DBT skills, one page at a time.
The DBT worksheets your clients actually use — TIPP for crisis, DEAR MAN for hard asks, ACCEPTS for waves, PLEASE for the daily floor, Wise Mind, Radical Acceptance, Opposite Action, Check the Facts — drawn from Marsha Linehan's modules and laid out for real clinical use.
TIPP
DBT crisis survival skill for changing body chemistry fast
Temperature, Intense exercise, Paced breathing, Paired muscle relaxation — a single page your client can use mid-spike.
DEAR MAN
DBT interpersonal effectiveness — ask for what you need
Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce — Mindful, Appear confident, Negotiate. A script frame for hard conversations.
ACCEPTS
DBT distress tolerance — 7 ways to ride out a wave
Activities, Contributing, Comparisons, Emotions, Push away, Thoughts, Sensations — distraction skills that don't backfire.
PLEASE
DBT emotion regulation — reduce vulnerability through the body
Treat PhysicaL illness, balance Eating, avoid mood-Altering substances, balance Sleep, get Exercise. Daily ground beneath the skills.
Wise Mind
The overlap of reasonable mind and emotion mind
A visual map plus a check-in to find the place where logic and feeling agree — the seat of intuitive knowing.
Radical Acceptance
DBT distress tolerance — stop the second arrow
What is, is. A worksheet for separating the pain of the event from the suffering of fighting it.
Urge Surfing Worksheet
Ride the wave of a craving or urge without acting on it
A mindfulness-based urge regulation worksheet. Notice the wave, locate it in the body, rate it every five minutes, and watch it crest and fall — usually within twenty.
Chain Analysis Worksheet
DBT behavioral chain analysis for one problem behavior
Linehan's behavioral chain analysis on one page: vulnerability factors, prompting event, link-by-link chain, short and long-term consequences, where the chain could have broken, and repair.
Pros & Cons of the Urge
The DBT 2x2 for high-stakes impulses
Pros of acting / cons of acting / pros of resisting / cons of resisting. Print and complete *before* the urge — the grid only works pre-rehearsed.
Opposite Action
When the emotion doesn't fit the facts — do the opposite
Name the emotion, name its action urge, check whether the urge fits the facts, then plan the opposite — fully and all the way.
Check the Facts
Does the emotion fit the situation as it actually is?
Six steps from prompting event to checked interpretation — separating what happened from what the mind made of what happened.
ABC PLEASE — Reduce Emotional Vulnerability
DBT's combined skill for building a baseline that holds
Accumulate positives, Build mastery, Cope ahead — paired with the PLEASE physical-care basics. The two together set the floor.
Radical Acceptance Worksheet
Accept what is, so your energy goes where it can move
DBT radical acceptance: name the reality, the cost of fighting it, the facts behind it, and one willing action that fits the world as it is — not as you wish it were.
Distress Tolerance Worksheet
Your DBT crisis-survival skills, ranked and ready
A DBT distress-tolerance skill stack — TIPP, ACCEPTS, self-soothe, IMPROVE, radical acceptance, pros/cons — ordered by what the client will actually try first, with a clear 'what I will NOT do' commitment for when the urge peaks.
Cope Ahead Plan
DBT — rehearse the coping before the situation arrives
The DBT Cope Ahead skill on one page. Name the upcoming high-risk situation, name the emotion and urge it will bring, choose the coping moves in advance, then mentally rehearse the whole sequence — the situation, the emotion, and the client using the skills successfully.
DBT GIVE Skills
Interpersonal effectiveness for when the goal is connection, not outcome
The DBT GIVE skill on one page — Gentle, Interested, Validate, Easy manner. For conversations where the priority is the relationship, not winning a point. Pairs with DEAR MAN (getting what you want) and FAST (keeping self-respect).
DBT Diary Card
Daily target-behavior and skills tracker
The foundational daily DBT diary card — emotions, urges, skills, target behaviors. Foundation of any DBT program.
FAST Skill
Interpersonal effectiveness for self-respect
The DBT skill for keeping self-respect while asking, refusing, or negotiating: Fair, no unnecessary Apologies, Stick to values, Truthful.
GIVE Skill
Interpersonal effectiveness for the relationship
The DBT skill for keeping the relationship while asking, refusing, or negotiating: Gentle, Interested, Validate, Easy manner.
