PLEASE DBT worksheet

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based intervention that can help strengthen clients' coping skills. 

This article provides an overview of the PLEASE DBT skill and other examples of mind-body connection exercises to suggest to clients. 

We’ve included a free downloadable PLEASE DBT worksheet to save to your electronic health record (EHR) and use in your practice.

What is dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)?

DBT is an evidence-based intervention that helps clients develop stronger coping strategies, enhance their communication skills, and build resilience. DBT can be delivered individually or in group settings and is effective at treating borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and self-harm. 

The four components of DBT include:

1. Distress tolerance: DBT helps to build the capacity to tolerate and cope with painful emotions and stressful situations without reaching for unhelpful coping strategies, like substances or engaging in self-harm. 

2. Mindfulness skills: By learning to live in the present moment, DBT helps to promote nonjudgmental awareness of emotions, bodily sensations, and the environment and to respond more mindfully. 

3. Emotional regulation skills: DBT offers skills training and psychoeducation on emotions to help individuals manage overwhelming emotions, problem-solve, and develop more effective behaviors.

4. Interpersonal effectiveness: Through communication skills training, DBT helps to strengthen assertive communication and conflict resolution skills. 

What is the PLEASE DBT skill and how can it help?

Overwhelming emotions can feel all-consuming and lead to a state of dysregulation, resulting in reactivity, conflict, a desire for external validation, and potentially harmful behaviors like self-injury, substance use, and impulsive behaviors. 

Through the use of mind-body connection worksheets like the PLEASE DBT worksheet, clients can strengthen their emotional regulation skills by learning how to:

• Identify and label emotions

• Overcome barriers to healthy emotions

• Reduce vulnerability to emotions

• Increase positive emotions

• Practice nonjudgmental awareness of emotions

• Practice the opposite action

• Problem solve

One of the skills used in the emotional regulation component of DBT is the PLEASE skill. This mind-body connection exercise is designed to enhance emotional regulation by promoting the integration of body and mind through the development of healthy habits. 

The PLEASE acronym stands for:

• PL: Attend to physical illness by seeking medical care when necessary and taking prescribed medication.

• E: Eat healthy and nutritious food and have regular meals throughout the day to provide consistent energy and balance clients' mood. Be mindful of making food choices that make clients feel good. For example, focus on eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, and protein sources and limit intake of processed foods.

• A: Avoid mood-altering substances, like illicit drugs, and moderate alcohol use.

• S: Get enough sleep, aiming for seven to nine hours of sleep a night, or more if needed. Practice good sleep hygiene by maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, especially if clients are experiencing sleep difficulties.

• E: Engage in physical activity every day for up to 20 minutes and avoid negative thoughts that may hinder clients' workout.

These healthy habits can have a profoundly positive impact on both clients' bodies and mental state.

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Mind-body connection examples

Beyond the PLEASE DBT worksheet, some other ways to promote mind-body connection include:

• Progressive muscle relaxation

• Deep breathing

• Meditation

• Stress-reducing exercises

• Visualization

• Yoga

• Tai Chi

• Creative art therapies

• Qigong

• Relaxation techniques

• Guided imagery

How to use the PLEASE DBT worksheet

You can download and use the PLEASE DBT PDF in several ways:

• Use the worksheet to provide psychoeducation about emotional regulation or to describe the PLEASE DBT skill.

• Ask the client to reflect on the mind-body connection worksheet exercise between sessions and report their findings at their next therapy appointment. 

• Demonstrate the PLEASE DBT skill in a DBT group therapy session.

• Combine this worksheet with other DBT worksheets, including our emotional regulation worksheets, distress tolerance worksheets, DBT ACCEPTS worksheet, interpersonal effectiveness worksheets, and Wise Mind worksheet.

• Share the mind-body connection worksheet with coworkers or leave copies in your waiting room.

• Use the PLEASE DBT worksheet to provide training to interns or supervisees on dialectical behavioral therapy.

Sources

• DBT Tools. (2025). Emotional regulation skills.

• Fassbinder, E., Schweiger, U., Martius, D., Brand-de Wilde, O., & Arntz, A. (2016). Emotion regulation in schema therapy and dialectical behavior therapy. Frontiers in Psychology.

• Hart, P. (n.d.). What is the mind-body connection? University of Minnesota.

• Linehan, M. (2015). DBT skills training handouts and worksheets.

• McKay, M., Wood, J. C., & Brantley, J. (2019). The dialectical behavior therapy skills workbook: Practical DBT exercises for learning mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance (2nd ed.). New Harbinger Publications.

• Swales, M., & Dunkley, C. (2020). Principles of skills assessment in dialectical behavior therapy. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice.

• Vijayapriya, C. V., & Tamarana, R. (2023). Effectiveness of internet-delivered dialectical behavior therapy skills training on executive functions among college students with borderline personality traits: A non-randomized controlled trial. Research in psychotherapy (Milano).

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