(Updated 11/6/23) This is a list of nearly 100 mental health worksheets, handouts, forms, and more for substance use, mental health, and wellness.
Please repost and share with anyone who might benefit! New resources are added on a regular basis.
For more free downloads, click here for a list of PDF workbooks, manuals, and self-help guides.
For free mental health worksheets and resources from other sites, check out TherapistAid, GetSelfHelpUK, and Taking the Escalator.
Mental Health Worksheets & Handouts
Group Ideas & Topics
A 3-page handout for group facilitators with strategies for managing resistance, disruptive behaviors, and a lack of engagement in group therapy.
A list of topics for substance use groups.
A 2-page handout for clinicians who facilitate group therapy with (adult) clients and their families. The questions were developed for an inpatient SUD setting.
A list of specific topics for substance use groups, such as refusal skills, the difference between a lapse and a relapse, and fun in recovery.
A list of group openers for substance use groups; can also be used in individual counseling sessions.
A list of questions for exploring the following topics: Conversation starters, mental health, addiction, personal development, values, family, relationships, and emotions. These questions can be used in a group setting, individually, or as journal prompts.
Group Activities
A worksheet with prompts for writing a short autobiography to be presented to the group.
Intended audience: Adults
A worksheet for clients to pass around to group members so each person can write a positive affirmation.
Intended audience: Adolescents, Teens, Adults
Good for newly formed groups. Each group member writes down their “first impression” of other group members. The facilitator then reads off the different categories and group members have the opportunity to share their answers.
Intended audience: Adults
An icebreaker activity, good for new groups. Give group members 15-20 minutes to collect signatures. The first person to collect all signatures wins.
Intended audience: Adolescents, Teens, Adults
Clinical Film Discussion Questions
- Ben Is Back-Discussion Questions
- Girl, Interrupted-Discussion Questions
- Pay It Forward-Discussion Questions
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower-Discussion Questions
- Rachel Getting Married-Discussion Questions
- When a Man Loves a Woman-Discussion Questions
Card Decks
A printable deck of cards with 128 coping skills for managing stress, anxiety, and other difficult emotions. Each card includes one simple coping skill.
Print/cut the cards, fold, and place in a container. Group members take turns drawing the cards and answering the questions.
A printable deck of cards with 40 positive quotes that can be used as affirmations.
A printable card deck with 27 affirmations for healing and empowerment.
These cards can be used in a SUD inpatient or outpatient setting to facilitate group discussions about recovery. Group members take turns drawing a card and answering questions. The facilitator can vary things up by letting group members pick someone else to answer their question once they’ve finished sharing. Alternatively, group members can take turns drawing cards, but all group members are encouraged to share their answers. This activity works best with a working group.
This is a revised version of the Recovery Question Cards.
A card deck with 104 cards with thought-provoking questions intended to promote discussion. Topics include goals, values, emotions, relationships, spirituality, and more.
These cards can be used in a group or individual setting. The last page of the PDF includes additional values exercises for journaling, clinical supervision, couples, and groups. Tip: Print the cards on patterned scrapbook paper (blank on one side).
Mental Health Handouts
4 Ways to Stay Calm Before a Stressful Event
A 1-page handout with simple “in-the-moment” calming strategies for anxiety-provoking events.
A simple 1-page handout that shows the 6 basic emotions.
A comprehensive list of 12-step and other support groups, such as AA, NA, SMART Recovery, Dual Recovery Anonymous, NAMI, etc.
A 1-page DBT-based handout with 25 examples of dialectics (i.e., two things that seem opposite and are at the same time both true).
These journal prompts can also be used in a group setting. The prompts include questions about values, potential, expectations, and more.
Instructions for Living from the Dalai Lama
A 1-page handout with 25 quotes from the Dalai Lama on topics such as kindness and happiness. Can be used in a group setting.
A 1-page handout that debunks five common grief myths and provides the truth about each one.
A 2-page handout with nine creative and soothing outlets for grief, such as music, dance, light therapy, and aromatherapy.
A 2-page handout with journal prompts for recovery, based on material from The Sober Survival Guide (created with the author’s permission).
Kindness To-Do List
A to-do list of kind deeds with blank spaces to write in your own ideas for spreading kindness.
A colorful 3-page handout with ideas for hobbies that fall under the following categories: Animals/nature, arts/crafts, collections, cooking/baking, entertainment, home improvement/DIY, outdoor/adventure, self-improvement, sports, travel, and misc.
A list with links to online grief support groups, forums, and communities.
A 1-page handout on PTG and how it may impact a person’s life, and the factors that contribute to PTG.
A 1-page handout with resources for suicide, including recommended books, apps, crisis lines, and suicide warning signs.
A 2-page handout that describes seven uncommon grief experiences, such as delayed or disenfranchised grief.
A list of 38 unique coping skills for managing difficult emotions.
A 2-page handout that lists values. Can be used as a standalone handout or with the values card deck.
A 2-page handout with two exercise routines, one designed for beginners and the other for more advanced exercisers.
Mental Health Worksheets
A 1-page worksheet for identifying things to be grateful for in different life areas.
A 1-page checklist with 30 ideas for spreading kindness.
A 1-page worksheet for exploring what makes someone a good friend.
Art Activity: H-T-P Test
In the House-Tree-Person Test, the picture of the house is supposed to represent how the individual feels about their family. The tree elicits feelings of strength or weakness. The person represents how the individual feels about themselves. (Source: How Projective Tests Are Used to Measure Personality – Simply Psychology)
Art Activity: Outer & Inner Masks
This art activity can be done in a group setting or individually. Clients design both outer – what the world sees – and inner – the hidden self – masks. The third page has questions for discussion. This activity can be used to target all sorts of issues from body image to values to character defects (in addiction) and more.
