7 CBT Activities You Can Use in School Counseling 

1. Think-Feel-Act Triangle

The Think-Feel-Act Triangle is a classic CBT activity that you can use repeatedly. It is a simple visual that helps students break apart their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and begin to see how those are connected.

When using it, have the student write down a difficult situation in the center of the triangle. At each corner of the triangle, write down what the student thought, felt, and how they acted.

To show them how these three elements are connected, change one and talk about how that might change the others. For example, if you change a negative thought to one that is more realistic, you may then feel different, and then you may act differently.

1. Feelings Thermometers

Feelings thermometers are great for helping students begin to understand the following concepts:

• Feelings vary in intensity.
• Our feelings effect how we react.
• Our reactions shouldn’t be stronger than our feelings.
• Sometimes we need help to handle strong feelings.  
• We can use strategies to handle strong feelings.

3. CBT Activity: Reframing

Reframing is perfect when you are working with students who are prone to thinking mistakes. First, have them write down the negative thoughts and associated feelings and actions. Then, have them come up with 2-3 alternative thoughts. You can also come up with evidence to support these alternative thoughts and discuss how you would feel if you thought these instead.

A simple way to come up with an alternative thought is the Ugh, But strategy.

"Ugh, I didn't come in first in the race, but I improved my best time."

4. KICK Plans

5. Thought Records

Thought trackers are an excellent tool for students to begin to spot negative thoughts that they have. For example, students who struggle with anxiety may think negatively about themselves and why something happened. They may believe they aren't good enough or no one likes them.

Thought trackers will let you break those real examples down and also understand how the student perceives situations.

6. CBT Maps

A CBT Map is a more detailed and sequential version of the Think Feel Act map. Students can see how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors occur after a triggering event. Then, think about how the rules will affect the consequences of their actions. It is excellent for problem-solving with students after they make a poor choice to help them find an alternate path. You can also use the Problem - Choices - Consequences - Solutions Tool pictured below to problem solve.

Go through a situation and see where changes could be made.

7. Three Questions

When students make thinking mistakes, push them to find facts or evidence for what they believe. Thinking errors can affect how students feel and then how they act. Teaching them to stop and think to make sure their thoughts are true can be a helpful strategy for changing negative behaviors. Have them answer these three questions.

• Question 1: What are the facts? This question helps students directly challenge a negative thought and think about it more closely. 
• Question 2: What other facts tell you this might not be true? This question helps students consider if other facts may have been ignored.
• Question 3: What if it does happen? This question helps students understand if the negative outcome is as bad as they think.