Kala Intrusive Thought Processing Worksheet

Acknowledge • Write • Read • Ground • Question • Understand • Reframe

Mark Zauss, BC-TMC, LMHC, LPC, CCMHC, NCC, ASDCS, CCTP, CCTP II, NATC, ADHD-CCSP, C-DBT, C-PD

What This Worksheet Is For

Intrusive thoughts are unwanted thoughts, images, urges, doubts, memories, or mental phrases that can feel upsetting, repetitive, shame-producing, frightening, judgmental, or inconsistent with a person's values. Having an intrusive thought does not automatically mean the thought is true, wanted, meaningful, or likely to be acted upon.

The goal is to notice it, name it, write it down, read it, ground in the present, question it, identify where it may have come from, and choose how much importance to give it.

Before You Begin: Ground First

Current distress (0–10)

How believable does the thought feel? (0–10)

How grounded/present do I feel? (0–10)

5-4-3-2-1 sensory grounding Feet on floor / chair support Name today's date, location, and present facts Scan the room for signs of current safety Hold a cool/textured object Slow comfortable breathing Stretch or walk “A thought is a mental event, not a command or fact.”

Stop if distress becomes overwhelming, you feel detached from the present, or you do not feel able to continue safely.

Client / Session Information

Name

Date

Where was I?

What happened immediately before the thought?

Step 1: Acknowledge and Write the Thought

Try: “I am noticing that I am having the thought that ______.”

The intrusive thought, image, urge, doubt, or phrase was:

Frequency today

How upsetting? (0–10)

Urge to neutralize/avoid? (0–10)

Step 2: Read the Thought

Read the written thought slowly once. Notice your reaction without repeatedly checking or reassuring yourself.

What did I notice when I read it?

Distress after reading (0–10)

Belief strength after reading (0–10)

Step 3: Identify the Thought Theme

Fear / danger Shame / self-criticism Judgment of self Judgment of others Religious / moral fear Guilt / responsibility Catastrophic “what if” Perfectionism Rejection / abandonment Parent/family message

Step 4: Identify the Possible Source

Does this sound like my own present-day belief? Does this sound like something I learned from someone else?

Influence of Parents / Family

Did a parent/caregiver communicate similar fears, judgments, expectations, or rules? What did I learn I had to do to be accepted, safe, loved, or avoid criticism?

Religious / Moral Influence

Religious beliefs themselves are not pathological. This explores whether fear, shame, guilt, certainty-seeking, or moral perfectionism are influencing the thought.

Is the thought connected to religion, morality, sin, punishment, purity, guilt, or fear of being a “bad” person? What is my actual chosen belief/value today, separate from fear?

Judgment

What judgment am I making about myself because I had this thought? Would I judge someone else this harshly for having the same unwanted thought?

Step 5: Socratic Questioning

What evidence supports the thought? What evidence does not support the thought? Am I treating a possibility as a probability or certainty? Am I assuming that having a thought says something important about my character? Am I confusing a thought with an intention, action, prediction, or fact? What is another reasonable explanation? What would I say to someone I care about if they had this thought? What is the most balanced way to describe the situation?

Step 6: Process Without Feeding the Thought

I can acknowledge the thought without solving it immediately I can allow uncertainty without repeatedly seeking reassurance I can notice judgment without treating it as truth I can separate inherited beliefs from present-day values I can let the thought pass without checking, confessing, arguing, or reviewing I can choose behavior based on values rather than fear

What does the thought seem to be asking me to do? What do I choose to do instead?

Step 7: Re-Rate After Processing

Distress now (0–10)

Belief strength now (0–10)

Urge to neutralize/avoid now (0–10)

Grounded/present now (0–10)

Self-Scoring

--Thought Activation /30

--Belief Shift

--Distress Shift

--Adaptive Processing /10

Score + Generate AI Summary

Complete the worksheet and select Score + Generate AI Summary.

These are worksheet-specific progress measures, not diagnostic cutoffs.

AI-Style Clinical Summary

Privacy: Generated locally in the browser. No client information is sent to an external AI service.

The AI-style narrative will appear here after scoring.

Next-Step Plan

What did I learn?What will I practice next time? What value do I want to act from?Clinician notes / formulation

Clinical Note

This worksheet does not diagnose OCD, PTSD, anxiety, depression, psychosis, or another condition. If a thought reflects genuine intent to harm self or others, command hallucinations, loss of reality testing, or inability to remain safe, direct clinical risk assessment is indicated.

Score + Generate AI SummarySave ProgressRestore ProgressCopy SummaryDownload / Save PDFReset

---