Sentence Completion Worksheets
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Sentence completion worksheets can be used as educational, developmental, and psychotherapy tools to boost self-esteem, use as an icebreaker, or use as an aid to prompt a client to share more about themselves.
This article provides an overview of sentence completion worksheets, their benefits, and a free downloadable “finish the sentence” worksheet with sample exercises that you can upload to your electronic health record (EHR) for repeated use.
Benefits of using sentence completion worksheets
Sentence completion worksheets are one of several practical strategies to help clients improve their self-confidence and self-esteem.
These "finish the sentence" worksheets can also be used to:
- Promote self-exploration by identifying strengths.
- Challenge core beliefs and restructure unhelpful thoughts to more adaptive thinking and behaviors.
- Identify core values and determine personal boundaries.
- Provide psychoeducation on how to implement healthy boundaries.
- Improve distress tolerance skills.
- Identify attainable self-care strategies.
- Learn how to practice self-compassion.
- Gain awareness of factors influencing their well-being.
- Help a client open up about themselves and their feelings by providing discussion prompts, such as asking questions that find out about their sense of meaning or important values.
- To analyze a problem or challenge from a different perspective.
- As a speech therapy tool to promote speech production.
Examples of sentence completion exercises
Sentence completion exercises vary in scope.
They can focus on identifying core challenges or serve to enhance self-esteem by creating hope and an appreciation of one’s strengths. For example, sentence completion exercises can be included in a “finish the sentence” icebreaker worksheet to build self-esteem, assertive communication worksheets to improve relationships, boundary exploration worksheets, and more.
Examples of common prompts include:
- My friends would describe my strengths as_________
- Some of the stressors that may have contributed to my anxiety are_________
- I cope with stress by_________
- I know that _________ will make me feel better
- My most unique quality is_________
- When I’ve felt like I’ve failed, one thing I’ve told myself is_________
- I secretly enjoy _________
- I am secretly afraid of_________
- At work, I enjoy _________
- I feel sad about _________
- My greatest achievement is _________
- I feel threatened at work when _________
- I feel unsafe when _________
- Three ways my life is incredible are _________
- Some of the core values that are important to me include _________
- I feel violated when X does _________
- I want _________ to ask before _________
- If I could change one thing about my life it would be _________
- I feel good about myself when_________
- When I fight with my partner, I still appreciate _________
- I am most grateful for_________
- The thing that caused me the most trouble was_________
- One good thing that happened today was_________
- My greatest regret is _________
- I find it hard to _________
- I feel most uncomfortable when _________
- I could not live without _________
- I know that other people are happy with me when they_________
- I recognize my success by the following measures _________
- I feel accepted by my friends and partner when they _________
- I express my love to friends by_________
- I gain my strengths from_________
- My three greatest pleasures are ________
- I feel confused about _________
- Today was interesting because _________
- Sometimes, I wish I could _________
- My biggest goal in life is _________
- I am looking forward to_________
- I flourish when _________
- I have had positive experiences with these people _________
- I feel energized when I _________
- Today, I accomplished _________
- I am proud of _________
How to use the sentence completion worksheets with clients
The "finish the sentence" worksheets can be used in therapy sessions in multiple ways:
- As “finish this sentence” prompts when a client is struggling to answer questions about themselves.
- To guide a therapy session. For example, you can use a self-esteem sentence completion worksheet to home in on a client’s strengths or attributes.
- To provide clarity on values, needs, or boundaries.
- To identify sources of relational conflict.
- To enhance self-awareness by prompting clients to consider other perspectives.
- As a handout or homework to practice self-reflection.
Sources
- Child Safety and Abuse Prevention Programs. (n.d.).
- Kohli, A., Jhanda, S., & Padhy, S. K. (2018). The utility of modified version of sentence completion test for children and adolescents. Industrial psychiatry journal.
- University of the Arts London. (n.d.). Innovative tools to engage students in reflective practice.
- Pascual-Leone. (2010). University of Windsor. Sentence completion task for priming emotions.
- Van Sickle, A., & Dembowski, J. (2023). Case study: use of sentence completion with a person with aphasia and apraxia of speech. Clinical linguistics & phonetics.
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