MORE THAN THERAPYTHE RESOURCE LIBRARY

MODULE 21 / 24 · Life structure · 15–25 MINUTES

Building Structure // Work

Build sustainable rhythms for paid work, study, caregiving, volunteering, or meaningful activity.

Try the worksheet

Understand the skill

This DBT-informed application uses mastery, pacing, and coping ahead to support a workable day. Employment is not a measure of worth. Rest, disability accommodations, caregiving, and community contribution belong in the plan.

Practice step by step

  1. Identify one role or meaningful activity you want to support.
  2. Choose a small start cue and a realistic task length.
  3. Add a rest, access need, or support request.
  4. Plan how to restart after an interruption without abandoning the whole day.

TRY IT · SOLO OR WITH A GROUP

A practice activity

Minimum workable block: schedule one task, a starting cue, one accommodation, and a recovery break. Create a lower-energy version of the same plan.

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

Plan around treatment, support meetings, transport, and energy needs when returning to work or study.

Facilitator notes

Explore structural barriers and available supports. Do not prescribe productivity quotas or treat unemployment as failure.

Adaptation and care: This is a life-structure application, not a separate standard DBT core module or employment assessment.

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.