate library.