1. Home
  2. Activities
  3. DBT

DBT Worksheets & Activities

DBT skills practice you can run in real time. Based on Marsha Linehan’s DBT skills framework — examples, copy, and exercises are our own.

15 of 15 activities in DBT
🎯
CBTDBT

Circles of Control

Sort worries into what you can control, influence, or let go. The #1 anxiety management activity made interactive.

Ages 6–16Free
Clinical: Anxiety management · Locus of control · ACT
Open activity
🔒
Play therapyDBT

Worry Box

Write worries down, lock them in a box, and open it with your therapist. Externalizes anxiety into something containable.

Ages 5–14Free
Clinical: Anxiety externalization · Containment · Distress tolerance
Open activity
🧰
DBT

Distress Tolerance Menu

A menu of DBT skills for surviving distress without making it worse — ACCEPTS, IMPROVE, and Self-Soothe. Pick the ones that fit you.

Ages 11–18 + adultsFree
Clinical: Distress tolerance · Crisis survival · Emotion regulation
Open activity
🌊
DBT

Urge Surfing

An urge is a wave — it builds, crests, and falls. A 3-minute timer with a rising-and-falling wave to ride it out without acting on it.

Ages 12–18Free
Clinical: Urge tolerance · Mindfulness-based relapse prevention
Open activity
🧊
DBT

TIPP Skills

Four fast physiological resets for crisis-level emotion: cold temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing, paired muscle relaxation. Each runs on a timer.

Ages 12–18Free
Clinical: Distress tolerance · Crisis survival skills · Autonomic regulation
Open activity
🧘
DBT

Wise Mind

DBT framework: reasonable mind + emotion mind = wise mind. Map yours and find the part that already knows what to do.

Ages 12–18Free
Clinical: DBT skills · Emotion regulation · Wise Mind state
Open activity
🌡️
CBTDBT

Anger Thermometer

1–10 anger intensity scale with level-specific tools. The hotter it is, the bigger the tool — what works at a 3 will not work at an 8.

Ages 6–18Free
Clinical: Anger management · Intensity rating · SUDS scale
Open activity
🌿
DBTSomatic

5-4-3-2-1 Grounding

Five things you see, four you feel, three you hear, two you smell, one you taste. A staircase out of a panic moment.

Ages 8–18 + adultsFree
Clinical: Anxiety · Panic · Dissociation · Grounding
Open activity
🪟
SomaticDBT

Window of Tolerance

Map your hyperarousal, regulated, and hypoarousal zones — and the cues that tell you which one you're in.

Ages 13–18 + adultsFree
Clinical: Trauma-informed · Polyvagal · Affect regulation
Open activity
💬
DBT

DEAR MAN Script Builder

Linehan's DEAR MAN — Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce, Mindful, Appear confident, Negotiate. Build a script for a hard ask.

Ages 13–18 + adultsFree
Clinical: Interpersonal effectiveness · Assertiveness · Boundary setting
Open activity
🗣️
CBTDBT

"I" Statement Translator

Turn "you always…" into "I feel ___ when ___" — a four-part script for hard conversations.

Ages 10–18 + adultsFree
Clinical: Communication · Conflict resolution · Assertiveness
Open activity
⚖️
CBTDBT

Passive · Aggressive · Assertive

Compare three communication modes side by side. Pick a moment, see how each would sound, and rewrite it assertively.

Ages 12–18 + adultsFree
Clinical: Assertiveness · Communication · Conflict
Open activity
🚧
DBTCBT

Boundary Cards

Six kinds of boundaries with example phrases for each. Keep the ones that fit you.

Ages 13–18 + adultsFree
Clinical: Boundary setting · Self-advocacy · Interpersonal effectiveness
Open activity
🌡️
DBTCBT

Feelings Thermometer

An interactive thermometer for rating distress intensity. Simple, visual, and intuitive.

Ages 4–12Free
Clinical: Distress rating · Emotion regulation · SUDS scaling
Open activity
🧰
DBTCBT

Coping Skills Toolbox

Build a personalized toolbox of coping skills, rated by how much they help. Kids own their toolkit.

Ages 7–16Free
Clinical: Distress tolerance · Skills inventory · Psychoeducation
Open activity