Character strengths worksheet
Using a healthy habits worksheet to support clients in building healthy habits can enhance the mental health outcomes you’re working towards in therapy.
This healthy habits worksheet gives mental health therapists a brief overview of core habits for health and well-being and tips to support clients in creating new habits.
We’ve also included a free downloadable creating new habits worksheet that you can save to your electronic health record (EHR) to use in your practice.
What are healthy habits?
Healthy habits are the regular practices that promote physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being. A healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of chronic diseases and help us live longer.
Healthy habits to include in a creating new habits worksheet will vary depending on what is accessible to the person, but may include:
Stay hydrated
Water accounts for 60% of an adult's body weight. Drinking enough water is essential for optimal functioning, including cognition, energy levels, digestion, and joint pain.
Aim to drink between nine and 13 cups of water daily, more if exercising or exposed to high temperatures.
Eat nutritious food
Limiting processed foods, especially foods high in saturated fat, sugar, and salt, and increasing nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and foods high in fiber is associated with increased energy, lower risk of health problems, improved immunity, and better sleep.
Reduce alcohol consumption
According to the World Health Organization, alcohol is a group 1 carcinogen that can cause at least seven types of cancer. Risks of cancer increase substantially with more alcohol consumption. Alcohol can also exacerbate health conditions and interact with medications.
For those who choose to drink, U.S. dietary guidelines recommend limiting alcohol intake to no more than one drink for women or two drinks for men on any single day.
Exercise regularly
Regular exercise is associated with benefits to mood, energy levels, muscle mass, bone density, and improvements to the quality of sleep. Aiming for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week is recommended.
Get enough sleep
Good quality sleep supports immune function, focus and memory, metabolism, heart health, lowered risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and reduced risk of motor vehicle crashes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults aged 18 to 60 sleep at least seven hours per night.
Get outside
Research shows that time outside in nature helps to improve focus, reasoning, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
Being outdoors can improve physical and mental health and can be achieved in as little as five minutes in a green space or sunlight.
Stay connected
Being social can help with feelings of loneliness and protect against depression and cognitive decline.
There are lots of ways to be connected socially, such as talking to a friend on the phone, going on coffee dates, talking to a neighbor, visiting a friend, attending an exercise class together, or doing community work.
Use sunscreen
Experts recommend applying daily sunscreen to your face, ears, neck, and any thinning spots on your head with an SPF of at least 30 to protect against skin damage.
Steps to creating new habits
Changing habits to improve health is a process of change. Clients may attempt a new healthy habit but struggle to stick to it. Or, they might find healthy habits fall by the wayside when life becomes busier or more stressful.
In addition to using a healthy habits worksheet, there are lots of ways to support clients through the process of improving their health, such as:
Make the case
Ask the client to list the pros and cons of the healthy habit, such as why they want to create it and any potential roadblocks or downsides. For example, they want more energy but feel like they aren’t fit enough to go to the gym.
Find a solution to each roadblock
A client might say they don’t have the time to exercise regularly but could use their lunch hour to work out for 30 minutes and prepare their lunch the night before.
Make an action plan
Consider the steps to accomplish their habit. For example, if they want to lose weight, they might need to learn about healthy food options and portion sizes, and plan and prepare food each week.
Track progress
Keeping track of their progress can help clients acknowledge their accomplishments, overcome challenges, adjust goals, and make habits stick.
These steps are included in the creating new habits worksheet for clients to reflect on.
How to use the creating healthy habits worksheet
Therapists can download and use the healthy habits worksheet in several ways.
You may use the habit worksheet as a psychoeducational tool to talk to clients about healthy habits that can improve mental and physical health.
Clients can complete the healthy habits worksheet in between sessions and then debrief at their next therapy appointment.
The creating new habits worksheet can be a helpful treatment planning tool if the client has talked about improving their health outcomes but they’re not sure where to start.
Sources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). About Sleep.
Gardner, B., Lally, P., & Wardle, J. (2012). Making health habitual: the psychology of 'habit-formation' and general practice. The British journal of general practice: the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Department of Health and Human Services. (2018). Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.
National Institute on Alcohol and Abuse and Alcoholism. (2022). The Basics: Defining How Much Alcohol is Too Much.
National Institute of Health. (n.d.). Changing your habits for better health.
National Institute of Health. (2018). Creating healthy habits. News in Health.
Solan, M. (2024). 10 habits for good health. Harvard Health Publishing.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (2020). Alcohol: balancing the risks and benefits.
UC Davis Health. (2023). 3 Ways Getting Outside Into Nature Helps Improve Your Health.
World Health Organization. (2024). Alcohol. Key Facts.
World Health Organization. (2022). No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health.
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