The Work of Byron Katie: The Complete Guide to the Four Questions, the Evidence and the Costs

The Work is a self-inquiry method created by Byron Katie, who dates it to a 1986 breakthrough. You write down a stressful judgement, test it with four questions, then “turn it around” into its opposites. It is free to learn, and the research is promising but small and mostly uncontrolled.

Psychology technique · Helps with: stressful thoughts, resentment, worry, relationship conflict, self-criticism (claims partly tested, mostly in small studies)

Last updated: 23 October 2026

Reading time: about 35 minutes

How we wrote this guide
We read The Work’s official website, instructions, worksheet terms, helpline, event and price pages, and Byron Katie’s own books and responses. We checked her life story against a 2002 Los Angeles Times investigation and a 2010 O, The Oprah Magazine profile, and read the critics in full. We searched PubMed and Crossref for studies and read each abstract. Every research claim links to the original paper. Where evidence or a fact is missing, we say so. Prices were checked in October 2026 and converted at 23 October 2026 exchange rates. This guide is information, not medical or psychological advice.

Quick answer: does The Work work?

• Promising for everyday stress, not proven. Most studies are small and many are uncontrolled. A few randomised trials report benefits over no treatment (Landau et al., 2021; Feldman et al., 2021), but most of the research comes from one research group, funded in part by Katie’s foundation.
• It is free to learn. The worksheet, instructions and a volunteer helpline cost nothing. Paid events, from $600 for two days to roughly $2,850 for a five-day School, are optional.
• It has real critics. They say it can bypass real harm, and that Katie’s stance on abuse is blunt. We set out both sides below.
• It is not therapy. For depression, trauma, abuse, grief or any crisis, see a licensed clinician. Use The Work alongside that care, not instead of it.

Need help now?
The Work is not an emergency service or a treatment for a mental health crisis. If you are thinking about suicide or cannot keep yourself safe, contact a crisis line now. USA: call or text 988. Canada: call or text 9-8-8. UK and Ireland: Samaritans, free on 116 123. Australia: Lifeline on 13 11 14. India: Tele-MANAS on 14416. Anywhere else: find a free, local line at findahelpline.com. If someone’s life is at immediate risk, call your local emergency number (for example 911, 999, 112 or 000). Lines: 988 Lifeline, Samaritans, Lifeline Australia, Tele-MANAS.

Contents

1. What is The Work of Byron Katie?
   • The Work at a glance
2. Byron Katie: background and origin
3. The four questions and the turnaround
4. The Judge-Your-Neighbour Worksheet
5. A safe exercise: The Work on a mild irritation
6. How it relates to CBT, the Sedona Method and the Lefkoe Method
7. Does The Work work? The evidence, honestly
   • Evidence at a glance
8. Criticisms and risks
9. How much does The Work cost?
10. How to find help doing The Work, wherever you live
11. Books
12. Watch, listen and follow
13. Frequently asked questions
14. Key takeaways
15. Sources

What Is The Work of Byron Katie?

Most of us treat a stressful thought as a report from the world: “She doesn’t respect me”, “I should be further on by now”. The Work starts from a different idea. It says that the thought, not the event, is what hurts, and that you can find out how much of the thought holds up by questioning it on paper.

The method’s official description is blunt: it “consists of four questions and the turnaround” (The Work, About). Katie calls it a meditation practice, and the volunteer helpline’s page says plainly that “The Work is not therapy” (The Work Helpline). It is taught through a free worksheet, a free helpline and, at the paid end, residential events. You do not need to believe anything first.

“The Work” is also the brand name of a registered trademark, The Work of Byron Katie®, owned by a company. In the research literature the method is usually called Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR), and the terms are used interchangeably (Hook et al., 2021).

The Work at a Glance

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Byron Katie: Background and Origin

Byron Katie is the name used by Byron Kathleen Reid, who grew up in and around Barstow, a Mojave Desert town in California (Los Angeles Times, 2002). She has no psychological or therapeutic training, and before she began to teach she had been a landlady. The official biography says that in 1986, “at the bottom of a ten-year spiral into depression and self-loathing”, she woke up in “a state of joy”, and realised that “when she believed her stressful thoughts, she suffered, but that when she questioned them, she didn’t suffer” (The Work, About).

