What is this app

Welcome to ABC Notebook – a journalling app that aims to give easy access to the ABC model of Albert Ellis from CBT.

How to use

As soon as you feel like you need to record an ABC Entry:

In the order of significance to your experience, answer the following questions in the 3 main input boxes.

A. What was the Activating event? B. What are your Beliefs about this event? C. What are the Consequences of those beliefs.

With that done, use the next 2 input boxes to reflect on your experience with these questions.

Are all the beliefs in B realistic or helpful?
What can we do next time A happens?

Submitting an issue

If you’ve a bug to report please file an issue.

What is CBT

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy operates under the tag line “change your thoughts – change your emotions”.

You change your thoughts by observing them and working at correction. You change your emotions to not be so dang depressed all the time.

What is ABC

ABC is a journaling tactic for helping with CBT. The through shot is, “something has happened, and you don’t like how it made you feel, so let’s look at it”.

Therein, it opens with three questions:

A. What was the Activating event?

An Activating event (sometimes referred to as an adversity) is a bad thing that has happened: a bad grade, a hard meeting, or what have you. This event is the thing that ultimately leads to the later Consequences.

B. What are your Beliefs about this event?

Beliefs are many things, but for our purposes here they are thoughts about or surrounding the event that started this entry.

C. What are the Consequences of those beliefs.

The Consequences are the bad things that come from our beliefs of the adversity. These are the things that we ultimately don’t want to change.

It can be useful to take these down out of order. It is helpful to take them down in the order of importance to the experience. You may be experience may bad emotions, so you take down your “C” then introspect to find the “A” and “C”. Something clearly bad may happen (your “A”) then you can use “B” and “C” to process it – Ad nauseam.

Now that we have that in the paper, we can ask 2 incisive questions:

Are all the beliefs in B realistic or helpful?
What can we do next time A happens?

For my money, this first question is the main help of this method. First, are your beliefs realistic? Is this huge conviction that you are worthless realistic? Given all the things in life you’ve done and are are you REALISTICALLY worthless – I’d hazard no. But if they are realistic that’s also fine, we can use this place to engage with the reality of our reasoning. Second and just as important, are they helpful. If you have a thought about yourself that is based in reality but is destructive and detractive – it isn’t helpful. If it isn’t helping you then we should reassess it. This question is a wonderful framework for assessing your beliefs in a way that is readily constructive to helping yourself.

The plan for next time is a bit self explanatory, but it’s worth considering. Take some time to really think about 1) how you can change what you believe to help your consequences 2) what little actions could mitigate your bad experience. Use this to chart a realistic plan for next time.

Closing Thoughts

That is the theory of reflecting through ABC. It is worth stating, these questions are great and helpful but not magic. The onus of honest reflection still lies with you. It is also worth stating that you can do it. I hope this has and will be helpful.