Exercise: GOFAR Analysis Log
Five steps, one blank GOFAR form, and a plan for the week. Type into it here and print or save the result, or print a blank log and carry it with you. Nothing you type is saved, sent, or stored.
Step 1: Why we are doing this — building a new mental habit
The GOFAR analysis is not a one-time technique. It is a practice — a skill that gets sharper the more you use it. When you first learn to apply it, it takes conscious effort. With repetition, it begins to happen more automatically, reshaping how your brain evaluates stressful situations before you react to them.
Keeping a GOFAR log serves two purposes:
- In the moment, it slows down reactive thinking and helps you apply the five criteria deliberately.
- Over time, reviewing your log with your counselor reveals your most persistent dysfunctional thought patterns — the ones most worth targeting in treatment.
You are not expected to perform GOFAR perfectly. The goal is to practice noticing your thoughts as objects you can examine, rather than as facts you must obey.
Step 2: How to complete the GOFAR log
Choose a recent situation that triggered anxiety, worry, or a strong emotional reaction. Then work through each step below. You do not need to use full sentences — brief notes are fine.
Apply the five GOFAR criteria to your automatic thought:
| GOFAR criterion | Yes | No | Neutral |
|---|---|---|---|
| G — Does this thought help me reach my goals? | |||
| O — Does this thought help me get along with others? | |||
| F — Does this thought help me feel the way I want to feel? | |||
| A — Does this thought help keep me alive and safe? | |||
| R — Is this thought in line with objective reality? |
If any question received a “No,” write a functional alternative thought below — one that would receive a “Yes” or “Neutral” across all five criteria:
Choose your version for this week:
- Option A — Full log: Complete one GOFAR analysis per day for five days.
- Option B — Short log: Complete one GOFAR analysis every other day for one week.
- Option C — Single entry: Complete just one GOFAR analysis on the situation that bothered you most this week.
Step 3: Plan for obstacles (complete this before you close the workbook)
Anticipating barriers before they occur is one of the most effective ways to ensure follow-through. Take one minute now:
What might get in the way of doing this? (e.g., “I’ll forget,” “It will feel forced,” “I won’t have time”)
What is the smallest version of this exercise I am still willing to do if that happens?
Doing a single entry on a hard week still counts. The habit of pausing to examine your thinking — even briefly — is the skill you are building.
Step 4: What to look for when you review your log
After completing your entries, review what you wrote before your next session. Notice:
- Which GOFAR criteria do you most often answer “No” to? This may reveal the core pattern of your dysfunctional thinking.
- Are there recurring triggers (situations, people, times of day) that reliably produce your most distorted automatic thoughts?
- Does your SUD drop after writing the functional alternative? If so, that is evidence the skill is working.
- Are there automatic thoughts that are hard to challenge? Bring those to your next session — they are the most valuable material for cognitive restructuring work.
Step 5: What to bring to your next session
Bring your completed GOFAR log (written or digital) to your next session. Your counselor will use it to:
- Identify which GOFAR criteria you struggle with most consistently.
- Practice developing functional alternative thoughts together for your hardest entries.
- Connect your GOFAR patterns to your exposure hierarchy and ERP targets.
Whatever you find — whether your alternative thoughts feel convincing or not — is useful clinical information. There is no wrong way to do this exercise.
This page runs entirely in your browser. There is no account, no database, and nothing you type is saved, sent, or stored — not here and not on a server. Reloading or closing the page clears every field. Print it or save it as a PDF to keep it.
Exercise in Writing a Utility Analysis and Cognitive Restructuring (Link to An Automated Prompting Version)
We can use our increased awareness to help decide if our current patterns of thinking are useful.
We introduced the stress log in Chapter 5. If you’ve been working through this book, you’ve probably already realized that the stress log is a powerful tool to help you monitor your stress triggers and to become aware of the thoughts, memories, and emotions that are associated with each trigger.
If you have difficulty opening the link paste the following text into your browser URL: https://bsoalrrr.pplx.app/
To construct a utility analysis, we’ll start with your stress log and examine triggers and associated thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. Are these thoughts and beliefs useful? Do they help you achieve your desired outcomes? If not, can you generate new thoughts and beliefs that lead to your desired outcomes?
Nine steps, each with a space to write. Type into them here and print or save the result, or print a blank copy and work through it by hand. Nothing you type is saved, sent, or stored.
Below is the Utility Analysis of Thoughts & Beliefs as it appears on the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation website (Ref 20). Pick a thought or belief from your stress log for this exercise.
Step 1
Write the thought or belief below:
Step 2
If you experience this thought/accept this belief, how are you likely to feel (e.g., sad, lonely, angry, frustrated, afraid, guilty)?
Step 3
When you feel this way, how are you likely to behave?
Step 4
When you behave this way, what is the likely outcome? List any positive things (e.g., companionship, affection, stimulation, recreation, income) that are less likely to occur and any negative things (rejection, conflict, ill-health) that are more likely to occur because you engage in this behavior:
Step 5
Are you satisfied with this outcome? Is this outcome consistent with your life goals?
Step 6
If you answered no, what outcome would you prefer? List the positive things you want to happen and the negative things you want not to happen that you are more likely able to control or influence:
Step 7
How would you need to behave in order to increase the likelihood that this outcome will occur?
Step 8
To make it easier to behave this way, how would you like to feel?
Step 9
In order to feel this way, what thought would you need to experience or what belief would you need to accept? [Hint: the most useful answer is not necessarily the opposite of what you wrote in step #1. Useful thoughts and beliefs tend to be balanced and realistic, not simply positive.]
Using the conclusion from step 9, we can go on to develop a cognitive therapy intervention, called cognitive restructuring, to help modify stress reactions to triggers and to the way triggers are perceived.
This page runs entirely in your browser. There is no account, no database, and nothing you type is saved, sent, or stored — not here and not on a server. Reloading or closing the page clears every field. Print it or save it as a PDF to keep it.