The 1986 Story and What Can Be Checked

In 2002 the Los Angeles Times Magazine profiled Katie, and writer Allison Adato tried to check the story. Katie, then 43, was a mother of three in her second marriage with about a decade of depression, agoraphobia, overeating and addiction to codeine and alcohol. Friends and family confirmed the years of struggle. Katie was admitted to Hope House, a residential centre for women with eating disorders in Los Angeles (since closed), where, in her telling, she woke on the floor, found a cockroach crossing her foot, and felt her thoughts fall away (Los Angeles Times, 2002).

The reporter could not independently confirm “the more incredible elements” of that account. The cockroach scene had at one point been dropped from her literature. A therapist who knew her afterwards confirmed a marked “personality shift”, and her weight fell by 75 pounds. So the depression and the turnaround in her life are corroborated by people who knew her. The awakening itself rests on Katie’s word, as it does for most founders’ stories.

From Houseguests to a Global Organisation

Katie began teaching in 1992. Her son remembered the family house filling with “street people” as she began to care for others. She visited a Texas prison in 1996, and an invitation from a group of psychologists in the Berkeley area is treated in the article as her real beginning. By 2002 she gave an average of three free workshops a month, and the Times described the structure as a non-profit Work Foundation alongside a for-profit company, Byron Katie International (BKI). Merchandise revenue went to the company. The writer noted that no one at her events seemed to be a critic: “It is virtually impossible to find a Byron Katie critic at a Byron Katie event” (Los Angeles Times, 2002).

Her book Loving What Is, written with her husband Stephen Mitchell, a translator and author, was published in 2002. By 2010 it had been translated into 28 languages, and the same O profile reported that her website “includes all the materials needed to do The Work, free of charge” while she “charges a fee for personal consultations” (Flanagan, O, The Oprah Magazine, 2010).

Where the Organisation Is Now

Today the Work Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that funds research and the free Little Book (The Work Foundation). Katie runs paid events from Ojai, California, and livestreams free sessions called At Home with BK (upcoming events).

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The Four Questions and the Turnaround

The method has two parts. You write a stressful thought about a specific situation, then you put it through four questions and turn it around (The Work instructions).

The Four Questions

1. Is it true? Answer yes or no. If the answer is no, move to question 3.
2. Can you absolutely know that it’s true? Answer yes or no again.
3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought? Notice what you feel, what you do and how you treat people.
4. Who would you be without the thought? Imagine the same situation with the thought absent, and notice what changes.

The first two answers are one syllable, “yes” or “no”. If you start with “because…” or “but…”, the instructions say you are no longer doing The Work, so you go back to the question. The method is meant to be slow and still, closer to a contemplative practice than a debate. The instructions call it “a meditation practice. It’s like diving into yourself”.

The Turnaround

After the four questions you “turn the thought around” into its opposites, then look for at least three specific, genuine examples of how each turnaround is as true or truer than the original (The Work instructions). Katie’s own example uses “Paul doesn’t listen to me”:

• To the self: “I don’t listen to myself.”
• To the other: “I don’t listen to Paul.”
• To the opposite: “Paul does listen to me.”

There are variations. You can turn to “my thinking”, and for want-statements (“I want Paul to…”) you can use “I am willing…” and “I look forward to…”. The aim is a different view, not to make you wrong. A turnaround without real examples is a slogan.

The Idea Behind It

The underlying claim is in the title of Katie’s first book, Loving What Is. In the Little Book she writes, “I am a lover of what is, not because I’m a spiritual person, but because it hurts when I argue with reality.” She sorts life into three kinds of business: yours, mine, and “God’s”, her word for reality and for anything outside everyone’s control. Much of our stress, she says, comes from mentally living in someone else’s business or in God’s (The Work of Byron Katie: An Introduction).

She applies the same logic to the worst events. Asked in the same booklet whether being a “lover of reality” means condoning war or child abuse, she answers: “How could I condone them? I’m not crazy. I simply notice that if I believe they shouldn’t exist when they do exist, I suffer.” Supporters read this as acceptance that frees you to act. Critics read it as a denial of harm. We take up that dispute under criticisms.

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The Judge-Your-Neighbour Worksheet

Katie’s official worksheet is called Judge Your Neighbor (the US spelling is the official name). The instructions say to stay “anchored in the situation, at a specific moment in time”, to use short, simple sentences, and to write without censoring yourself (The Work instructions). The Little Book adds a rule for beginners: judge someone else first. It says, “Please do not write about yourself yet” (The Work of Byron Katie: An Introduction).

