The more effort you put into practicing cognitive techniques in high risk situations, the less risky they will become. Your self monitoring form should look something like the one below. Below are explanations as to how to fill out the first three columns accurately. What is happening right now. Any interpretation of the event will be listed under Automatic thoughts .
Some people confuse feelings for thoughts.
It is useful to create your own mood ruler by thinking about events in your past which have been associated with different percentages of the negative mood and compare current mood states to these events for accurate gauging. Your automatic thoughts are the beliefs attached and meaning assigned to events. I completely ruined any potential for a relationship. It is important to pinpoint the automatic thought which is causing you to feel badly. This is often difficult, as there are always many thoughts occuring.