Self-Esteem Worksheets: 4 Printable CBT Sheets, Teen Version

Search for self esteem worksheets and most of what comes up is made for young children, sold one sheet at a time, or kept in a separate download. This page gives you four self-esteem worksheets for adults and a shorter set of self-esteem worksheets for teens, written for your client to fill in. Print this page or save it as a PDF, and they're ready for your next session. Each sheet is a flat list with lines to write on, so it prints cleanly and also works on a phone.

The worksheets follow Melanie Fennell's cognitive model of low self-esteem: a positive qualities log that asks for evidence, a worksheet for examining the core belief Fennell calls the "bottom line", a rewrite from self-criticism to self-compassion, and a daily wins log. After them comes the part for you: what low self-esteem looks like clinically, how Fennell's model works, how to measure change, a session-by-session plan, a completed example, how to adapt the work for teens, when worksheets aren't enough, and how to write it up in a progress note.

Every client in this article is invented. Any resemblance to a real person is a coincidence.

How to print this page or save it as a PDF

Worksheet 1: Positive qualities log

My positive qualities log

Low self-esteem makes it easy to notice what's wrong with you and easy to miss what's right. This log isn't about repeating nice things to yourself. It's about collecting facts, the way a scientist would, about good qualities you already have. Small, ordinary qualities count: being on time, listening well, making people laugh, keeping going on a hard day.

Part 1. My list

Write down as many good qualities, skills and strengths as you can. If you get stuck, these questions can help:

My qualities:

Part 2. Proof from this week

Once a day, write down one moment when you showed a quality from your list, however small. Then rate how much you believe you have that quality, from 0 (not at all) to 100 (completely).

Entry 1

Entry 2

Entry 3

Entry 4

Entry 5

Entry 6

Entry 7

Part 3. At the end of the week

If you can't think of anything at first, that's common, and it isn't proof of anything about you. Bring the sheet anyway and fill it in together with your therapist.

Worksheet 2: Examining the bottom line

Examining my bottom line

Many people with low self-esteem carry one harsh conclusion about themselves, such as "I'm not good enough," "I'm unlovable" or "I'm a failure." In CBT this is sometimes called the bottom line, a term from Melanie Fennell's work on self-esteem. It usually formed early, from what happened to you, and it can feel like a plain fact. This worksheet treats it as an idea you learned, which can be checked like any other idea.

Work through this sheet with your therapist the first time. If it brings up painful memories, stop, take a break, and bring it to your next session.

Step 1. My bottom line

Step 2. Where it came from

Think about what happened at home, at school, with friends or later in life that might have taught you this idea.

Step 3. The rules I live by to protect myself

People with a harsh bottom line often live by rules that help them get by. Write yours in the words you'd use.

Step 4. The evidence I've been using

List the things that seem to prove the bottom line. Then, for each one, write another way to understand it.

Step 5. Facts that don't fit the bottom line

These questions can help you find them:

Facts that don't fit:

Step 6. A more balanced view of myself

Step 7. One thing to try this week

Old beliefs don't disappear after one worksheet. A drop of 10 or 20 points is real progress, and you'll keep adding facts to the new view over the coming weeks.

Worksheet 3: Self-criticism to self-compassion rewrite

From self-criticism to self-compassion

Most people with low self-esteem have an inner critic: a voice that jumps on every mistake. It can feel like the thing that keeps you in line, but it usually leaves you feeling worse and less able to fix what went wrong. This sheet helps you answer the critic the way you'd speak to a friend: honest about what happened, and kind about it.

Step 1. What happened

Step 2. What my inner critic said

Write the exact words, even if they're harsh.

Step 3. How it felt and what it made me do

Step 4. The fair point, if there is one

Sometimes the critic has noticed something real. Write it as a specific action, not a verdict on who you are: "I sent the email without checking it," not "I'm careless."

Step 5. What I'd say to a friend

Imagine a friend you care about made the same mistake and said these things about themselves.

Step 6. My rewrite

Write a reply to yourself in three parts. Use your own words.

Step 7. Afterward

Being kind to yourself isn't letting yourself off the hook. You can take responsibility and still speak to yourself with respect. If the kind words feel fake or uncomfortable at first, that's common. Write them anyway and tell your therapist how it felt.

Worksheet 4: Daily wins log

My daily wins log

Low self-esteem tends to erase the day's good moments by bedtime. Before you go to sleep, write down three things from the day. They can be tiny: getting up on a hard morning, sending a message you'd been putting off, cooking dinner. A win is anything you did, coped with or enjoyed.