The adult worksheet has six prompts. We paraphrase them rather than reproduce them, because the site’s terms let you download and copy the worksheet but not redistribute or modify it (The Work, terms). Fill them in using the full-length original.

1. Who angers, confuses, hurts or disappoints you, and why? Write “I am angry at ___ because…”.
2. How do you want them to change? What do you want them to do?
3. What advice would you give them? This usually becomes a list of “should” and “shouldn’t” statements.
4. What do you need them to think, say, feel or do for you to be happy?
5. What do you think of them? The instructions invite you to be as “judgmental, childish, and petty” as you were in that moment.
6. What do you never want to experience with this person again? Write it as “I don’t ever want ___”.

The worksheet is available free in about 35 languages. A separate version for teenagers uses the same six prompts in simpler words (teen worksheet). You then pick one statement at a time, run the four questions on it, and turn it around.

Choose a situation that is specific and recent, such as one conversation or one email, and let the worksheet be unkind. You are not going to send it. The inquiry only works if you start from what you really think. A short official video, embedded in the watch section below, shows Katie completing the worksheet.

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A Safe Exercise: The Work on a Mild Irritation

The steps below follow the official instructions, in our words, with safety guidance added. They are not a substitute for a facilitator or a therapist.

Caveats first:

• Start with something mild. Pick a recent irritation, such as a friend who has not replied or a colleague who interrupted you. Rate it 3 out of 10 or less on how upsetting it is.
• Do not use it on abuse, trauma, grief or crisis. If you are being hurt or fear for your safety, your priority is to be safe and supported, not to question your thoughts about it. Use a licensed professional, a crisis line or a domestic abuse service.
• Stop if you feel worse. Allow about 20 minutes. If you feel agitated or low, stop, put the paper down, go outside, and talk to someone you trust.
• It has not been tested as a solo exercise. The studies in this guide used facilitated groups or programmes, not people alone with a worksheet.

How to Do The Work on a Mild Irritation

1. Choose a mild, specific situation. Pick one moment with one person, such as “Sam hasn’t answered my message in three days”. Skip anything involving abuse, trauma, or someone you fear.
2. Write one stressful judgement. Complete “I am annoyed with ___ because…” and then pull out a single sentence, for example “Sam should have replied by now”. Keep it short and plain.
3. Ask: Is it true? Sit quietly and wait for a yes or no. Do not argue or explain. If the answer is no, go to step 5.
4. Ask: Can you absolutely know that it’s true? Answer yes or no again. Many people notice here that they are certain about what should happen, and unsure about why it has not.
5. Ask: How do you react when you believe it? Notice what you feel in your body, what you do (checking your phone, rehearsing arguments), and how you treat yourself and others while you believe it.
6. Ask: Who would you be without the thought? Picture the same three days with the thought absent. Write what you notice, without forcing a “good” answer.
7. Turn the thought around. Write the opposites: “Sam shouldn’t have replied by now” (to the opposite), “I should have replied by now” (to the self, in this case to an unanswered message of mine), and “My thinking should have replied by now” (to your thinking), where they make sense.
8. Find three genuine examples for each turnaround. Look for real evidence, such as “Sam was away”, or “I still owe my cousin a reply”. If you cannot find a real example, leave that turnaround alone.
9. Stop and settle. Notice how the original thought feels now. If you want to carry on, work through another statement, and finish by taking a break. If you feel worse, stop and use a person you trust.

A Worked Example

Here is how that might look. The example is ours, and it is deliberately minor.

• Thought: “Sam should have replied by now.”
• Is it true? “Yes.” Then, looking longer: “It feels true.”
• Can I absolutely know it’s true? “No. I don’t know what is happening in Sam’s week.”
• How do I react? “I check my phone. I draft a sharp message in my head. I feel small, and I treat my evening as a waiting room.”
• Who would I be without the thought? “I would cook, watch the match, and send a light message tomorrow. I would feel less like a person being ignored.”
• Turnaround to the opposite, “Sam shouldn’t have replied by now.” Genuine examples: Sam is travelling; she told me last month that work was frantic; my message did not ask a question that needed an answer.
• Turnaround to the self, “I should have replied by now.” Genuine example: I still have not answered the invitation from my cousin, which is what I am asking of Sam.

