Whether you are autistic, exploring a possible diagnosis, supporting an autistic family member, or looking for services, knowing where to start can feel overwhelming. ASD resources aren’t only for young children—support may be helpful throughout adolescence and adulthood as needs, goals, and circumstances change.
1. Autism Help and Information | Autism Speaks You can find the information that you need by searching by topic or life stage. There is also the ability to apply filters such as the level of support needs (some support, moderate amount of support, intensive support) of the person with ASD.
4. Autistic Self Advocacy Network The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to ASD. ASAN believes that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which autistic people enjoy equal access, rights, and opportunities.
5. 100 Day Kit School Age Children This 100 Day Kit was created to help you make the best possible use of the next 100 days in the life of your child. It contains information and advice collected from trusted and respected experts on ASD and from parents like you.
6. Autism diagnosis | Autism Speaks Whether you’re looking for information about the diagnostic criteria for ASD, navigating the process of getting an autism diagnosis for your child, or exploring the steps involved in getting a diagnosis as an adult, you’ve come to the right place.
7. Autism Navigator Autism Navigator® is a web-based instructional program developed by the Florida State University Autism Institute to increase the capacity of primary care, early intervention, and other service providers, as well as families, to better serve young children with or at risk for ASD.
8. Center for Parent Information and Resources All the materials found on the CPIR Hub have been created and archived for Parent Centers around the country to help them provide support and services to the families they serve.
9. Child Mind Institute | Transforming Children’s Lives The Child Mind Institute is dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families experiencing mental health and learning disorders through excellence in science, education, and care.
10. Families | Organization for Autism Research The diagnosis of ASD is a life-changing event. Through informed action and the use of treatments and interventions that match your autistic child’s development, you can enhance your child’s quality of life.
11. Family Voices All children, youth, and families, especially those with special health care needs and disabilities, experience their best health and quality of life.
12. Organization for Autism Research | Helping Families Today The Organization for Autism Research (OAR) is dedicated to improving the lives of autistic individuals, their families, and supporters by funding practical research and providing valuable resources.
13. Sesame Workshop-Autism Sesame Workshop is a global nonprofit organization with a mission to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.
These resources offer practical information, tools, and support to help autistic adults navigate healthcare, relationships, independence, self-advocacy, and everyday life.
16. Adult Autism Health Resources Helping adults to navigate the health care system as well as communicate and advocate for high-quality care in collaboration with their clinical providers.
17. Adults on the Spectrum — American Autism Association The American Autism Association encourages healthy lifestyles, fosters independence and inclusion, and promotes personal empowerment to better the quality of life for people with ASD.
18. Autism Grown Up Autism Grown Up, Inc. is a non-profit organization that is entirely online. We create and provide resources for autistic people and all members of an autistic person’s support network, including family members, teachers, clinicians, therapists, professionals, peers, employers, and other important stakeholders.
19. Autism Resources for Adults (PDF) A comprehensive resource guide for autistic adults covering diagnosis, mental health, relationships, education, employment, benefits, housing, independent living, and community support.
21. Autistic Adults Welcome Pack (PDF) This booklet will be helpful for you if you have just found out you are autistic (through diagnosis and/or self identification).
22. Engaging Activities for Autistic Adults: A Comprehensive Guide Meaningful activities for autistic adults aren’t a luxury, they’re a proven lever for mental health, social connection, and daily functioning. The right activities reduce anxiety, provide sensory regulation, build genuine friendships, and create the kind of purposeful structure that turns an overwhelming week into a manageable, even enjoyable one.
ASDscreening tools can help identify signs and characteristics that may be associated with autism and indicate when a more comprehensive evaluation may be helpful. These screenings are not diagnostic, but they can be a useful first step for individuals and families who have questions or concerns. The following free screening tools are available for different age groups.
Autism and Therapy | Neurodivergent Insights Autism acceptance in therapy means recognizing that autistic people have unique strengths and challenges and tailoring therapy to be more autistic friendly. It means understanding that the goal of therapy is not to “cure” autistic people but to support us in achieving our goals and living fulfilling lives.
