Testing less rehearsal before social situations

When to use ‘Testing less rehearsal before social situations’

‘Testing less rehearsal before social situations’ is an interactive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) worksheet, most often used in CBT for social anxiety.

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 20 minutes. It moves through four short steps:

1. The prediction to test: Rehearsal might mean repeatedly scripting sentences, replaying past mistakes or imagining how you will look. Practical preparation,…
2. Agree the comparison: Choose similar, low-stakes situations. Do not rehearse more than usual for the first one. Use a recent usual-rehearsal event if…
3. Record each situation soon afterwards: Note actual rehearsal, where attention went, what you did and what others said or did. Feelings are worth recording, but are not proof of…
4. What can you take from the comparison? Changing rehearsal and attention together tests a different approach as a whole. Two situations cannot isolate the cause of a difference or…

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, ‘Testing less rehearsal before social situations’ 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:

• Clark, D. M., & Wells, A. (1995). A cognitive model of social phobia. In R. G. Heimberg, M. R. Liebowitz, D. A. Hope, & F. R. Schneier (Eds.), Social Phobia: Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment. Guilford Press.
• Bennett-Levy, J., Butler, G., Fennell, M., Hackmann, A., Mueller, M., & Westbrook, D. (Eds.) (2004). Oxford Guide to Behavioural Experiments in Cognitive Therapy. Oxford University Press.