The exercise does not prove Sam cares, or decide whether the friendship is good. It loosens the demand that she behave a particular way and leaves you free to choose your next move. If you find the friendship is making you unhappy for real reasons, that is a separate conversation, not something to turn around.

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How It Relates to CBT, the Sedona Method and the Lefkoe Method

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Beck’s Cognitive Restructuring

CBT is built on Aaron Beck’s cognitive model: the way you interpret a situation shapes how you feel and act. The Beck Institute describes CBT as helping people “identify distressing thoughts and evaluate how realistic these thoughts are”, and says it is supported by more than 2,000 studies (Beck Institute). Beck’s 1963 paper, “Thinking and Depression”, set out the idea that depressed people’s thinking follows characteristic patterns (Beck, 1963). A review of 106 meta-analyses found the strongest support for CBT in anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, bulimia, anger and general stress (Hofmann et al., 2012).

The overlap is real, and observers have long noticed it. The psychologist Marion Jacobs told the Los Angeles Times in 2002 that the first two questions are “fundamental to cognitive behavioral therapy” and that there was “nothing in there that’s new” (Los Angeles Times, 2002). A systematic review also noted parallels with acceptance and commitment therapy and other “third-wave” CBT (Hook et al., 2021). The differences matter, though.

No study we found compares the two. For depression, an anxiety disorder, OCD or PTSD, CBT is the better-evidenced choice, and The Work is at most a complement.

The Sedona Method

The Sedona Method, taught by Hale Dwoskin, is a “releasing” practice in which you welcome a feeling and ask whether you can let it go. Its FAQ calls it “a technique to let go of unwanted feelings, emotions and everything else that is holding you back” (Sedona Method FAQ). The Work starts from a thought, in writing, and questions it. Sedona starts from a feeling and releases it without analysis. We searched PubMed for “Sedona Method” on 25 October 2026 and found no published trials.

The Lefkoe Method

The Lefkoe Method, created by the businessman Morty Lefkoe, traces a limiting belief back to childhood events and invites you to see it as one interpretation. Its Institute says its method is not like cognitive therapy, because it validates the formation of the belief instead of challenging it (Lefkoe Institute FAQ). The Work works in the present, on a thought about a current person. The Lefkoe Method has one published trial, of 36 people with public-speaking fear, delivered by the founder (Cunningham et al., 2006). The Work’s research is broader, though still small.

Other Related Approaches

For a body-based approach to stressful thoughts, see our guides to EFT tapping and Thought Field Therapy. For work on parts of yourself you judge, see shadow work and inner child healing. Katie’s work is often grouped with NLP and Theta Healing as “limiting belief” work. Our profile of Byron Katie’s approach gives a short introduction.

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Does The Work Work? The Evidence, Honestly

A systematic review of the research found 17 studies (15 independent samples) of Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction, and noted that “only three studies evaluated IBSR using randomized clinical trials”. It reported “some promising initial findings”, but also “concerns related to treatment feasibility and cost-effectiveness” (Hook et al., 2021). Newer studies have appeared since, and we read the abstract of every study below.

Evidence at a Glance

The Strongest Studies

The most rigorous trial is a randomised study of 100 women with BRCA gene variants in Israel, who have a high lifetime risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Half received a 12-week IBSR programme and half received standard care. The IBSR group had better psychological well-being at 12 weeks and six months, better sleep, and a more favourable view of risk-reducing surgery (Landau et al., 2021). The paper’s disclosures matter. Two authors co-founded a company, InquiryRx, and a third author reported receiving grants from The Work Foundation while the study ran. The trial was registered in advance (NCT03162276).

A randomised trial of 56 adults who stutter (28 in each group) found that 12 weeks of IBSR gave better overall stuttering experience, lower anxiety and higher life satisfaction than the control group (Feldman et al., 2021). An earlier 2015 trial in BRCA carriers has no abstract available, so we cannot describe its results (Landau et al., 2015).

The Independent Study That Complicates the Picture

The most useful study for sceptics came from a German team not tied to the Work Foundation. It randomised 162 students with test anxiety to a short IBSR session, to reflecting on the worry, or to distraction. IBSR beat reflecting, but gave no advantage over distraction (Krispenz & Dickhäuser, 2018). A follow-up pilot with 71 students reported that IBSR reduced test anxiety and procrastination compared with a waiting group (Krispenz et al., 2019).