DBT Imagery Rehearsal
Vivid whole-body mental rehearsal
Structured imagery rehearsal for a challenging future situation — sensory detail, the exact skill at the hard moment, and the ending.
DBT Cope Ahead
Plan for the future difficult situation
Written cope-ahead plan for a specific future situation likely to activate problem behavior — skills in order, backup, and who knows.
Mindfulness WHAT and HOW
One WHAT skill, all three HOW skills
Core DBT mindfulness skills — observe / describe / participate (one at a time) with nonjudgmentally / one-mindfully / effectively (always all three).
Half-Smile & Willing Hands
Body-based acceptance skills
The face and hands send acceptance signals back to the brain. Practiced daily so it's available when needed most.
Radical Genuineness
Level 6 validation — equal to equal
The most powerful (and most misused) validation. Treating the other as an equal, capable adult — not as fragile.
Behavior Chain Solution Analysis
A specific skill at each link
Solution-analysis companion to chain analysis — a specific skill for each link, with the highest-leverage intervention point named.
Validation Levels
Linehan's 6 levels
The six levels of validation with situations, level used, impact, and level that could have been used. Higher isn't always better.
Distress Tolerance Menu
Your personal crisis-survival ranking
Rank DBT crisis-survival skills by what has worked for you and print a fold-and-carry menu.
Self-Soothe Kit (5 Senses)
Named items in named places
Build a concrete Self-Soothe kit — one specific item per sense, not vague categories.
IMPROVE the Moment
Seven ways through unsolvable pain
Personalize each letter of IMPROVE with specific practices and when to use them.
Full Emotion Model
Vulnerability → prompt → interpretation → biology → urge → action → aftereffect
Map the full arc of an emotional episode to reveal multiple intervention points.
Rebuilding After Rupture
GIVE + FAST + a script
Combine GIVE (relationship) and FAST (self-respect) with a draft script for the first conversation.
Emotion Regulation ABC PLEASE
Vulnerabilities audit, one week
Accumulate positives, Build mastery, Cope ahead + a PLEASE check — the DBT stack for lowering vulnerability.
Observe, Describe, Participate
The DBT mindfulness 'what' skills
One ordinary moment worked through all three what-skills — observe, describe, participate — with reflection.
Nonjudgmental Stance
Judgments → consequences
Notice a judgment, translate it into facts and consequences, and measure the distress drop.
One-Mindfully & Effectively
The DBT 'how' skills, applied
Where attention splits, where being 'right' beats being effective — and a specific practice for the week.
Mastery & Pleasure Log
The long-play emotion regulators
Seven-day log of mastery and pleasure moments — the two moves that raise the mood floor.
Values Clarification (DBT)
Life worth living, first
What the year would look like if therapy worked, three values driving it, and one weekly move toward each.
DBT Crisis Survival Plan
TIPP, ACCEPTS, self-soothe, IMPROVE
The distress-tolerance stack pre-laid in order so future-you doesn't have to think under acute distress.
Reduce Vulnerability (PLEASE)
Close the leak first
Sleep, food, movement, substances audit — pick the one that would move the needle most this month.
DBT PLEASE Weekly Tracker
A one-week grid for the physical base emotion regulation depends on
Daily tick-boxes across seven days for the full ABC PLEASE skill set: accumulate positives, build mastery, cope ahead, treat illness, eat balanced, avoid substances, sleep, exercise. Reveals which row is missing on the hardest emotional days.
Distress Tolerance Plan Card
Pocket-sized crisis-survival card — written calm, used not-calm
Wallet-sized 5-step card the client fills out in session: STOP → TIPP → text one person → 20 minutes of distraction → crisis-line number. Removes decision-making from the moment of highest distress.
Wise Mind Worksheet
DBT's overlap between emotion mind and reasonable mind
Takes one live decision through Emotion Mind, Reasonable Mind, and Wise Mind. Includes body/tone cues for recognizing Wise Mind in real time.
DEAR MAN Worksheet
Script an interpersonal ask before the conversation
Full DEAR MAN template — Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce, Mindful, Appear confident, Negotiate. One request per sheet, planned before the conversation.
Opposite Action Worksheet
When the emotion doesn't fit the facts, change the emotion by acting opposite
Names the emotion, its action urge, the fit-the-facts check, and the opposite action done all the way. Includes before/after intensity ratings.
