DBT Skills & Worksheets

Use DBT skills on their own, add diary-card practice when useful, and enable workbook companion tools if you are working through a DBT book.

Today’s DBT workbook work

Use the independent workbook companion to record the chapter/pages you are studying and your own practice notes.

📘 Open Workbook Companion

Diary card

Track emotions, urges, and skills here; use the optional workbook companion for a book you legally own.

📝 Open DBT Diary Card

Daily DBT Diary Card

A phone-friendly version of the daily sheet you’ve been using. Save one entry per day and come back to edit it.

Date

Strongest emotionExplore feelings

Emotional intensity 1–10

Anxiety / fear 1–10

Sadness / grief 1–10

Anger 1–10

Shame / guilt 1–10

Impulsive urge 1–10

Rumination 1–10

Trigger / prompting event

Automatic thought / story

Action urge

What I actually did

DBT skill(s) used

Intensity before skill 1–10

Intensity after skill 1–10

Did I act according to my values?

Urge to drink/use 1–10

What did I learn?

First movement → chosen response

Aquinas + DBT: an emotion, image, bodily surge, or urge can arise before deliberate choice. Treat that first movement as information—not as a command and not yet as consent. Then Observe/Describe, Check the Facts, find Wise Mind, and decide what you will endorse or do.

Useful sequence: Trigger → first movement → interpretation/judgment → urge → STOP → Observe/Describe → Check the Facts → chosen response → virtue.

Open the First Movement tool

Core Skill Library

Short reminders, not full workbook reproductions. Tap a skill when you need a quick refresher.

STOP — interrupt impulsive action

Use when: emotion is rising faster than judgment.

Stop. Do not make the situation worse. Step back physically or mentally. Observe what is happening inside and outside. Then proceed deliberately, choosing the next effective action.

TIPP — bring very high arousal down

Use when: panic, rage, craving, or physiological flooding is too high for reasoning.

Use a rapid body-based reset: safe temperature change, brief intense movement if medically appropriate, slower paced breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation. The goal is not to solve the problem yet—it is to get your nervous system low enough to choose.

Wise Mind

Notice emotion mind and reasonable mind, then ask what integrates both facts and values. A wise-mind answer is often quieter and less urgent than an impulse.

Observe / Describe / Participate

Observe what is present without immediately judging it. Describe facts and internal experience in plain language. Participate in the next effective action rather than remaining trapped in analysis.

Check the Facts

Separate prompting event from interpretation. Ask what evidence supports your conclusion, what evidence does not, and whether the emotion’s intensity fits the facts.

Opposite Action

When an emotion or its intensity does not fit the facts—or acting on it would be ineffective—identify the action urge and deliberately move in the effective opposite direction, fully enough to change the pattern.

Problem Solving

When the facts are accurate and something can be changed: define the problem, identify the goal, brainstorm options, choose one, act, and review.

PLEASE — reduce vulnerability

Check physical illness, eating, substances, sleep, and exercise/activity. Emotional regulation becomes harder when basic physical needs are neglected.

ACCEPTS / distraction for crisis survival

Temporarily shift attention using safe activities, contribution, comparison/perspective, a different emotion, pushing the situation away briefly, occupying thoughts, or strong non-harmful sensations. Return to the problem when you are regulated.

Self-Soothe

Use sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and movement to signal safety and reduce activation without escaping into harmful behavior.

IMPROVE the Moment

Use imagery, meaning, prayer, relaxation, one thing at a time, a brief vacation from the problem, and encouragement to survive the present moment without making it worse.

Radical Acceptance

Acknowledge reality as it is right now, especially when it cannot immediately be changed. Acceptance is not approval, surrender of values, or permission for wrongdoing; it stops the extra suffering created by fighting facts that are already true.

Pros and Cons

Compare the short- and long-term consequences of acting on the urge versus using a skill. This is especially useful with cravings and impulsive behavior.

DEAR MAN

For asking, saying no, or negotiating: describe facts, express your experience, assert the request/boundary, reinforce why cooperation helps; stay mindful, appear effective, and negotiate when appropriate.

GIVE

For preserving a relationship: be gentle, show interest, validate what is valid, and keep an easy/respectful manner without abandoning your own position.

FAST

For self-respect: be fair to yourself and others, avoid unnecessary apologies, stay aligned with values, and be truthful.

Interactive Worksheets

These are original app forms built around standard DBT skill concepts. They are designed to work on your phone and autosave locally as you type.

Check the Facts

Prompting event — only observable factsMy interpretations / assumptionsEmotion and intensityEvidence that supports my interpretationEvidence that does not support it / alternative explanationsWhat are the actual facts?Does the emotion and its intensity fit those facts?Effective next action

Opposite Action

EmotionAction urgeDoes this emotion/intensity fit the facts?Would acting on the urge be effective?What is the effective opposite action?How will I do it fully?What happened afterward?

Pros & Cons of Acting on an Urge

Urge / target behaviorPros of acting on the urgeCons of acting on the urgePros of resisting / using skillsCons of resisting / using skillsWhat choice best serves my long-term values?

DEAR MAN Planner

Goal: what do I want to ask for, refuse, or change?Describe the factsExpress my feelings/opinion without accusationAssert clearlyReinforce / explain benefitHow will I stay mindful?How will I communicate effectively/confidently?Where can I negotiate, if appropriate?

Radical Acceptance

What reality am I fighting?What facts are already true whether I like them or not?What does refusing reality cost me?What is acceptance NOT requiring me to approve or tolerate?What action is still mine to take?What is outside my control and needs to be released?

Emotion Regulation Chain

Vulnerability factors before the eventPrompting eventThoughts / interpretationsBody sensationsEmotionAction urgeAction / behaviorConsequencesWhere could I insert a skill next time?

Automatic: as you work through this chain, it is saved into Patterns & Trends. Clearing this worksheet starts a new chain next time.

PLEASE / Vulnerability Check

Physical illness needs attention Eating/nutrition is off Alcohol/drug exposure or craving needs attention Sleep is insufficient I need movement/exercise

One vulnerability-reducing action I will take

Values + Effective Action

What matters to me in this situation?What does emotion mind want me to do?What does reasonable mind say?What would wise mind / my values choose?One concrete action

Import backup

Autosaves as you type.

Official workbook resources

One compatible resource is The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook, 2nd ed. by Matthew McKay, Jeffrey C. Wood, and Jeffrey Brantley. New Harbinger provides official resources for its books. My Rule of Life links to the publisher instead of copying workbook pages, and the companion can also be used with another legally obtained DBT workbook.

Workbook page / Free Tools ↗Free DBT worksheet packet ↗How to access book tools ↗

How to use this app with the workbook

Read the chapter or exercise in the book, then use the matching interactive sheet here for day-to-day practice. If a New Harbinger worksheet is available as an authorized download, keep the original PDF for reference and use this app to capture your responses on your phone.