Workplace and Healthcare Studies

In a controlled but non-randomised study, 53 teachers who took a course reported less emotional exhaustion (from 18.8 to 15.9) while a passive control group got worse (from 16.0 to 17.4) (Schnaider-Levi et al., 2020). A second teacher study during the COVID-19 pandemic compared 35 teachers with 32 controls (Zadok-Gurman et al., 2021). Two Iranian groups tested it on intensive-care nurses (Tajnia et al., 2022) and nursing students (Jamali et al., 2025). In the latter, effect sizes for self-compassion (d = 1.07) and compassion for others (d = 2.38) were very large. Effects that large in 70 people call for replication.

Pilots, Feasibility Studies and Biology

A pilot in Zimbabwe tested a community version with 23 people living with HIV, with improvements in self-stigma and depression (Ferris France et al., 2019). A general-practice pilot for obesity-related self-stigma invited 22 people, 14 started and 10 finished, and the authors called it “feasible and acceptable” (O’Shea et al., 2024). An observational study of 51 people on a nine-day programme tracked gut microbiome and immune markers (Zhou et al., 2025).

How to Read This Evidence

• Many studies are uncontrolled, and controls were mostly passive. Waiting or standard care is a low bar, and almost no study compares The Work with an active alternative such as CBT.
• Much of it comes from one network. Many studies come from a Tel Aviv-based group. One of its leaders reported grants from The Work Foundation in the JAMA paper, and the Foundation says its donations “fund research projects” (The Work Foundation). That does not make the results wrong, but independent replication is limited.
• Most trials are in specific, non-clinical groups. We found no trial testing The Work as a treatment for diagnosed PTSD, major depression or an eating disorder.
• Nobody has measured harm well. Even evidence-based therapy has unwanted effects in a meaningful minority of patients (Linden & Schermuly-Haupt, 2014), and no study of The Work has systematically recorded them.

Our conclusion: promising, not proven. For ordinary stress and stubborn judgements, it is a low-cost method with some supporting studies. It should not replace treatment for a clinical condition.

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Criticisms and Risks

Critics’ claims below are their opinions unless we say otherwise.

Spiritual Bypassing and “Reality”

The main charge is that The Work teaches people to treat painful and legitimate responses as faulty thinking. Spiritual bypassing means using spiritual ideas to avoid dealing with real pain or harm. The physician and writer Lissa Rankin, who took a workshop with Katie, argues in a 2026 essay series that, applied the way Katie does it, the method can coerce people into “gaslighting your reality and spiritually bypassing” (Rankin, 2026). She also says questioning thoughts can help when you are “stuck in ruminating loops”. Be Scofield, writing in Guru Magazine, accepts that The Work is similar to a cognitive technique and can relieve distorted thoughts, but argues it is harmful when applied to real abuse and injustice (Scofield, 2019).

Abuse and Victim Issues

Scofield, building on earlier work by the Danish writer Morten Tolboll, accuses Katie of blaming abuse survivors, citing live sessions and her books. We have not verified every quotation, and some come only through that article, so we do not repeat them. What Katie has written herself is more nuanced. In a 2007 response to a reader, published on her website, she wrote that “sometimes it’s best to physically leave” and that if a husband is abusive, “the only sane choice is to leave him”. In the same piece she also wrote that “no one can hurt you—only you can” and that “you are 100 percent responsible for your own happiness” (Katie, 2007). Both sentences are hers. Supporters see an invitation to freedom. Critics see responsibility shifted onto the person who was harmed.

The O, The Oprah Magazine profile shows the style at its most direct. The writer, who had cancer, reports that Katie asked her “Your children need you. Is that true?” and said it was narcissistic to think they could not live without her (Flanagan, 2010). The writer found it helpful, but the same words could land very differently for someone else.

“Cult-Like” Claims

Some online critics call the culture around The Work cult-like. The sources we read make narrower claims. Scofield argues that the “it changed my life” testimonials are the same defence used by religious and high-control groups. In 2002, the Los Angeles Times reporter found it “virtually impossible” to find a critic at Katie’s events, and described a New Year’s Cleanse with a juice fast in which married couples were separated (Los Angeles Times, 2002). That is a 2002 account, and we did not find that format on current pages. We found no independent investigation or regulator action showing cult-like practices, so we treat the claim as unproven.

