Walk me through a CBT-style reframe of a thought that's stuck in my head. Not therapy — just the practical tool.
THE THOUGHT: {paste_the_exact_thought — e.g. 'I'm going to get fired'}
WHAT TRIGGERED IT: {real_trigger}
WHAT I'M FEELING right now, physically: {tight_chest / racing / numb}
HOW STRONGLY I BELIEVE IT (0-100%): {number}
EVIDENCE FOR THE THOUGHT (real ones, not vibes): {list}
EVIDENCE AGAINST IT (force yourself): {list}
WHAT I'D TELL A FRIEND who had this exact thought: {their_advice_to_them}
USING CBT FORMAT, GIVE ME:
1. **Name the cognitive distortion** in this thought (e.g. catastrophizing, mind-reading, fortune-telling, all-or-nothing, emotional reasoning). Just name it; one sentence.
2. **What's the real evidence FOR the thought?** Pull from my list, drop anything that's a feeling.
3. **What's the real evidence AGAINST?** Same rule.
4. **A more balanced alternative thought** — not 'everything will be fine' (also a distortion), but a true sentence I can actually believe in this moment.
5. **One concrete action** to take in the next 60 minutes (call, message, list, walk) that reduces the loop, not the feeling.
6. **What to revisit in 24 hours** — what would tell me the thought was wrong / right?
No therapy talk. Practical. Under 250 words total.0 copies·0 saves·1 views
203 words·1,281 chars
Sample output
Thought: 'I'm going to get fired this quarter.' Trigger: my manager rescheduled our 1:1 twice this week. Feeling: tight chest, can't focus. Belief: 75%. Evidence for: 2 reschedules, no praise on my last project, layoffs at competitor company last month. Evidence against: I had a strong review in March, my project shipped on time, no formal feedback that says I'm in trouble, the manager has been busy with a budget review I overheard. Advice to a friend: 'They reschedule meetings all the time. You're catastrophizing. Ask for the meeting back, see what's up.'
1. Distortion: This is fortune-telling + catastrophizing — turning ambiguous behavior (a rescheduled meeting) into a predicted catastrophic outcome (firing) with no direct evidence.
2. Real evidence FOR:
3. Real evidence AGAINST:
Net weight: the FOR column is mostly ambiguous data your anxiety is interpreting as bad. The AGAINST column is concrete behavioral evidence.
Parameters
Text generation parameters
FAQ
Do this exercise WRITTEN, not in your head. Reframing in your head is just thinking the same thought slower. Writing forces structure. The prompt targets Claude Sonnet and lives in the Personal & Career category on mycopyprompt.
This prompt is written for Claude Sonnet. It's a text/chat prompt — paste it into Claude Sonnet (or compatible LLMs like Claude or GPT-4) to get the expected output.
1. Click the Copy button on this page to copy the full prompt. 2. Open Claude Sonnet. 3. Paste the prompt into a new conversation. 4. Replace any {placeholders} with your specifics, then send. Most prompts produce the right output on the first try; complex ones may need 1-2 iterations.
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Absolutely — most prompts are templates. Look for {placeholders} (curly braces) and swap them with your own values. You can also reword sections, add constraints, or chain it with other prompts.
See the "Sample output" panel above — that's a real example of what Claude Sonnet returns when this prompt runs. Your output will vary in wording but should follow the same structure and depth.
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4. Balanced alternative: 'My manager is harder to pin down this week — that's probably about the budget review, not about me. I have no real signal that anything is wrong with my work.' (Not 'everything is fine' — that's just the opposite distortion. This is a sentence I can actually believe.)
5. Concrete action in next 60 min: Send a 3-line message to your manager: 'Hey — wanted to make sure our 1:1 lands sometime this week. If this week is rough, no worries; just let me know when works.' Reduces ambiguity. Doesn't ask 'am I in trouble' (which would be weird and signal anxiety).
6. Revisit in 24 hours:
If belief drops from 75% to under 30% after step 5, the reframe worked. If it doesn't, repeat the exercise with a calmer head tomorrow morning.