MORE THAN THERAPYTHE RESOURCE LIBRARY

MODULE 22 / 24 · Life structure · 15–25 MINUTES

Building Structure // Love

Create rhythms of chosen connection, boundaries, and care beyond romantic relationships.

Try the worksheet

Understand the skill

This DBT-informed application combines interpersonal skills with intentional connection. Love may include friends, family, chosen family, community, or caring solitude. Quality and safety matter more than contact frequency.

Practice step by step

  1. Name people or communities that feel supportive or potentially supportive.
  2. Choose one realistic way to connect with consent.
  3. Define a boundary that protects your capacity and safety.
  4. Plan a repair, alternative contact, or solo-care option if connection is unavailable.

TRY IT · SOLO OR WITH A GROUP

A practice activity

Connection map: draw circles for close support, occasional support, and community possibilities. Add one invitation and one boundary without including identifying details.

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

Balance recovery-supportive relationships with boundaries around environments or interactions that increase risk.

Facilitator notes

Include LGBTQ+ chosen family, cultural kinship, and people who prefer solitude. Never require family contact or reconciliation.

Adaptation and care: This is a DBT-informed application. Use individualized support for coercion, abuse, stalking, or retaliation risk.

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.