Trauma, Therapy and the “Fuzzy Line”

The Work looks like therapy but is not regulated as therapy. Katie has no clinical training, and in 1999 California’s Board of Psychology reportedly looked into a tape of her working with an incest survivor, then dropped the matter without a finding (Los Angeles Times, 2002). The official helpline is explicit about its limits: volunteers “are not mental health practitioners”, “do not give advice”, and may have a duty to report crimes, abuse or intent to harm (The Work Helpline). Facing a hard memory with an untrained facilitator is very different from a session with a trauma-trained therapist.

Big Claims for Residential Programmes

The official Turnaround House page invites people who “are depressed or suffer from shame, guilt, or confusion”, and says the programme helps “to begin to end all the stress and suffering in your life” (Turnaround House). The only published study we found of the 28-day programme is uncontrolled, in 97 people, and its title calls the sample “non-clinical” (Smernoff et al., 2019). So the invitation to people with depression goes further than the research does.

Money, Trademark and Certification

Katie’s organisation has two parts: a non-profit foundation and a for-profit company, Byron Katie International. The Work of Byron Katie is a registered US trademark of that company, covering educational seminars and workshops in “stress management and self-help counseling” (USPTO record via Justia). It was registered in 2002 and renewed in 2012. Core materials are free. Paid products include events, merchandise and books. Skeptics Society co-founder Pat Linse told the Times, “We don’t fault people for making money.”

The facilitator credential has changed. The Work used to publish a list of Certified Facilitators. One facilitator’s website says that in October 2024 Katie ended the certification programme and removed the list, and that many facilitators now work independently (The Work with Aileen). The old list pages on thework.com now return “not found”, but we found no official announcement. Treat any “certified” claim as historical and check it with the facilitator.

Who Should Take Extra Care

• People with current abuse, coercive control or safety concerns.
• People with trauma, PTSD or complex grief. Use a trauma-informed clinician.
• People with severe depression, suicidal thoughts, psychosis, bipolar disorder or an eating disorder. Work with a licensed professional.
• Anyone in a high-pressure group setting who feels pushed to say or agree to something. You can leave, pass or stop.
• Anyone using it to avoid a decision that needs action, like leaving a harmful relationship.

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How Much Does The Work Cost?

You can learn and use The Work for free. The worksheet, instructions and Little Book are free to download, and a 2010 O, The Oprah Magazine profile reported that her website “includes all the materials needed to do The Work, free of charge” (Flanagan, 2010). Paid options are events, books, an app and private sessions. We checked prices in October 2026 and converted them at 23 October 2026 European Central Bank rates (Frankfurter): £1 = $1.34, and conversions are approximate.

What the Prices Mean

• Free tier: the helpline is volunteer-run and anonymous, and you may not be reached in the queue (The Work Helpline). The At Home with BK livestream runs Monday to Wednesday, 9 to 10 a.m. Pacific time (At Home with BK), and the page lists no fee.
• The app: $0.99 on the US App Store (App Store). Apple sets local prices, and the UK store lists £0.99. The Google Play listing (Google Play) did not show a price when we checked.
• Two Days in Ojai: $600 tuition, with lodging, meals and travel extra, English only. Cancellation fees apply by date (registration page).
• The School: the five-day April 2024 School cost $2,850, with meals and lodging extra (April 2024 registration). The current School page says only “Stay tuned for future dates” and lists no price. It describes a nine-day programme with about 100 participants and 50 continuing-education credits for licensed professionals (School for The Work). In 2002 the Los Angeles Times gave $1,800 to $3,000.
• Turnaround House: the current page lists no price (Turnaround House). The $20,000 figure comes from a 2009 scholarship appeal letter on the site, in which an applicant writes “I don’t have 20,000 dollars” (2009 letter). Treat the figure as unconfirmed for 2026 and ask the organisation for a current quote and scholarship terms.
• Independent sessions: one facilitator lists a sliding scale of $100 to $225 for a 60-minute session (example page). Others price differently.
• Hidden costs: travel, lodging and time away for events in California. At Home sessions are live in Pacific time, which is the middle of the night in Australia, so replays may suit you better.

Start with the free materials. Consider a paid event only after you have tried the free version and found it useful.

