Distress Tolerance Worksheet (PDF)

Among your first line of strategies to deal with overwhelming negative situations is the use of Self-Soothing activities for your senses(sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell). They can really help in bringing you down to a calm and relaxed state and give some clarity to your mind so you can make better decisions and react appropriately to the demands of the situation.

For each of the senses, list down activities that are calming, relaxing and pleasurable for you. You can add those that you have tried and even those that you have yet to try.

Activity

Which sense(s) does it involve?

If you have tried it before, how did it make you feel?

Reference

Linehan, M. M. (2014). DBT Skills Training Manual. United States: Guilford Publications.

You can download more Mental Health worksheets here.

Please note: There may be a more up-to-date and editable version of this worksheet available here which may be more suitable to present to clients if you are a therapist or to use in a classroom as a teacher or guidance counsellor.