PLEASE Skills Worksheet
Audit the physical base emotion regulation depends on
Audits PL-E-A-S-E — treating illness, eating balanced, avoiding mood-altering substances, sleep, exercise. Current state and 0–10 rating for each, plus the one row to raise this week.
Accumulating Positive Emotions Worksheet
DBT's short-term pleasures and long-term values, both needed
Short-term list of 15 small pleasant things the client can actually do this week + one to do today. Long-term: values behind the life they want + one action toward one value. Names what typically blocks the pleasant thing.
Check the Facts Worksheet
Does the emotion fit the facts, or not?
Event, emotion, intensity, interpretation, actual threat likelihood, worst-case coping check, fit-the-facts verdict, next-step choice (problem-solve, opposite action, accept).
Chain Analysis Worksheet
Break the problem behavior into vulnerability, prompt, links, behavior, consequences
Full DBT chain analysis: problem behavior, vulnerability factors, prompting event, 7+ chain links, short and long-term consequences, one link to unhook next time, repair.
Behavior Chain Worksheet
Shorter chain format tuned for weekly repeated behaviors
Six-row time-based grid: trigger, body/feeling, thought, action taken. Plus short-term gain, long-term cost, earliest link to catch next time.
How DBT worksheets fit together
Marsha Linehan organized DBT around four skill modules — mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. The DBT worksheets here cover all four. Distress tolerance skills (TIPP, ACCEPTS, Radical Acceptance, Pros & Cons of the Urge) buy regulation when emotion is over a 7/10. Emotion regulation skills (PLEASE, Opposite Action, Check the Facts, ABC PLEASE) lower vulnerability and reshape the relationship with feeling itself. Interpersonal skills (DEAR MAN) script the hard conversations. Mindfulness (Wise Mind) sits at the center of all of it.
Each sheet is one printable side, sized to be filled out by hand and reviewed in the next individual or skills-group session.
Which DBT skill, when
Over 7/10 intensity, cognitive skills won't land — reach for TIPP first. The body changes the chemistry, then the client can use anything else. Mid-intensity emotional waves call for ACCEPTS or distraction skills. For chronic dysregulation, PLEASE is the daily ground beneath every other skill — sleep, food, movement, substances. For ambivalence around a high-stakes urge (substance, self-harm, impulsive texting), the Pros & Cons grid pre-rehearses the decision before the moment.
Use DEAR MAN for any boundary, ask, or no the client has been avoiding. Pair Opposite Action with anxiety-driven avoidance and shame-driven hiding. Run Check the Facts when an emotion's intensity is outpacing what the situation actually warrants.
Built for skills groups and individual work
Every DBT worksheet here is free to print, free to send via secure link from your TherapistAssist account, and free of watermarks. Built for skills-group facilitators and individual clinicians who want clinically tight handouts that don't look like they were photocopied for the tenth time.
Frequently asked questions
What are DBT worksheets?+
DBT worksheets are one-page handouts that operationalize Marsha Linehan's dialectical behavior therapy skills — TIPP for crisis, DEAR MAN for hard asks, ACCEPTS for distress waves, PLEASE for the daily floor, Wise Mind, Radical Acceptance, Opposite Action, and Check the Facts. Each sheet is sized to be filled out by hand and reviewed in the next individual or skills-group session.
Which DBT worksheet should I use first?+
For acute dysregulation, TIPP is the first reach — the body changes the chemistry, then any other skill becomes usable. For chronic emotional vulnerability, start with PLEASE as the daily ground. For ambivalence around a high-stakes urge (substance, self-harm, impulsive texting), the Pros & Cons grid pre-rehearses the decision before the moment.
Are these DBT worksheets aligned with Linehan's manual?+
Yes. The worksheets follow the four modules Marsha Linehan organized DBT around — mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness — and use the standard acronyms and structures from the DBT Skills Training Manual and Handouts (2nd ed).
Can I use DBT worksheets in a skills group?+
Yes. The worksheets are designed for both individual therapy and skills-group facilitation. Print copies for the group, walk through the skill on the board, and assign the worksheet as the practice homework for the week.
Are these DBT worksheets free?+
Yes. Every DBT worksheet here is free to download as PDF and free to send via secure link from a TherapistAssist account. No watermarks, no per-sheet limits.