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How to Find Help Doing The Work, Wherever You Live

There is no longer an official public directory. The Work used to publish a list of Certified Facilitators. As noted above, the list pages on thework.com now return “not found”, and one facilitator’s page says Katie ended the certification programme in October 2024 (The Work with Aileen). We could not confirm this from an official source.

Your Options

• The free helpline. A volunteer takes you through the worksheet by WhatsApp or phone. It is anonymous, but the volunteers are not mental health practitioners, do not give advice, and may have a duty to report crimes, abuse or intent to harm (The Work Helpline).
• An independent facilitator. Many have their own websites. Ask about their training, how they handle distress and whether they hold a separate professional licence.
• A licensed therapist. If you want inquiry work inside regulated care, ask whether the therapist is willing to use Katie’s questions.

Questions to Ask Before You Book

1. What is your training in The Work, and who taught you? Since the official list has gone, ask for specifics.
2. What other qualifications do you hold, and which regulator or professional body do you belong to? Ask for a registration number you can check.
3. What happens if I become distressed or bring up trauma? A good facilitator will slow down and refer you on.
4. What is the total cost, and what are the cancellation terms? Get it in writing.

Rules Differ by Country

Whether a practitioner needs a licence depends on the title they use and the country. A few examples:

• United Kingdom. The Health and Care Professions Council protects specific practitioner-psychologist titles, but “counsellor”, “psychotherapist” and “therapist” are not protected (HCPC). Voluntary registers such as the BACP exist.
• United States. Counsellors and therapists are licensed state by state (American Counseling Association). The APA has advice on finding a therapist. Coaching is generally unregulated.
• Canada. In Ontario, “psychotherapist” is a protected title and “counsellor” is not (CRPO). Rules vary by province.
• Australia. “Psychologist” is a protected title (AHPRA), whereas counsellors are mostly self-regulated through bodies such as PACFA.
• India. Clinical psychologists are registered with the Rehabilitation Council of India.
• Elsewhere. Rules differ, and coaching is unregulated in most places, so check the national regulator.

A facilitator with no other licence is, in most of these places, working as a coach, so a regulator may not handle a complaint about them. If you want to use the words “The Work of Byron Katie” to advertise your own services, check the trademark owner’s terms first. This is not legal advice.

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Books

• Byron Katie with Stephen Mitchell, Loving What Is (2002; revised edition 2021). The standard introduction, with transcripts of sessions. The revised edition runs to about 400 pages (Open Library; publisher).
• Byron Katie, I Need Your Love—Is That True? (2005). The method applied to seeking approval and love (Open Library).
• Byron Katie, A Thousand Names for Joy (2007). Katie’s reading of the Tao Te Ching, the source of the excerpt she posted in 2007 about difficult partners (Open Library).
• Byron Katie with Stephen Mitchell, A Mind at Home with Itself (2017). Katie’s reading of the Diamond Sutra (Open Library).
• Children’s books. Tiger-Tiger, Is It True? and The Four Questions, with Hans Wilhelm, are listed on the official site (The Work, books).
• Hale Dwoskin, The Sedona Method (2003). The introduction to releasing (Open Library).
• David D. Burns, Feeling Good. A classic CBT self-help book on changing distorted thinking (Open Library).

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Watch, Listen and Follow

We checked every link in October 2026. Most of this material is from Katie’s own channels, so it shows the method as its owner presents it.

Videos

▶ Filling Out the Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet—The Work of Byron Katie® – Byron Katie. A seven-minute official walk-through of the worksheet, so you can see what you are being asked to write.

▶ I Want Mom to Be Happy—The Work of Byron Katie® – Byron Katie. A demonstration session on a mild-to-moderate theme, from Katie’s own channel.

• Step Two of The Work of Byron Katie – Byron Katie’s channel. About 12 minutes on the second question.
• No One Can Wrong Me – An 18-minute session about a woman who was verbally attacked by her teacher. It touches on verbal abuse, so read the criticisms section first.
• Byron Katie Blaming Abuse Victims & Denying Reality – Guru Magazine. A critic’s video. We have not verified every claim in it.

Podcasts

• At Home with Byron Katie – The official podcast of the At Home with BK sessions. Also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
• Byron Katie: Set Yourself Free – an Oprah.com podcast episode published on 20 February 2019. A sympathetic introduction.

