MORE THAN THERAPYTHE RESOURCE LIBRARY

MODULE 11 / 24 · Emotion regulation · 15–25 MINUTES

Reduce Vulnerability: ABC PLEASE

Build a realistic foundation for emotional resilience and care.

Try the worksheet

Understand the skill

ABC includes Accumulating positives, Building mastery, and Coping ahead. PLEASE attends to physical illness, balanced eating, avoiding nonprescribed mood-altering substances, balanced sleep, and exercise or suitable movement. These are supports, not a perfection checklist.

Practice step by step

  1. Choose one positive experience, one achievable mastery step, and one situation to rehearse.
  2. Notice physical-health, nourishment, sleep, movement, and substance-related needs.
  3. Identify one barrier such as cost, disability, work hours, or access.
  4. Choose one feasible adjustment and the support needed to attempt it.

TRY IT · SOLO OR WITH A GROUP

A practice activity

Care budget: build a minimum-day plan with three small actions, then add optional actions for a higher-capacity day. Include a practical barrier and an access solution.

Group option: Work from a fictional example for five minutes, rehearse or compare choices for five minutes, then discuss one useful adaptation. Pass, write, observe, or work alone.

Your practice worksheet

Writing is optional. Responses stay in this open tab and are not submitted or automatically saved. Closing or refreshing clears them. Avoid names or identifying details. Printing or downloading includes your words.

Use paper or discuss the prompts if you prefer.

Recovery connection

Include prescribed recovery medication and health appointments as care supports. Discuss substance-related goals collaboratively with qualified providers.

Facilitator notes

Keep poverty, shift work, disability, and food access visible. Avoid moralizing routines or abstinence.

Adaptation and care: Do not stop prescribed medication or abruptly stop alcohol or sedatives based on a worksheet. Withdrawal and medication changes need medical guidance.

Between-session practice: Choose one manageable situation to try this skill. Notice the context, what you did, and what helped or needs adjusting. An attempt counts as practice even when feelings do not change.

Background and sources

DBT skills concepts originate in Marsha M. Linehan's work. These are original More Than Therapy activities, not reproductions of official worksheets or endorsed materials.

References inform the skill framework; they do not validate these particular exercises. Life-structure modules are DBT-informed applications, not additional standard DBT core modules.