Beliefs Inventory Guide

"Mindset work" is a buzzword that is tossed around in the therapy

and coaching worlds, but it's not as simple as some would have you
believe. Manifesting, positive affirmations, changing habits...these
are all very nuanced and can even be triggering for some people.

What I find is more helpful is to understand ourselves better by

identifying the positive and negative beliefs that were learned and
decided so we can create a customized formula for treatment. This
helps to build on positive beliefs that are already there, rather than
trying to create positive beliefs when the reality is that negative
beliefs have taken root.

Understanding what we’ve decided is powerful, and this

understanding and gives us a roadmap about what we would like
to believe instead. In EMDR, we seek to identify clinical themes of
beliefs. The themes are (1) responsibility/defectiveness, (2)
responsibility/action, (3) safety/vulnerability, and (4)
control/power/choice.

For more, listen in to the podcast

episode on this topic. And if you
found this guide because someone
shared it with you, I invite you to
join my mailing list for more tools
and resources just like this one!

Kambria Evans
EMDR Consultant

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 Moment to moment, year after year, we are deciding what is true about ourselves
and the world we live in. Often, we’ve decided things as kids or during a hard phase
of life that may no longer be true, but they may feel true. This leads to internal
confusion. Understanding what we’ve decided is powerful and gives us a roadmap
about what we would like to believe instead. Here we seek to identify clinical themes
of beliefs. The themes are (1) responsibility/defectiveness,(2) responsibility/action, (3)
safety/vulnerability, and (4) control/power/choice.

For the following beliefs, rate how true each one feels to you (0-3) by checking the box:

Negative Beliefs in Not at All Somewhat Very

True - 1 True - 2
Responsibility/Defectiveness True - 0 True - 3
I'm not good enough. ü
I don't deserve love. ü
I am a bad person. ü
I am incompetent.
ü
I am worthless/inadequate.
ü
I am shameful.
ü
I am not lovable. ü
I deserve only bad things.
ü
I am permanently damaged.
ü
I am ugly/my body is hateful.
ü
I don't deserve...
ü
I am stupid/not smart enough. ü
I am insignificant/unimportant. ü
I am a disappointment.
ü
I deserve to die.
ü
I deserve to be miserable.
ü
I am different/don't belong. ü
I have to be perfect (out of inadequacy).
ü
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For the following beliefs, rate how true each one feels to you (0-3) by checking the box:

Positive Beliefs in Not at All Somewhat Very

True - 2 True - 3
Responsibility/Defectiveness True - 0 True - 1

I'm good enough/fine as I am.

ü
I deserve love; I can have love.
ü
I am a good (loving) person.
ü
I am competent.
ü
I am worthy; I am worthwhile.
ü
I am honorable.
ü
I am lovable. ü
I deserve good things.
ü
I am/can be healthy. ü
I am fine/attractive/lovable. ü
I can have/deserve...
ü
I am intelligent/able to learn. ü
I am significant/important. ü
I am OK just the way I am. ü
I deserve to live. ü
I deserve to be happy. ü
I am OK as I am.
ü
I am fine the way I am.
ü

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For the following beliefs, rate how true each one feels to you (0-3) by checking the box:

Not at All Somewhat Very

Beliefs in Responsibility/Action True - 0 True - 1
True - 2
True - 3

I should have done something. ü

I did something wrong. ü
I should have known better. ü
I did the best I could. ü
I learned/can learn from it.
ü
I do the best I can/I can learn.
ü
For the following beliefs, rate how true each one feels to you (0-3) by checking the box:

Not at All Somewhat Very

Beliefs in Safety/Vulnerability True - 0 True - 1
True - 2
True - 3

I cannot trust anyone. ü

I cannot protect myself. ü
I am in danger.
ü
I am not safe. ü
I am going to die. ü
It's not OK (safe) to fee/show my
emotions. ü
I can choose whom to trust.
ü
I can learn to protect myself. ü
It's over; I am safe now.
ü
I can safely feel/show my emotions.
ü
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For the following beliefs, rate how true each one feels to you (0-3) by checking the box:

