CBT Tools for Healthy Living

I downloaded CBT Tools for Healthy Living at 2 a.m. because, well, insomnia and bad habits (don’t judge). I wanted something that didn’t promise miracles but actually let me track mood swings, test my thinking, and—most importantly—send something useful to my therapist. This app does that. Not perfectly. But it does.
First things first: the Cognitive Diary is the meat-and-potatoes here. I used it after a rotten meeting that left me boiling—sat there for 20 minutes writing the event, my automatic thoughts, and then the evidence for and against (yes, I actually did the slow, boring work). It forced me to argue with myself. Not fun. Necessary. By day four my angry snaps were shorter. Real change? Maybe. Noticeable? Yep.
The Mood Log is simple and stubbornly honest. I logged moods all week—coffee highs, late-night doom scroll lows—and the app spat out graphs that actually made sense. Graphs aren’t magic, but seeing a weekday pattern (oh right, Thursday is my trap) was a little like tripping over a truth you can’t ignore.
I love that everything stays on my device. No cloud handoffs, no sneaky data farming. There’s password lock, daily reminders (I turned them on and then off—don’t judge), and you can customize the CBT terms so it matches whatever your therapist uses. I emailed a few diary entries to my therapist. She responded: “Nice detail — let’s work with this.” That felt like progress.
Points system? Cute. Earn enough points and you ditch display ads for a week. I earned my first week of ad-free by actually doing the work—fun incentive, low pressure. Also, the app links to relaxation audios on the Excel At Life site, plus short tests like Cognitive Styles and Happiness Assessments.
Not everything is sunshine. The UI looks like it had a good run in 2012, and the tutorials could be friendlier (I got stuck on the cognitive restructuring step more than once). But the app is lightweight, private, and deeply practical. If you want flashy graphics, look elsewhere. If you want a functional CBT diary you can actually use between sessions, this one’s worth a shot. I kept it on my phone for weeks — used it, cursed it, and then used it again. That’s real.

CBT Tools for Healthy Living, developed by Excel At Life, offers a compact set of CBT features geared toward users who want practical homework between therapy sessions. The app bundles a Cognitive Diary, Mood Log, Inspire Diary, tests, daily goals, and a points system to reduce ads. The developer’s background— a psychologist with decades of clinical experience—shows in the app’s structure: tools follow CBT workflows rather than marketing buzz. In use, the Cognitive Diary demands effort. That’s by design. The app walks users step-by-step through an event, automatic thoughts, evidence, and alternative thinking. It isn’t spoon-fed. A clinician will find the exported entries readable; a casual user will find the exercises work but require patience. The Mood Log produces straightforward charts and averages that help reveal patterns (weekday dips, weekend lifts). Importantly, all personal data is stored locally on the device — a plus for users wary of cloud syncing. Design-wise, the interface feels utilitarian. It’s not ugly, but it’s not modern either—buttons that could be clearer, and tutorial text that sometimes assumes prior CBT knowledge. That creates a small learning curve. The points-for-ad-free mechanic is clever and less annoying than a paywall, though some users might find earning points tedious. A typical interaction went like this: Therapist: “Can you forward your mood chart?” User: “Sent—hope it’s readable.” That simple email export capability is valuable. It turns the app into a bridge between sessions rather than an isolated toy. The app’s strengths are clarity of purpose and privacy. Its weaknesses are dated visuals and a few UX rough spots. Recommended for self-directed users or those working with therapy—especially people who want a no-frills CBT toolkit that stores data locally. Not recommended for users looking for guided audio CBT programs or a flashy interface. Still, for someone willing to put in the work, this is a low-cost, practical companion.