The internet is full of mental health resource lists, but they tend to feature the same websites, apps, worksheets, and crisis resources over and over again. This isn’t one of those lists.
For this collection, I went looking for the resources that are harder to find: tools buried on university websites, free workbooks from hospitals and government agencies, lesser-known mental health apps, clinical assessment tools, online support communities, professional training opportunities, and genuinely useful resources created by researchers, clinicians, and organizations doing interesting work in mental health.
The result is 100 free mental health resources you probably didn’t know existed in 2026.
Some are designed for therapists and other mental health professionals. Others are useful for anyone interested in improving their mental health, learning new coping skills, understanding themselves better, or finding additional support. Many could easily have remained buried several pages deep in a Google search.
Everything on this list is free to access at the time of publication, although some sites may also offer paid products or services. I’ve organized the resources by category so you can skip around, explore, and hopefully discover at least a few things you’ve never seen before.
And if you’re anything like me, you may end up opening far too many tabs.
Duke’s Department of Pathology has a collection organized around eight skills: mindfulness, boundaries, strengths, positivity, acceptance/reality, activation, effectiveness, and commitment. Each area has a downloadable handout and corresponding worksheet, plus a customizable self-assessment wheel.
The CBT+ Notebook from the University of Washington’s Harborview Abuse & Trauma Center offers a large collection of free, practical worksheets based on cognitive behavioral therapy principles. Resources cover topics such as identifying and challenging unhelpful thoughts, managing worry, problem-solving, behavioral activation, goal setting, coping skills, and relapse prevention. Many materials are also available in Spanish, making this an especially useful resource for both mental health professionals and individuals looking for structured tools to support emotional well-being.
Northern Illinois University offers a small collection of free worksheets and exercises designed to help individuals develop a more compassionate relationship with themselves. Resources include a Self-Critical Daily Log for recognizing patterns of harsh self-talk, a guided Self-Compassion Letter exercise, and a worksheet for developing personalized self-compassion phrases. The collection also includes meditation scripts and audio exercises for practicing mindfulness and self-compassion.
This resource page provides a curated collection of evidence-informed screening tools, clinical questionnaires, and therapeutic skill-building handouts to support assessment, treatment planning, and client education. Materials include validated screeners for mood disorders, anxiety, trauma exposure, substance use, sleep concerns, behavioral health conditions in children and adults, and primary care mental health integration.
The purpose of the American Psychological Association (APA) Guidelines for Psychological Assessment and Evaluation (PAE) is to assist and inform psychologists of best practice when psychological instruments, including psychometric tests and collateral information, are used within the practice of psychological assessment and/or evaluation.
Research in positive psychology demonstrates that deliberately applying character strengths in new ways leads to measurable increases in happiness, engagement, and meaning. Many people use their strengths instinctively in one area of life while underutilizing them elsewhere. This info sheet guides you to identify your strengths and then explore how to apply them more broadly across relationships, work, and personal fulfillment.
Values are your heart’s deepest desires for how you want to behave as a human being. Values are not about what you want to get or achieve; they are about how you want to behave or act on an ongoing basis; how you want to treat yourself, others, the world around you.
Basic Counseling Skills is geared to the needs of University and College Students, Health Care Practitioners, Volunteers, and New Counselors. This site is set up to read like a book. There are six major sections – A. Techniques, B. Theories, C. Practice, D. Self-Help, and E. Continuing Education. Each section has eight to twelve chapters.
A Clinical Documentation Cheat Sheet is a quick-reference tool designed to assist healthcare professionals in capturing all necessary information in patient records accurately and efficiently.
This fact sheet includes information about the grief response, common grief reactions, and the varying time frame for grief. It also provides insight on how live while integrating the loss into their lives, potentially beneficial coping methods, and suggestions for how someone might access additional help.
This Positive Parenting Tip Sheet from Vanderbilt University Medical Center offers simple, practical strategies for encouraging positive behavior and strengthening the parent-child relationship. The one-page handout covers specific praise, active listening, child-led play, redirection, offering choices, consistency, and the “when-then” approach. It also identifies practices to avoid, such as yelling, threats, and giving excessive attention to negative attention-seeking behaviors. A concise, easy-to-use resource for parents, caregivers, and professionals working with families.