Accounts to Follow

• Byron Katie – YouTube · Instagram · Facebook
• At Home with BK – athomewithbk.com

All are official accounts linked from The Work’s site. We did not find an independent account dedicated to the method that we could recommend.

Free Resources

• The Work instructions and worksheets – the full method, free.
• The Work of Byron Katie: An Introduction – the free Little Book, in English. The Work Foundation lists it in 33 languages.
• The Work app – the official app. Some Google Play reviewers report lost text, so keep a copy of what you write.

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Frequently Asked Questions About The Work

What is The Work of Byron Katie?

The Work is a self-inquiry method created by Byron Katie. You write down a stressful judgement about a person or situation, ask four questions about it, then turn the thought around. The worksheet and instructions are free, and it is taught through events, books and independent facilitators.

Who is Byron Katie, and is her story true?

Byron Katie is an American author and teacher who began teaching in 1992. Friends and family corroborate her years of depression and addiction before 1986. Her account of waking up free of stressful thoughts rests on her own word, and a 2002 Los Angeles Times reporter could not confirm its more remarkable details.

What are the four questions and the turnaround?

The questions are: Is it true? Can you absolutely know that it’s true? How do you react when you believe that thought? Who would you be without it? Then you turn the thought around to the self, the other and the opposite, finding at least three genuine examples for each turnaround.

Is The Work free?

Learning it is free: the worksheet, instructions, Little Book and a volunteer helpline cost nothing. Paid options include a $0.99 iOS app, two-day events at $600 tuition, and a five-day School that last listed at $2,850. Independent facilitators set their own fees, often $100 to $225 a session.

Does The Work actually work?

There is promising but limited evidence. A few small randomised trials report benefits over no treatment, and many other studies are uncontrolled. Much of the research comes from one network partly funded by Katie’s foundation. One independent trial found no advantage over simple distraction. It is promising, not proven.

Is The Work the same as CBT?

No, though they overlap. Both question stressful thoughts, but CBT is delivered by trained therapists, weighs evidence, builds balanced alternatives and adds behavioural experiments, with thousands of studies behind it. The Work uses intuitive yes-or-no answers and turnarounds. No study has compared them directly, so CBT remains the better-evidenced choice for clinical conditions.

Is The Work safe for everyone?

Not necessarily. It is a thought-questioning practice, not therapy, and no study has systematically recorded harms. Take extra care with abuse, trauma, complex grief, severe depression, psychosis or an eating disorder, and work with a licensed clinician. Stop if you feel worse, and use a crisis line if you are unsafe.

Does The Work tell abuse victims to blame themselves?

Katie says she does not condone abuse and has written that leaving an abusive partner may be “the only sane choice”. Critics argue that her stress on personal responsibility, and some live sessions, shift blame onto people who were harmed. Read both sides, and prioritise safety and support over inquiry if you are being hurt.

Do I need a certified facilitator?

No. You can do The Work alone, with a friend or through the free helpline. The official list of Certified Facilitators is no longer on thework.com, and one facilitator says certification ended in October 2024, which we could not confirm officially. If you book a facilitator, ask about their training and any separate professional licence.

What is the Judge-Your-Neighbour Worksheet?

It is Katie’s free six-prompt worksheet, the starting point for The Work. You write about a specific person and situation, covering what angers you, what you want them to do, your advice for them and what you never want to experience again. Judge someone else, not yourself. It is free in about 35 languages.

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Key Takeaways

• The Work is a free, written method of questioning stressful thoughts. Four questions and a turnaround, taught by Byron Katie since 1992.
• Katie’s story is partly corroborated. Her years of depression are confirmed by people who knew her. The 1986 awakening rests on her account.
• The evidence is promising, not proven. There are a few small randomised trials, many uncontrolled studies, and an independent trial that found no edge over distraction.
• There are real criticisms. Critics warn about spiritual bypassing and about her stance on abuse, and the line between The Work and therapy is blurry.
• Costs are optional. Learning is free, events run from $600, and the facilitator credential is unsettled.
• For depression, trauma, abuse or crisis, use evidence-based care from a licensed professional, wherever you live.

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Explore More on Self Help Supermarket

• Techniques directory
• Byron Katie’s approach to mental freedom
• EFT tapping
• Thought Field Therapy
• Shadow work
• Anxiety
• Stress management

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