Art Activity: Self-Portraits
This worksheet can be used in groups or as a homework assignment. Encourage clients to be creative; instead of just drawing or coloring, they can use magazine cutouts, stickers, photos, etc. Suggested questions for discussion: How did you decide which identities to portray? Which portrait best represents your true self? Which portrait do others see the most? What, if anything, would you like to change about your portraits?
A 2-page worksheet for exploring the consequences of addiction.
Coping with Cravings
A 3-page worksheet with DBT-based skills for coping with cravings.
Coping with Jealousy
A worksheet for understanding jealousy, its impact, whether it’s pathological, and how to manage jealous feelings.
Couples Exercise: Affirmations
A 3-page worksheet for sharing self-affirmations and partner affirmations, including suggested questions for discussion.
Couples Exercise: Our Bucket List
A 3-page worksheet for couples to create a shared list of meaningful “bucket list” items to do together.
Couples Exercise: Our Bucket List (with dates)
A shared bucket list that includes spaces to write in when an item was added to the list and when it was completed.
A 1-page worksheet for affirmations, positive self-talk, and problem-solving strategies for daily challenges.
A basic mood tracker with emoji faces.
A blank schedule with hourly slots starting at 6:00 a.m. and ending at 10:00 p.m. Can be used as part of a relapse prevention, for depression management, or as a planner.
A 3-page worksheet for substance use recovery for planning leisure activities and enhancing wellness/spirituality.
A letter template for individuals entering long-term residential treatment for substance use, to be opened and read at treatment completion.
An 8-page goal-setting worksheet for health/wellness, relationships/social health, emotional wellness, intellectual wellness, education/career, financial health, spirituality, and leisure.
A 3-page worksheet for identifying and managing substance use relapse triggers.
A 1-page worksheet for identifying things that promote addiction and ways to get rid of or avoid these things.
A 3-page goal-setting worksheet for short-term and long-term goals.
A 12-step-based worksheet for identifying and exploring resentments.
A worksheet for creating poetry; print, laminate, and cut out the words.
A 1-page worksheet for examining past substance use relapses and strategies for avoiding future relapses.
A 5-page template for creating a substance use relapse prevention plan.
A 1-page worksheet for exploring ways to resist urges to use in early recovery.
A 1-page checklist with quick tips, self-soothing, and indulgent ideas for self-care.
A 3-page worksheet for developing a colorful self-care “map” to explore patterns and identify new practices.
A 3-page template for creating a self-care “menu.”
A 2-page writing assignment for self-discovery and awareness.
A 2-page worksheet for developing self-esteem.
A 1-page worksheet for exploring motivation for substance use recovery.
A fun worksheet for creating a bucket list of things that are only possible in sobriety.
Stress Management Worksheet
This 6-page worksheet helps with identifying and exploring stressors. From there, the worksheet can be used to build a stress management plan.
7 pages of feelings words.
A 6-page worksheet for describing problem areas, identifying goals, and exploring what has (and has not) been helpful in the past. This worksheet can be used to develop a collaborative treatment plan.
A 2-page worksheet for identifying and exploring wants and needs.
A simple form for tracking daily meals and snacks for one week.
A 2-page worksheet for identifying things that are controllable versus things that can’t be controlled.
A 3-page narrative therapy worksheet for exploring a past substance use relapse.
Laminate and use with fine-tip dry erase markers.
Workbooks & Bonus Materials
100-page printable workbook for working through grief and loss.
A companion workbook meant to be used with the book Staying Sober Without God (created with the author’s permission).
Daily Self-Inventory for Mental Health Professionals
A 10th step-based inventory for self-reflection for counselors and other mental health workers.
Free Coloring Pages for Adults
Links to 15 websites with free printable coloring sheets for adults.
Miscellaneous Printables
A list of 20 openers for individual therapy sessions.
A 2-page form for case conceptualization with sections for demographics, key findings, background info, case formulation, interventions/plans, and requested feedback or suggestions.
A list of interventions (action words) for clinical documentation.
A template for tracking attendance, cases discussed, and any other group topics.
A foldable coloring book with eight different designs.
excellent
Thank you for giving away this valuable information. I am a Adult Mental Health Case Manager and I use things from here in my weekly group meetings!
I do also, but for juveniles. These tools are extremely helpful.
Thank you so much for providing these free handouts. During these tough times, I find these handouts to be extremely useful. A million thank you’s!
These valuable materials are so much of a blessing, thank you so much for the gracious kindness!!!
I’m a drug and alcohol counselor and I find this site very helpful!
It is great to see that someone else wants to promote better care for clients and therapists alike using comprehensive resources (that are free!). Thank you!!!
I love this site i am a Mental Health Professional and I find these very helpful with my group sessions.
Thank you very much!! I have a son struggling with depression and suicide. This will help very much.
This is a wonderful site. I deeply appreciate the effort and time it took to put this together. Thank you very much.
I can’t tell you how fortunate I am to have stumbled onto this. I am a Behavioral Health PSS in a drug and alcohol treatment facility and am looking forward to sharing some of these materials with our clients. I love the group activities and discussion prompts and will be using some in my next group. Fantastic resource! There is something for everyone here! Thank you so much for this. Be well 🙂
Hope you guys add a Domestic Violence section
Thank you for giving us free worksheets. It’s really helpful.
Thank you!!
I am a mental health therapist and I really struggle for group therapy ideas. Thank you for sharing. Your site has been very helpful for me to find new ideas.