A growing number of psychology practitioners are embracing feedback informed therapy and deliberate practice, and research is beginning to show it improves outcomes.
This manual provides managers and others responsible for planning and delivering services with practical guidance on how to implement manualized psychological interventions for adults, adolescents and children. It covers the five key implementation steps: make an implementation plan; adapt for context; prepare the workforce; identify, assess and support potential beneficiaries; and monitor and evaluate the service.
This guide helps clinicians influence the change process in their clients by incorporating motivational interventions into substance use disorder treatment programs.
The Assertiveness Workbook from NHS Health Education England is a free resource designed to help individuals communicate more confidently and effectively while maintaining healthy boundaries. It explores the differences between passive, aggressive, and assertive communication and provides practical strategies for saying no, expressing needs, managing difficult situations, and reducing conflict. The workbook also includes exercises focused on self-esteem, personal boundaries, and developing an individualized plan for practicing assertiveness in everyday life.
Beating Psychological Distress is a free self-help workbook from Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust designed to help individuals cope with overwhelming or difficult emotions. Drawing on skills from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), the workbook introduces practical strategies for managing distress, regulating emotions, and responding to challenging situations in healthier ways. It includes exercises and techniques that readers can practice when emotions feel particularly intense or difficult to manage.
The Bipolar Workbook from Carepatron is a free resource designed to help individuals better understand and manage the challenges associated with bipolar disorder. It includes structured exercises for increasing self-awareness, identifying mood patterns and triggers, recognizing warning signs, and developing strategies for managing symptoms. The workbook can also help readers reflect on their experiences, track changes in mood, and identify coping strategies that support greater stability and overall well-being.
The Glow Up Boundaries Workbook is a free resource designed to help individuals better understand, establish, and maintain healthy boundaries. Through guided exercises and reflection prompts, readers can explore their personal limits, identify areas where boundaries may be lacking, and consider how their needs, values, and relationships influence the boundaries they set. The workbook also offers practical guidance for communicating boundaries more clearly and confidently while building healthier, more balanced relationships.
Feel Better Fast is a fast-paced, 3-session seminar designed to help you make a change in your life by learning mindfulness techniques, as well as ways to cope with distressing emotions and thoughts.
Getting Unstuck is a free workbook from Cal Poly designed to help individuals better understand and manage depression. Using cognitive behavioral strategies, the workbook explores how thoughts, emotions, and behaviors can contribute to feeling stuck and introduces practical ways to begin changing those patterns. Readers learn skills for challenging unhelpful thinking, increasing meaningful activity, developing healthier coping strategies, and taking small, manageable steps toward feeling better.
The guide, available for download from the VA South Central Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, focuses on practical strategies to combat feelings of depression and enhance overall well-being. It emphasizes the connection between daily activities and mood, encouraging users to track and modify their behaviors to improve their quality of life.
Stress First Aid for Healthcare Workers is a free workbook from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD designed to help healthcare workers recognize and respond to stress related to demanding or potentially traumatic work. The workbook introduces practical strategies for identifying signs of stress, strengthening coping and resilience, supporting coworkers, and knowing when additional help may be needed. It can be used individually or as part of a broader workplace approach to supporting mental health and well-being.
Understanding and Managing Anger is a free workbook from Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust designed to help individuals better understand their anger and develop healthier ways of responding to it. The workbook explores common triggers, thoughts, physical warning signs, and behaviors associated with anger while introducing practical strategies for managing intense emotions. It also includes exercises and activities to help readers recognize their own anger patterns, improve coping skills, and respond more effectively in difficult situations.
This course can help you get along better with people, control your reactions to irritating events, and avoid the negative consequences of becoming too angry.
