Personal Values Worksheet
Issue the Personal Values Worksheet to clients and help them rediscover what they value the most and determine how they can maintain their mental well-being in ways that align with their values.
Fact Checked by Nate Lacson.
What is a Personal Values Worksheet?
Before discussing the Personal Values Worksheet, let’s talk briefly about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a form of talking therapy that aims to bring positive and long-lasting changes to how clients respond to certain scenarios based on their behavior, emotions, and thoughts. The foundation of this therapy is built on the perspective that a person’s feelings (emotions and physical sensations), thoughts, behaviors, and actions are interconnected.
To bring positive and long-lasting changes to a client, CBT therapy programs focus on their negative thought and behavioral patterns, break them down into smaller and manageable bits, and replace them with positive, realistic, and rational alternatives to help them work through psychological distress.
CBT therapists can help clients reframe their thought and behavioral patterns through conversation and using worksheets! One such worksheet is the Personal Values Worksheet.
A Personal Values Worksheet will come in different forms depending on the source. Some Personal Values Worksheets will have a preset list of personal values with some blanks for clients to write their own. If there is a preset list, clients will have to select the values that are most important to them. They will either pick their Top 10 or Top 5, or they will have to rank each value that’s present in terms of how important they are.
Some are free-form. If it’s free-form, the client will list their values, then indicate their importance.
Our Personal Values Worksheet is the former, and it also includes some writing prompts.
Check out this video to find out more about Therapy Worksheets:
Printable Personal Values Worksheet
Download this Personal Values Worksheet to help clients reflect on their personal values.
How does the Personal Values Worksheet work?
So, we at Carepatron created a Personal Values Worksheet template that you can use for your Cognitive Behavioral Therapy program.
This is how it works:
- The client will read a list containing several personal values. This list also has five blank fields for them to write down values they think are missing from the list.
- After reading the list, they will indicate ten of these values that they resonate with the most. The most important part of this worksheet will be based on this list.
- Among the ten values they picked, they need to make a short list of five values, the most important among the important ones.
- The next step is to indicate the problematic thought and behavioral patterns that they have that run counter to these values. They will have to write as descriptively as they can. This will show how self-aware they are.
- Next, they will write down what they could have done in response to the situations that triggered negative thoughts and behavioral patterns. It is important that these responses align with the client’s values.
- Last, they will write down what they will do moving forward in a way that aligns with those values. This is optional, by the way.
That’s it! The great thing about the last part of this worksheet is that it can be used as a point of discussion with the therapist so they have another person to help with formulating plans and actionable steps. It’s possible that the client might not have an answer for the last part yet. That’s a big step, and they might need assistance with that.
Personal Values Worksheet Example
Now that you know what Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is and what Personal Values Worksheets are, here is our Personal Values Worksheet PDF template that we created:
Feel free to download it if you think this will benefit your Cognitive Behavioral Therapy work! You can print several copies to hand to your clients in person and to be filled with a pen, or you can go paperless and send the worksheet to their emails. Your clients can work on it on their own time and at home! The Personal Values Worksheet PDF has tickable checkboxes as well as blank fields and boxes to write their answers based on the prompts.
Download this Personal Values Worksheet Example (Sample) here:
When should this Personal Values Worksheet be used?
The best time to issue this version of the Personal Values Worksheet to your CBT client is when you’ve already begun the therapy program. This means that you should have already passed the stage of getting to know your client, and rapport and trust should have already been established. At this point, you should be working on teaching them skills such as Decatastrophization and Cognitive Restructuring.
Decatastrophization is a technique that lets clients think about any exaggerated thoughts and any negative outcomes they are expecting, then work to reconfigure the way they think by helping them consider rational and/or positive thoughts and outcomes, then see if it’s possible to come up with actionable steps to reach positive or alternative outcomes instead.
On the other hand, Cognitive Restructuring is pretty much what’s being applied in Decatastrophization, which is replacing negative thoughts with more rational and/or positive ones. Before they can do that, they must be able to identify the sources of their cognitive distortions and negative thought and behavioral patterns. They should be able to do this when they can keep themselves calm, relaxed, and detached from their negative thoughts and feelings, which you, the therapist, should help with.
Once they have learned these skills, they can answer this worksheet as intended because they should be able to identify their negative thoughts and behavioral patterns. After that, it’s a matter of thinking of ways to replace those patterns with better ones aligned with their values.
What are the benefits of using the Personal Values Worksheet?
It can help clients become more aware of what is causing their psychological distress.
Earlier, we mentioned that clients are supposed to be taught skills like decatastrophization and cognitive restructuring. We can even add conflict resolution, critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication into that mix. Before they can learn these things, they need to become more self-aware, especially regarding their negative thoughts and behavioral patterns, especially the factors that brought forth these patterns. This is where worksheets come in.
Most worksheets come with exercises that have clients think about themselves from certain perspectives. The Personal Values Worksheet does just that. By examining themselves and identifying the values they hold dear, they will be able to take the necessary steps needed to combat their psychological distress.
It can help both therapists and clients formulate coping strategies.
One of the prompts of this Personal Values Worksheet template is to write down how their negative thought and behavioral patterns in response to the causes of their psychological distress run counter to the values they consider the most important.
Then, they will be asked to specify what they could have done differently to respond to triggering situations in a way that aligns with their values.
The therapist can look at their answers to these questions to help them formulate what to do moving forward, especially small steps that ensure they will respond to causes in healthier ways that align with their values.
It can encourage goal setting.
Speaking of formulating coping strategies, the Personal Values Worksheet will allow the client to think about what they want to do in the future, that not only helps them work through their current problems, but also charts a path to a better and healthier future. They can list down goals and plans like lifestyle changes that are aligned with their values, and they can have their therapist help out with this if they’re having trouble thinking of ideas.
Commonly asked questions
While the prompts are easy to follow, some people might find it difficult to write down their answers. If their cognition has been distorted for too long, then they might have some trouble writing down what they should have done or what they want to do moving forward. You, as the therapist, should be there for them and provide suggestions that are aligned with the values that the client indicated.
This will depend on the person answering it. Some clients might be able to answer this in one sitting. Some might take longer, like days or even weeks. If we consider that they are in a therapy program, it’s best to agree with the client as to when they should submit a fully-accomplished copy. Do note that you can guide them while they answer the worksheet.
Sure! If you think it’ll help you chart a better path that will bring about positive changes to your mental well-being, go ahead! Though, do note that you shouldn’t use this as a substitute for therapy. We recommend enrolling in a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy program so that you have an expert to help you work through the problems causing you psychological distress.
