Fact and Opinion Worksheets
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Fact and opinion worksheets can help therapy clients respond to difficult situations and manage their emotions. This article includes a free facts vs. feelings worksheet to use in your private practice.
There are various situations that may inspire different interpretations, thoughts, emotions, and responses.
In the midst of these experiences, it can be easy to confuse facts with opinions or assumptions. When these opinions are untethered from the facts they’re inspired by, they can lead to strong negative emotions and reactions.
This is where fact and opinion worksheets can be useful for clients to identify the objective facts of a situation and compare them to their thoughts—ultimately shifting their perception.
Download the free facts vs. feelings worksheet, and save it to your electronic health record (EHR) for repeated use with clients.
Benefits of identifying facts vs. opinions and feelings
The facts of a situation are the verifiable, objective truths—elements anyone could observe and confirm.
Opinions, on the other hand, are a person’s own subjective assumptions and perceptions. They are the judgments or interpretations that a person develops, which can be influenced by feelings, past experiences, or input from others. They may be based completely on facts, not at all substantiated by facts, or partially factual.
Differentiating facts from feelings in a fact and opinion worksheet can help clients stay connected to reality and manage negative reactions.
When clients analyze the objective facts of a situation and compare them to their perception, they can gain insight, have more choice in their response, and reframe their thoughts to better align with the facts of a situation.
The fact and opinion worksheet attached to this article is useful for helping clients do just that.
Examples of facts and opinions
Clients need strong discernment skills to separate facts from opinions. This is where fact and opinion worksheets, or a facts vs. feelings worksheet, can be useful in helping clients spot these differences.
The printable fact vs. opinion worksheet in this article includes an example wherein someone going through a divorce is experiencing overwhelming emotions that are clouding their judgment.
Here are example insights from a client going through the process:
Situation: I am going through the divorce process with my partner. It has been a difficult process and we are working on splitting up our assets.
Facts: I am getting divorced. My finances will be in a more difficult situation after the divorce.
Opinions: My life is ruined. I will never recover from this financially or emotionally.
In this instance, the person is dealing with difficult facts and realities of the situation. However, they express strong assumptions and opinions about what the divorce will mean for the rest of their life—broadening the impact of their temporary circumstances to a state of permanence.
Their opinions stir up strong negative emotions that make them feel like they’ll never recover from the divorce. When clients use a fact and opinion worksheet, they can start to catch themselves before fully spiraling into negative thoughts and emotions.
This awareness helps clients ground themselves in the facts of a situation. By moving toward neutrality and only the objective reality, clients can reduce the intensity of their negative emotions.
This example is not included in the facts vs. feelings worksheet, but involves someone who goes to an anxiety group therapy session for the first time:
Situation: I went to the anxiety group therapy session finally, after putting it off for weeks. Some people said hi to me and others did not acknowledge me. I’m having a lot of negative feelings and thoughts about this.
Facts: The first two people I walked past when I entered did not say hello to me. Two other people later in the group did briefly say hello. The group facilitator initially forgot to introduce me and then did remember after 10 minutes.
Opinions: The people here don’t like me or want me to be here. I shouldn’t have come. This is just making my anxiety worse now.
In both of these examples, clients can see how their opinions are actually assumptions that are not based in facts. They can then reel in those opinions and form more rational, fact-based thoughts. The fact and opinion worksheets leave space for them to do this.
How to use fact and opinion worksheets
Facts vs. feelings worksheets can be effective tools for helping clients tune into their internal experiences.
The fact or opinion worksheet, with answers, PDF is an editable worksheet that you can print or send to clients virtually.
The worksheet asks the client to describe the context of a recent situation in their life. This description gives a high-level overview of what is happening in these circumstances.
From there, the client is prompted to list the thoughts and emotions that are arising related to that situation. This will help give them more clarity on their internal reactions.
Once clients identify their thoughts and emotions around a given situation, they are prompted to differentiate between objective facts and subjective opinions. The facts vs. feelings worksheet also includes an example response to help clients better understand what they are looking for.
Finally, after identifying the facts and opinions of the situation, clients are asked to apply knowledge of this newly found distinction to inform their perception of the situation. If a client recognizes they’re holding exaggerated negative opinions about the situation, this final section gives them the space to rewrite some of those previously held perceptions and ground themselves in the facts.
The ability to decipher facts from opinions can take time, but with practice and the help of fact and opinion worksheets, clients can improve this skill. This can lead to improved resilience, emotion regulation, and overall mental health.
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