The educational goal of this workshop is to train participants in assessing various presentations of OCD in order to assist with early recognition to improve client outcomes. Assessment requires nuance. Standard screening tools may miss atypical symptoms and clinicians can learn to ask targeted questions. ERP and CBT are effective across subtypes of OCD, but interventions must be tailored to the specific obsessional theme. Early recognition improves outcomes. Awareness of these presentations can reduce stigma and prevent years of untreated distress.
The educational goal of this on-demand workshop is to help clinicians navigate the complexity of self-concept: how to help clients differentiate between impulses that arise from ingrained, trauma-reactive survival patterns and those driven by self-destructive impulses or avoidance. Offers 1.5 free CEs.
The educational goal of this on-demand workshop is to teach participants how to identify eating disorders in their practice, assess the level of risk, and refer out when needed in order to ensure patient safety. Offers 1 free CE.
The educational goal of this on-demand webinar is to introduce clinicians to the conceptual foundations of Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) as articulated in Dr. Fishers’ Embracing Our Fragmented Selves, with a focus on understanding fragmentation as an adaptive response to overwhelming experiences. Participants will learn how trauma is held in implicit emotional and somatic memory, how curiosity and mindfulness support stabilization, and how cultivating empathy and compassion for wounded child and protector parts fosters safety, internal cooperation, and healing. This webinar offers an early clinical look at how these principles guide a non-pathologizing, stabilization-focused approach to trauma treatment. Offers 1 free CE.
We wanted to create the best resource on the web for free continuing education units. There are many free CEU’s but there are scattered throughout different websites and different providers. We have done the hard part of getting these free courses together for you. So we might suggest taking a look around and seeing if you can take any of the free CEUS offered on the site.
This on-demand training series explores the lasting impact of early and recurring trauma on attachment, dissociation, and cognitive processing. Through clinically focused modules on fearful-disorganized attachment, dissociation, negative thought patterns, and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), participants will gain practical strategies and evidence-based tools to better support trauma survivors. Offers 3.5 free CEs.
This on-demand course will demonstrate a trauma-informed perspective to understanding the behavioral and physical effects of going through Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Attendees will learn about the history of the study of ACEs, understanding trauma effects, and exploring adaptations developed for coping. Offers 1.5 free CEs.
KVC West Virginia is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening families and preventing child abuse and neglect. KVC helps children and families in crisis with personalized plans that give them the support, skills and resources to be strong and happy. KVC helps children and families experiencing mental health needs with caring treatment so they can embrace their worth, build resilience and thrive.
Ready to make a real impact? This online course is designed to teach practical, hands-on strategies to manage suicide risk in the clinic, the workplace, and at home. Expert instructors guide you through the best practices for assessing and treating suicidality in teens and adults, equipping you with the tools you need to make a difference right away.
As McLean’s education outreach program, Deconstructing Stigma continues to leverage and expand our global anti-stigma campaign while also developing public education programming and intervention curricula that increase understanding about mental health and encourage compassion for individuals and families directly affected by these disorders.
More Than Therapy and TEAMS™ is launching a groundbreaking initiative for 2026: a comprehensive training program offering up to 40 continuing education units (CEUs) at absolutely no cost to counselors and mental health professionals. This transformative program removes financial barriers to professional development while strengthening the support network our communities desperately need.
This on-demand course provides an in-depth overview of psychosis, exploring its underlying mechanisms, clinical features, and treatment approaches. Participants will learn to differentiate between primary psychotic disorders and substance-induced presentations, conduct thorough evaluations, and implement evidence-based management strategies. Emphasis is placed on practical assessment skills, collaborative care, and improving outcomes for individuals experiencing psychotic symptoms. Offers 3 free CEUs.
The program comprises six sessions of between 15 and 50 minutes duration. Each session includes a conversational mini-lecture and several practical exercises.
Free deliberate practice resources from Sentio University. Senior-trainer webinars, clinical exercises, supervision guides, and AI tools, built for therapists, supervisors, and students in the MFT program and beyond.
Access free continuing education opportunities through Sheppard Pratt, the nation’s top private, nonprofit provider of a full behavioral health continuum of care. Through Sheppard Pratt’s Center for Professional Education, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, social workers, nurses, counselors, and other behavioral health professionals can access clinically relevant continuing education at no cost—designed to support your practice and the people you serve.