Day 1. Date: ____________

Day 2. Date: ____________

Day 3. Date: ____________

Day 4. Date: ____________

Day 5. Date: ____________

Day 6. Date: ____________

Day 7. Date: ____________

End of the week

Self-esteem worksheets for teens

These four short sheets are for teens, about 12 to 17. They use 0 to 10 ratings and take about 10 minutes each. Fill them in on paper, or copy the questions into the notes app on your phone.

Teen sheet 1. Things that are true about me

Teen sheet 2. My inner critic vs. my best friend

Teen sheet 3. When I compare myself

For the moments when scrolling, school or friends leave you feeling like you're not as good as everyone else.

Teen sheet 4. Three wins a day

A win can be small: finishing homework, getting through a hard class, making someone laugh.

If you ever feel unsafe or think about hurting yourself, tell an adult you trust, and call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US) or call 911.

These worksheets use TranqBay's own wording. They draw on Melanie Fennell's cognitive model of low self-esteem and Kristin Neff's description of self-compassion, and they are not copies of any published form. For anyone using them: if you feel unsafe, or think about hurting yourself or someone else, call or text 988 or call 911. End of the worksheets. The rest of this page is for therapists.

What low self-esteem looks like clinically

Low self-esteem is a pattern of thinking and behavior, not a diagnosis on its own. Fennell's 1997 paper starts from the point that it is common in clinical populations, yet had no cognitive conceptualization or integrated treatment of its own (Fennell, 1997). Waite, McManus and Shafran describe it as associated with psychiatric disorder and "distressing and debilitating in its own right" (Waite et al., 2012).

What you might see in session:

Where it shows up:

Questions that help you tell a mood state from a long-standing belief:

If the harsh view arrived with the depression and fades as mood lifts, the depression is the first target. If it was there long before and stays when mood improves, it's worth working on directly, which is what Fennell's approach is for.

Fennell's CBT model of low self-esteem

Melanie Fennell, writing from the Warneford Hospital in Oxford, proposed a cognitive model of low self-esteem in 1997, derived from Beck's model of emotional disorder. Her treatment program brought together methods from cognitive therapy for depression and anxiety and from work on schemas, or core beliefs (Fennell, 1997). She set out the same approach for clients in the self-help book Overcoming Low Self-Esteem, first published in 1999 and in a second edition since 2016 (Hachette UK).

The model in plain words, in the order it unfolds:

So the model has two loops that keep low self-esteem going: an anxious one (predictions and precautions) and a depressed one (self-criticism and low mood). Treatment works on each part. Fennell's book describes how low self-esteem develops and what keeps it going, how to question negative thoughts and the attitudes underneath them, and how to identify strengths and good qualities for a more balanced view of oneself. A 2025 eight-session program built on her model for young bisexual people shows one way to order the work: the longitudinal formulation, the anxious pathway with behavioral experiments, the depressed pathway and self-criticism, strengths and positive qualities with a strengths log and a daily activities diary, rules for living, a new bottom line, and a plan for keeping well (Wilkinson et al., 2025).

How the worksheets on this page fit:

Does it work?

The evidence is promising but small. In a preliminary randomized study, 22 people were assigned to 10 individual CBT sessions with workbooks based on Fennell's approach, either straight away or after a waitlist. The immediate group did significantly better on low self-esteem, overall functioning and depression, and had fewer psychiatric diagnoses at the end; gains held at an 11-week follow-up. The sample was small and mostly women with a high level of education (Waite et al., 2012).

A systematic review found 8 studies of Fennell-based CBT for low self-esteem in adults, 7 of them in a meta-analysis. The summary effect size at post-treatment was 1.12 for weekly sessions and 0.34 for one-day workshops, with similar results for depressive symptoms. The authors noted it is unclear whether these interventions differ from those aimed at reducing depression (Kolubinski et al., 2018).

Measuring self-esteem: the Rosenberg scale, the PHQ-9 and belief ratings

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Morris Rosenberg's scale is perhaps the most widely used self-esteem measure in social science research. It has 10 items answered on a four-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree; five items are reverse-scored, and the usual total runs from 0 to 30. It was developed in the 1960s with 5,024 high school juniors and seniors from 10 randomly selected New York State schools, and described in the appendix of Rosenberg's Society and the Adolescent Self-Image (1965). The University of Maryland, where Rosenberg taught, hosts the items and scoring instructions (UMD Sociology) and says there are "no discrete cut-off points to delineate high and low self-esteem" (Rosenberg Scale FAQ). So use it to track change in one client (at the start, midway and at the end, scored the same way each time) rather than to label a score low or high.

The PHQ-9. Give it at intake and every few weeks, because depression changes how you read every other number. Watch item 6, which asks about feeling bad about yourself, and act on item 9, which asks about thoughts of death or self-harm: complete a risk assessment before the client leaves, whatever the total. Our PHQ-9 scoring calculator gives the total and severity band.

