a
Mindfulness
Distress Tolerance
Emotion Regulation
Interpersonal E!ectiveness
Miscellaneous
DIARY CARDS
Diary Cards are a key
component of Dialectical
Behavioral Therapy. These
mood, behavior, and skills
trackers are meant to help you
notice patterns and keep DBT
skills at the front of your mind. A
diary card is a paper (or an app!)
on which you record what skills
you used each day of the week,
rate your di!erent emotions,
and track target behavior usage.
It is meant to be filled out every
day.
STRUCTURE
Diary cards usually have two sections. The following
example is the “traditional” diary card shared in Linehan’s
workbook.
One section (right) has boxes to rate your various emotions
on a numerical scale as well as your urges to use target
behaviors. It also contains columns to check o! whether you
used those behaviors.
The other section (below) is a list of skills that you check o!
according to your usage.
INSTRUCTIONS
You are instructed to bring your diary card to both group
and individual therapy. You may discuss it in detail with your
individual therapist and in group you will just be asked to
share something general about your week. In a lot of
programs, you will be asked to do a behavior chain analysis
if you don’t bring your diary card to session or don’t fill it
out.
When you first start DBT, you may not have a lot to fill out
on the skills page. That’s totally okay! You’re only just
beginning to learn skills, after all. Don’t let the empty page
discourage you, it’ll fill up faster than you think.
CHOOSING A DIARY CARD
It’s important to choose a diary card design that makes
sense to you. There are tons of options out there and you
can customize them too. There are also various DBT apps
that have a diary card function.
Here are just a few of the options out there that can be
customized to your own preferences:
Diary Card 1Download
Diary Card 1 is the original diary card found in Marsha
Linehan’s first DBT workbook. It has a section for skills and a
section for emotions and urges.
Diary Card 2Download
Diary Card 2 is a more streamlined version of Diary Card 1. It
contains the same parts but is less busy.
Diary Card 3Download
Diary Card 3 is a daily diary card rather than weekly like the
first 2. It also operates like a planner with spaces for a to-do
list and schedule as well as they usual emotions and skills
trackers.
Diary Card 4Download
Diary Card 4 is a fully-customizable spreadsheet that serves
as a weekly diary card. The skill section is divided by DBT
module and key of numbers that you write in the notes
section to denote which you used. The emotions section has
a box for various social emotions and behaviors.
Diary Card 5Download
Diary Card 5 is another weekly card. There are fewer options
for emotions but an ample journaling section. The skill
section has helpful descriptions of the skills and a notes
section underneath.
DBT Cheat Sheet 1Download
Print out this cheat sheet and fold it up to keep in your
wallet or pocket for a quick reminder of skills. This version
also includes a list of cognitive distortions so you can check
your thinking.
DBT Cheat Sheet 2Download
This version of the cheat sheet has all the same skills as the
first but with space for you to write in your own crisis safety
plan instead of cognitive distortions.
DBT MINDFULNESS
FLASHCARDS
4 5
Use these DBT Flashcards to help review
your DBT skills!
Read More
SEARCH POSTS & PAGES
DBT MINDFULNESS
FLASHCARDS
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES
We aren't the only mental health resource out
there. Check out these books, websites, social
media accounts, and more for additional support.
Read More
DBT FLASHCARDS
DBT ENCYCLOPEDIA
MINDFULNESS EXERCISES
DIARY CARDS
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