This page features a monthly series, Free Mental Health Webinars for Social Workers and Mental Health Professionals: over 30 free webcasts curated each month in social work and behavioral health, some offering free CEs.
Suicide and Intimate Partner Violence: Screening and Safety Planning With Adults is a free, online, self-paced course available through the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. It is designed for crisis workers, clinical practitioners, supervisors, and trainees. Offers 1 free CE.
Calm Harm is an award-winning app funded by teenage mental health charity stem4, to help manage the urge to self-harm. It was developed by Clinical Psychologist Dr. Nihara Krause MBE, in collaboration with young people and uses principles from an evidence-based psychological treatment called Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT).
CPT Coach is a free application (app) for mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) that was created to increase convenience for clinicians and patients completing CPT. The app is downloaded onto a patient’s mobile device to be used as a treatment companion during CPT.
The Columbia Protocol, also known as the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), supports suicide risk screening through a series of simple, plain-language questions that anyone can ask. The answers help users identify whether someone is at risk for suicide, determine the severity and immediacy of that risk, and gauge the level of support that the person needs.
MindShift gives you science-backed strategies to shift your anxious thinking, settle your body, and approach your fears one step at a time. Developed in Canada by experts in the field.
myPlan is a free app offered in English and Spanish to help with safety decisions if you, or someone you care about, may be experiencing abuse in an intimate relationship. It’s private, secure, personalized, & backed by research with domestic violence survivors involved every step of the way.
This mobile app provides health professionals with information and tools to identify and assess a patient at risk of suicide. It also offers communication tips and resources for treatment and other support to which health professionals can refer patients.
Beck Institute is proud to offer an array of online and downloadable resources for health and mental health professionals and students. Our collection of resources is always expanding as we find and create new materials to share.
Free, instant scoring for validated clinical assessments. Calculate scores, view severity interpretations, and reference published guidelines — all in your browser with no data stored.
Administer, score, and track validated scales (PHQ-9, GAD-7, PCL-5…) directly in the browser. Everything runs on your device: patient data never leaves the office.
Your theoretical orientation is the lens through which you will understand your clients, build therapeutic relationships, and choose interventions. It shapes what you listen for, the questions you ask, how you respond to a client’s pain, and how you define progress. Most counselors’ orientations evolve across their careers — this tool is a snapshot of where your convictions lean right now.
When implementing new interventions in your treatment or prevention program, it’s helpful to have tools to evaluate the impact of the new intervention on clients or therapists
These four videos present Motivational Interviewing as an evidence-based strategy used by providers to help clients recognize their own ambivalence to change and begin the process of change. The PowerPoint slides, motivational interview algorithm, and role playing exercises are provided as handouts. The videos are intended to be viewed in order, starting with Part 1. To view, click the “play” button in the video boxes below.
Practice Time! is Sentio University’s free YouTube series, hosted by Amy DeSmidt and Jamie Manser, demonstrating live deliberate practice sessions across the clinical skills taught in the APA book series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice. The 18 episodes below are organized by therapy model, so you can dive straight into the modality you care about, watch a focused skill demonstration, and then move into the longer-format deliberate practice page for that model. If you are a clinician building skills outside formal training, pair these episodes with the wider Free Therapist Training hub. If you are a licensed supervisor learning how to use deliberate practice in your own supervision, see the six- or twelve-month Clinical Supervisor Training.
Give Us The Floor (GUTF) is a US-based non-profit organization providing 2SLGBTQIA+ youth across the US with a supportive community of their peers when they need it most in a safe, online environment.
A professional support group series open to ALL gender-diverse individuals across Idaho. The series will be hosted virtually, so everyone can join—no matter where they are! Led by TranAffirm board member Lee Stewart, LPC (they/them), these groups are offered free or by donation. Donations go directly to Lee or to Trans Affirm to keep this vital program running.
