About this worksheet
DBT's accumulating positives skill has two halves and both are needed. Short-term: small pleasant activities done reliably — walks, tea, music, texture, novelty. Long-term: sustained action toward the values that make life worth living. Long-term without short-term is grim. Short-term without long-term is empty. The worksheet asks for 15 small pleasant things the client can actually do this week (not aspirations — actions), picks one for today, then names the values behind the life they want and one long-term action toward one of those values this week. Ends with what typically blocks the pleasant thing (guilt about deserving, joylessness that mistakes pleasure for insincerity, forgetting).
When to use it
- Depression and anhedonia — the short-term list is the intervention.
- Chronic dysthymia.
- DBT emotion-regulation module.
- Burnout recovery — reintroducing pleasure without adding productivity pressure.
- Post-crisis stabilization work.
How to use it
- 1
The short-term list must be actionable
'Travel to Japan' is not on the list. 'Make green tea and sit on the porch for ten minutes' is.
- 2
Do the short-term thing before feeling like it
In depression, feeling follows action, not the other way around. Waiting for the pleasant feeling before doing the pleasant thing is the depression's plan.
- 3
Long-term action doesn't need to be big
One 20-minute action toward the value counts. The value is not on trial; the direction is what matters.
- 4
Name the blocker
Guilt about deserving pleasure is the most common blocker and the one clients least expect to find. Naming it makes the block workable.
Frequently asked questions
What if the client can't feel pleasure at all (anhedonia)?+
Do the pleasant thing anyway and rate the felt pleasure. Ratings often lag the return of pleasure by weeks — the sheet tracks the return before the client can feel it.
Isn't this just gratitude?+
Related but different. Gratitude notices what is; accumulating positives adds what wasn't there. Both help; both belong in different sessions.
Is this worksheet free?+
Yes. Free printable PDF. Sign in to send as a secure client link.
Worksheet — Accumulating Positive Emotions Worksheet — provided by TherapistAssist for clinical use. Not a substitute for assessment or treatment.