Belief ratings. The 0 to 100 ratings on Worksheet 2 are a session-level measure. Ask for the belief in the old bottom line and the new one each session or every other session, and record both. They move slowly; that's normal.

How to use these worksheets across sessions

Handing a client all four sheets in session one is the quickest way to get none back. Build the work in stages, and practice each sheet in session before it goes home. The pace below assumes about 10 weekly sessions, the length used in Waite and colleagues' study; many clients need longer at a step.

What makes the sheets work:

A completed example: Elena, sessions 6 to 8

Invented client: Elena, 29, a graphic designer seen by video for CBT for low self-esteem with mild depression. PHQ-9 was 8 at intake and 6 at session 6. She was asked about thoughts of death and self-harm at intake and at session 6, and said she had none.

Worksheet 3, completed in session 6

Worksheet 1, three entries from the week after session 6

Worksheet 2, completed across sessions 7 and 8

Why this example works:

Using self-esteem worksheets with teens

On average, self-esteem doesn't collapse in adolescence. A meta-analysis of 331 longitudinal samples found it rose from age 4 to 11, held steady from 11 to 15, and then rose strongly until about 30 (Orth et al., 2018). So a sharp drop in a particular teen isn't simply "what teenagers are like." Ask what changed: bullying, a friendship ending, grades, family stress, questions of identity, a changing body, or the start of depression.

Targeting self-esteem directly seems to matter. A meta-analysis of 116 studies with children and adolescents found that interventions specifically focused on self-esteem and self-concept worked much better (mean effect size 0.57) than programs aimed at something else, such as behavior or social skills (0.10), and treatment programs worked better than prevention programs (Haney and Durlak, 1998).

Practical changes for teens:

Screen as you go. The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening adolescents aged 12 to 18 for major depressive disorder; the PHQ-9 is the most commonly used screening instrument in clinical practice, and the PHQ modified for adolescents (PHQ-A) has also been studied (USPSTF, 2022). Ask about self-harm directly. Our therapy questions for teens include openers for exactly these conversations.

If the cause is current bullying, discrimination or a hard home, the main work isn't changing the teen's thinking. Address safety first, and with consent, involve the school or family.

When worksheets aren't enough

Self-esteem worksheets are tools inside a treatment plan, not a treatment on their own. Slow down, change course or refer in these situations:

Common mistakes with self-esteem worksheets

How to write self-esteem work in a progress note

Name the intervention, the belief you worked on with its rating, the homework review, any measure scores, the risk check and the plan. "Worked on self-esteem" tells a reviewer almost nothing. "Examined core belief 'I'm not good enough' (belief 85/100) using a structured worksheet; client generated an alternative belief (45/100); planned a behavioral experiment testing the rule 'I must never ask for help'" shows exactly what happened.

What to record:

A DAP note for Elena's session 8 (invented):

Phrases that work in any format:

A treatment plan goal you can adapt: "Within 12 weeks, client will rate belief in 'I'm not good enough' at 50/100 or below (baseline 85/100) and complete one previously avoided task a week without extra checking." Our treatment plan template shows how to word goals and objectives. For diagnosis codes, ICD-10-CM lists "low self-esteem" as a symptom code, R45.81. It describes a symptom, not a mental disorder, so many therapists record low self-esteem as a treatment target under the diagnosis they're treating; check what your payers accept.

Completed worksheets: HIPAA defines psychotherapy notes as notes "recorded (in any medium) by a health care provider who is a mental health professional" about a counseling session and kept separate from the rest of the record (45 CFR 164.501). A worksheet the client filled in doesn't fit that definition, so if you keep a copy, treat it as part of the clinical record and follow your setting's records policy. Our guide to psychotherapy notes vs progress notes explains the difference.

For more wording, the progress notes cheat sheet lists CBT intervention words and client response words. In BIRP, the worksheet is the Intervention and the ratings are the Response; see our BIRP note examples. Our DAP notes examples show how one note's Plan becomes the next note's Data.

How this works in TranqBay

TranqBay is practice software for therapists in private practice: a practice website, online booking, video sessions and session notes in one place. Here is where self-esteem work fits.

Frequently asked questions about self-esteem worksheets

Before your next session

Print the daily wins log for a client who is just starting this work, and the self-criticism rewrite for one who already knows their inner critic well. Do the first entry together in session before anything goes home, and start the next session by looking at it.

If you want booking, video sessions and session notes in one place, see how TranqBay works for private practice: you can browse practice website designs, including a sample site for a child and family therapist, and see the booking page your clients would use. If you're deciding whether to join, this page explains how joining TranqBay works.

Harsh self-talk often follows the same thinking traps: our cognitive distortions worksheet lists 12 with examples.

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