WeeBe.org is an early-stage social impact project focused on reducing loneliness and enabling meaningful human connection through befriending. WeeBe is a peer-to-peer emotional support platform where people can connect for one-on-one conversations. It’s not therapy, not dating — just a safe, respectful space to talk and listen. The current version of WeeBe is a BETA service and is free to use for all participants. The platform is built around a volunteer-led model, with no commercial activity or paid participation.
Psychology.com has helped people understand their minds since 1995. Today it is run by two people you can meet below and overseen by an editorial board of licensed psychologists and counselors, each with a name and a profile you can check.
Meridian Clinical Tools offers a large collection of free, browser-based tools for mental health professionals and their clients. Resources include mental health screenings and assessments, treatment planning and documentation tools, safety planning resources, coping exercises, mood trackers, and other interactive clinical tools. No account is required for many of the resources, making this a convenient option for therapists looking for practical tools to use in sessions or share with clients.
We provide training (in-person and online), consulting, books, and free resources in the areas of trauma, mental health, counselling skills, and violence prevention.
At Vanderbilt University’s EARL, our aim is to advance knowledge of the measurement, development, maintenance, and treatment of anxiety disorders. Although these objectives encompass a broad range of topics, we are specifically interested in the role of emotions (i.e., fear, disgust, anger) in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety pathology.
Practice Hub is the free, source-linked library published by Ludara Health & Wellness. It includes guides, pathways, state research, technology profiles, tools, and clinician-facilitated session resources.
Our Psychotherapy Essentials Course and Psychotherapy Coaching Community help therapists free themselves from “branded” therapies by working directly with three change processes instead of following set methods. Compatible with all therapies and types of problems.
Located in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., region, Kennedy Krieger Institute is internationally recognized for improving the lives of tens of thousands of children, adolescents and adults with neurological, rehabilitative or developmental needs through inpatient and day hospital programs, outpatient clinics, home and community services, education, and research.
A list of links to videos of a variety of mental health professionals using various theories and techniques to help clients with an array of presenting concerns and mental illnesses. The videos are organized by Theory/Approach/Type of Therapy and sometimes by sub-category.
The mental status exam (MSE) is a structured approach to gathering a patient’s behavioral and cognitive information. Analogous to the physical exam, it provides a template to collect clinical data in a systematic fashion. The MSE is a core competency of undergraduate medical education (UME) and an entrustable professional activity in clinical psychiatry.
James Cornwell directs the Morality, Truth, and Motivation lab, which studies the ways in which morality provides us with a guiding framework for life in our social world, how the pursuit of truth provides our lives with meaning and strengthens relationships, and how differences in motivational dynamics can predict human flourishing as well as patterns of psychological distress. The lab’s research is based in psychological theory developed in conversation with insights from theology, philosophy, literature, as well as other sciences.
The Center for Psychotherapy Research (CPR) is a research unit of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Faculty members conduct a wide range of studies on the effectiveness and mechanisms of evidence-based psychotherapies and measurement-based care strategies. Our work is primarily focused on studies of evidence-based interventions delivered in community settings. We have partnered with community mental health agencies for over 20 years to develop, evaluate, and disseminate interventions to improve symptoms and functioning in these real world treatment settings.
PEARLS brings together a group of academics, clinicians, research fellows and postgraduate students whose research focuses on the evaluation of routinely delivered psychological interventions.
The OHIO lab utilizes a Common Factors perspective for understanding how clients improve through psychotherapy treatments through the research of various therapist and client variables. We have adapted a model for understanding how most forms of specific treatments have been equally successful, which we refer to as an integrated contextual model. The integrated contextual model explains how treatment successes are influenced by relationships, but are also heavily influenced by Culture, Theory, and Techniques.
The Shyness Institute is a non-profit research corporation founded in 1994 and is dedicated to research regarding shyness, social anxiety, and related anxiety disorders.
Crisis lines, scored assessments, modality references, and ZIP-based referrals — open in the tab next to your EHR, the moment a client actually needs them.
374 evidence-based worksheets organized by clinical approach (CBT, DBT, ACT, trauma-informed care) plus 13 validated assessments, all free to use and print. Pro adds the practice side: intake, consent, and treatment-plan builders, e-signatures, session tools, and client sharing under your own letterhead.