Not at All Somewhat Very

Beliefs in Power/Control/Choice True - 0 True - 1
True - 2
True - 3

I am not in control.
ü
I am powerless/helpless. ü
I cannot get what I want. ü
I cannot stand up for myself. ü
I cannot let it out.
ü
I cannot be trusted. ü
I cannot trust myself. ü
I cannot trust my judgment. ü
I am a failure/will fail. ü
I cannot succeed. ü
I have to be perfect/please everyone.
ü
I can't handle it.
ü
I am now in control.
ü
I now have choices.
ü
I can get what I want.
ü
I can make my needs known. ü
I can choose to let it out.
ü
I can be trusted.
ü
I can learn to trust myself. ü
I can trust my judgment.
ü
I can succeed.
ü
I can be myself/make mistakes.
ü
I can handle it.
ü
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Notice the beliefs you listed as a 0 or a 3. List them below. Then identify the
clinical category of the belief. The four clinical themes are: 1) responsibility/
defectiveness, 2) responsibility/action, 3) safety/vulnerability, and 4)
control/power/choice.

Rating Clinical
Beliefs with a 0 or 3
(0 or 3) Category
I'm a bad person 0 responsibility/defectiveness

I am stupid/not smart enough 0 responsibility/defectiveness

I can have/deserve... 0 responsibility/defectiveness

I am significant/important 0 responsibility/defectiveness

I am OK as I am 0 responsibility/defectiveness

I am fine the way I am 0 responsibility/defectiveness

I am in danger 0 safety/vulnerability

I am going to die 0 safety/vulnerability

it's over; I am safe now 0 safety/vulnerability

I cannot stand up for myself 0 power/control/choice

I cannot succeed 0 power/control/choice

I am worthless 3 responsibility/defectiveness

I am not lovable 3 responsibility/defectiveness

I am insignificant/unimportant 3 responsibility/defectiveness

I am different/don't belong responsibility/defectiveness

3

I am intelligent/able to learn 3 responsibility/defectiveness

I should have known better 3 responsibility/action

I did the best I could 3 responsibility/action

I learn/can learn from it responsibility/action

3

I do the best I can/I can learn 3 responsibility/action

I can learn to protect myself 3 safety/vulnerability

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 Reflection
1. What did you learn about yourself in this exercise?
I learned that I really think that something is wrong with me. even though I like myself and think that I am capable.
I feel like other people don't see me the way I see myself, I think others don't care about me or my opinions.
I believe that I'm the only person who can take care of myself, but I'm also burnt out and want to rest.
I don't feel like anything is going to harm me, I don't want to die.
I just want to be loved and accepted.

I'm hungry to grow, to evolve and in part that stems from I want to fix what I feel is broken. I'm stubborn and don't give up
I don't feel like I deserve the life I have, I feel like I deserve everything I want and I willing to do the work to have it.

2. How does this make sense to you?

I mean I always feel like I don't matter to people and that I'm not accepted or loved. people only like me when I'm there to offer
them something in return.
even though I like myself, I feel like I'm different and people don't understand me... because if they understood me then maybe
they would see that I'm really awesome and would care about me.

looking at it that way really makes me notice how all this shows up in my life... it really makes me sad to think about
also the fact that I won't give up and keep pushing forward is why I'm still here, I refuse to let things be and if the world is going to
try taking me down I'm going down fighting.

3. What felt surprising in this exercise?

I would say the biggest surprise to me is how hard I am on myself with the responsibility piece... I should have known better hit me
really hard because I say it all the time.. I should have known this was the outcome.. because I usually did know before and I
ignored it because it wasn't something I wanted to believe... I wanted to believe I could be happy but then everything happens as
predicted and I'm left feeling stupid because I knew better and should have listened to myself

4. What came up in this exercise that feels familiar?

sadness, guilt, self-blame, feelings of worthlessness.

a bit of pride that I know that I'll never give up but at the same time pain that it feels like I'm just extending my pain because it'll
never work out and I'll just continue to be sad

5. What is important to give attention to moving forward? How

will this inform your EMDR treatment?
I don't want to be in pain anymore, I don't want to feel hopeless.
I want to be happy and confident, I want to work on feeling like I have value... I want to feel like even if nobody else loves me that I
love myself and that it's enough. I want to feel like I am enough. I want to feel important. I don't want to feel like I need others
approval or love. I want to not feel rejected by any small thing

this helps me to really dial in to the fact that I feel like I have no real value. because of that I'm looking for that value in other people
who only seem to value me when I'm giving which in turn causes me to feel worse because it proves that I don't have value only
what I do does. it's kind of a vicious cycle tbh. with no real way to win.. either people only care when I'm there and giving or they
don't care at all. I want people to care, if I'm there or not. and I've never experienced that feeling.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be shared, uploaded, or distributed. - Copyright © Zero Disturbance, LLC 2023