Cognitive Distortions: A Free Worksheet for Kids and Teens
Cognitive distortions are thinking habits that feel completely true and are reliably unfair to you. Everyone has them; stress, ADHD rejection sensitivity and trauma make them louder. This worksheet names the common ones in teen-friendly language, then asks for a fairer version of the same thought that you would actually believe.
The ones that show up most in teenagers
All-or-nothing thinking ("I failed the whole year"), mind reading ("she thinks I am weird"), catastrophising ("I will never get in anywhere"), labelling ("I am lazy"), should statements, and discounting the positive. Naming which one is operating takes a lot of the sting out of it.
Mind reading and autistic social uncertainty
When facial expressions and tone are genuinely hard to read, the brain fills the gap with a guess, and anxiety supplies a negative one. The fix is not to try harder at reading faces; it is to treat the guess as a guess and, where possible, ask.
How to use this tool
- Write the thought exactly as it appeared in your head.
- Match it to a distortion from the list — more than one can fit.
- Ask what you would say if a friend told you the same thought.
- Write a fairer version you would actually believe, not a cheerful one.
- Note one thing you will do differently next time the thought appears.
Common questions
- What are the most common cognitive distortions in teens?
- All-or-nothing thinking, mind reading, catastrophising, labelling, should statements, and discounting the positive.
- Does naming a distortion make it go away?
- Not immediately. Naming it separates you from the thought so it can be examined; the change comes from repeatedly acting on the fairer version instead of the automatic one.
Where this fits
This companion is free psychoeducational self-help. It is not therapy, diagnosis, or crisis care, and it does not replace a licensed clinician. Everything you enter is stored locally in your own browser and is never transmitted to a server.
It lives inside FeelingsHelper Kids & Teens Mode, alongside more than sixty other free companions for autism, ADHD, PTSD, and trauma.
Related free tools
- Behavioral Activation — Schedule small value-linked actions and track what each one does to your mood.
- Cognitive Distortions — Name the thinking trap, test it against evidence, and write a balanced alternative.
- Inner Critic — Separate the critical voice from yourself, find what it protects, and answer it.
- REBT & Flexible Thinking — Turn rigid musts and shoulds into preferences that survive contact with reality.
- Inner Critic for Teens — Externalise the harsh voice, trace where it came from, and answer it fairly.