Our lab conducts translational research exploring factors that impact the development of trauma-related psychopathology and intervention strategies aimed at mitigating the impact of trauma.
These Trauma Pages focus primarily on emotional trauma and traumatic stress, including PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) and dissociation, whether following individual traumatic experience(s) or a large-scale disaster. The purpose of this award winning site is to provide information for clinicians and researchers in the traumatic-stress field.
For over four decades under Professor Marsha M. Linehan’s leadership, the BRTC was a clinical research center specializing in the development and improvement of effective and pragmatic treatments for individuals with severe, complex and treatment resisting mental disorders. Much of our research had focused on individuals with high risk of suicide, those with high risk comorbid with post-traumatic stress disorder, those addicted to heroin or other drugs, as well as individuals with borderline personality disorder. The primary treatment at the BRTC is dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which is a cognitive behavioral treatment developed by Professor Linehan.
Safety planning isn’t about handing someone a form and hoping they stay alive. It’s a collaborative, honest conversation about what keeps a person here when everything in them is telling them to leave. A good safety plan is personal, specific, and written in a person’s own language.
I created this worksheet because many safety plans are either too clinical to be useful or so vague they don’t actually help in a crisis. This safety plan is designed for real-world use—in therapy sessions, crisis calls, hospital discharge planning, and at home.
If you’re someone who’s struggling, use with a professional or a support person you trust.
What Makes a Safety Plan Effective?
A safety plan needs to be clear, specific, and easy to follow in the moment when thinking feels scrambled. It should be written collaboratively and, in the person’s, own words, not in clinical language. The goal is simple: create a step-by-step path that keeps a person safe when they’re overwhelmed or in crisis.
While safety planning is important, suicide prevention starts long before a crisis. Taking care of your mental health, staying connected with supportive people, addressing problems before they become overwhelming, and knowing where to turn for help can all make a difference. Pay attention to changes in your mood, thoughts, behaviors, and ability to cope, and reach out early when something does not feel right. Keep your safety plan and crisis resources somewhere easy to find, and let trusted people know how they can support you. Most importantly, remember that you do not have to have everything figured out, and you do not have to carry the hardest moments alone. Sometimes the goal is simply to get through the next hour, the next night, or the next day. Give yourself the chance to see what comes next. Your story is still being written.
Parenting a child with ADHD can make everyday routines feel unexpectedly difficult. Learn what may be driving challenging behaviors and discover practical ways to reduce meltdowns, ease transitions, and make daily life a little smoother.
Introduction: When Everyday Moments Turn Into Big Struggles
Parenting a child with ADHD can make ordinary parts of the day feel unexpectedly difficult. Simple routines can turn into struggles, even when you’re doing your best.
Before making changes at home, it can help to know that these experiences are very common among ADHD families.
It’s 7:45 a.m. You asked your child three times to brush their teeth. They head to the bathroom, then somehow end up playing with something random. You call them again, but there’s no response. You raise your voice, then suddenly there are tears, or worse, they argue back. The morning rush turns into a struggle, and you carry that weight into your workday, wondering: What am I doing wrong?
Or maybe it’s 4:00 p.m., and it’s time for homework. Your child sits down, looks at one math problem, and quickly feels overwhelmed. Within minutes, there are tears, frustration, or they shut down. What looked like a twenty-minute task now takes much longer than expected.
These moments, from morning routines to homework struggles, can feel exhausting for you and your child. When the same challenges show up day after day, even small things can start to feel heavy. W
Why This Isn’t About “Bad Behavior”
It’s easy to see these moments as misbehavior, especially when they happen again and again, and nothing seems to work. These challenges can happen in all types of ADHD, whether a child is more inattentive, more hyperactive-impulsive, or a combination of both.
But many times, these reactions aren’t about defiance or trying to be difficult. They’re signs of internal struggles that aren’t easy to see. Challenges with attention, emotional regulation, impulse control, and working memory can make everyday tasks harder to manage.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition, not a character flaw. So when your child has trouble starting a task or reacts strongly to something that seems small, it’s usually a sign that their brain is feeling overloaded in that moment.
