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DBT · Emotion Regulation

DBT PLEASE Weekly Tracker

A one-week grid for the physical base emotion regulation depends on

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DBT's ABC PLEASE reduces emotional vulnerability by protecting the physical and pleasurable base. This is a one-week daily tracker — small, honest ticks — so the pattern (or the drift) becomes visible.

Skill
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T
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T
F
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S
A — Accumulate positives (one pleasant thing)
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B — Build mastery (one competence-building thing)
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C — Cope ahead (rehearsed a hard moment)
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PL — Treat physical illness (meds, water, care)
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E — Eat balanced (three meals-ish)
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A — Avoid mood-altering substances
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S — Sleep (7–9 hrs)
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E — Exercise (20 min movement)
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Which row is hardest to keep — and what would make it one notch easier?
Which row shows up in every hard-emotion day when it's missing?
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About this worksheet

Emotion regulation in DBT rests on a physical base — a body that's slept, eaten, moved, and stayed off substances. PLEASE is the mnemonic for that base (treat Physical illness, balance Eating, avoid mood-altering Substances, balance Sleep, get Exercise), extended in this tracker to full ABC PLEASE: Accumulate positives, Build mastery, Cope ahead. The client ticks boxes across seven days. Two prompts at the bottom do the reflective work: which row is hardest to keep and what would make it one notch easier, and which row is missing on the hardest emotional days. Consistent use over a month typically reveals a specific row that predicts bad emotional days for the individual client — often sleep, sometimes exercise, sometimes eating.

When to use it

  • DBT skills coaching between sessions.
  • Emotion dysregulation and mood-episode prevention.
  • ADHD executive-function work — the tracker externalizes what ADHD brains don't track internally.
  • Bipolar-spectrum work alongside a mood tracker.

How to use it

  1. 1
    Fill the grid daily, not weekly from memory

    Retrospective filling loses the data. Same time each evening works for most clients.

  2. 2
    Tick-box, not intensity

    'Did I' rather than 'how well'. Prevents the tracker from becoming another performance target.

  3. 3
    Read down, not across, at week's end

    The column pattern shows the base holding or slipping. Individual rows less so.

  4. 4
    Find the one row that predicts bad days

    For most clients, one row of the PLEASE base disproportionately predicts dysregulation. That row is the leverage.

Frequently asked questions

Isn't this just a habit tracker?+

It's a specifically DBT-informed habit tracker — the eight rows are the ones DBT research and clinical wisdom identify as the physical base of emotion regulation. The framing matters.

What if the client can't keep even three rows?+

That's diagnostic — usually severe depression, mania, or acute crisis. Shrink the tracker to the two rows that matter most (usually sleep and eating) until stabilization allows more.

Is this worksheet free?+

Yes. Free printable PDF. Sign in to send as a secure client link.

Related worksheets

DBT
ABC PLEASE — Reduce Emotional Vulnerability
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DBT Diary Card
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Worksheet — DBT PLEASE Weekly Tracker — provided by TherapistAssist for clinical use. Not a substitute for assessment or treatment.