What This Guide Will Help You Do
This guide is designed to help you:
Understand why your child behaves the way they do
Respond to meltdowns and refusals in ways that help
Build environments and routines that reduce friction before it starts
Why ADHD Behaviors Aren’t What They Seem
A child who’s refusing, melting down, or tuning you out is not doing it intentionally. With ADHD, understanding what’s driving the behavior is the first step toward responding in a helpful manner.
Behavior as Communication, Not Defiance
Remember that every behavior communicates something. For example, a child who storms off isn’t just being dramatic. They may be overwhelmed, ashamed, or exhausted from a day of trying to keep it together.
A child who argues with an instruction isn’t necessarily trying to control you. They may be struggling to shift their attention or manage the frustration of being asked to stop something they’re deeply focused on.
When you start to see behavior this way, it will change how you respond. Instead of “How do I stop this behavior?” you begin to ask, “What is my child telling me right now?”
Executive functions are the brain’s management system. They involve the mental skills that help us plan, prioritize, start tasks, control impulses, manage emotions, and stay flexible under pressure.
Research shows that children with ADHD struggle with these executive function skills, especially attention, impulse control, planning, and working memory. This explains why everyday tasks can feel harder to manage.
Stress Response vs. Choice
Sometimes what looks like a choice is actually a reaction.
A child with ADHD deals with daily challenges with emotional regulation, executive dysfunction (focus, organization, memory), and school and social pressures. These demands can build up and make even small moments feel overwhelming.
In that state, it becomes much harder for them to think clearly or respond calmly.
Why Your ADHD Child Melts Down Over “Simple” Things
To a child with ADHD, what looks small on the outside can feel enormous on the inside.
For neurotypical kids, putting on shoes is a 30-second task. But to a child with ADHD, it involves a lot of steps, such as transitioning from another activity, finding their socks, locating their shoes, and feeling their laces as they tie them.
It’s also worth noting that many children with ADHD experience challenges with their motor skills. They might struggle with using their hands to make small movements (fine motor skills) or run (gross motor skills). This can affect how a child performs at school and how they participate in social play with other kids.
The good news is that research shows that regular exercise can improve these motor skills.
Emotional Regulation Skills Are Still Developing
Children with ADHD often experience emotions more intensely, which leads to magnified reactions. Moreover, it can be challenging for them to self-regulate these emotions.
For example, a child who lost a game might suddenly explode because they’re experiencing genuine devastation and may not yet have the tools to calm themselves down.
Small stressors don’t stay small, but they build on each other until your child feels overwhelmed.
Imagine your child’s day starts by putting their effort into getting ready, then staying focused in class, following instructions, and managing social situations.
Because ADHD affects emotion regulation, stress doesn’t reset easily. So by the time you say, “Please do your homework,” your child may already feel overwhelmed.
What’s Really Happening When Your ADHD Child Refuses
Refusal can be frustrating, especially if you know that your child is capable. But more often than not, what looks like stubbornness has a reason.
Task Paralysis vs. Laziness
ADHD task paralysis happens when your child has something to do but feels stuck. Even if they want to start, they can’t.
This often happens when a task feels overwhelming or unclear. The brain struggles to organize the steps and find the effort needed to begin, so the child freezes instead of taking action.
Research also shows that children with ADHD are more likely to avoid tasks that require mental effort, partly because they have more difficulty resisting the urge to avoid them.
So instead of starting, they delay, get distracted, or avoid the task altogether, and may forget about it later.
What looks like a power struggle is often a child trying to cope with frustration. Kids with ADHD can find everyday demands harder, especially when the tasks feel boring, repetitive, or overwhelming.
Because of their struggles with impulse control and emotion regulation, frustration can show as arguing, refusing, or pushing back.
This means many children experience more worry around performance, mistakes, and meeting expectations. They might get worried about forgetting things or finishing tasks on time. Repeated negative feedback can add to this pressure.
ADHD also makes it harder to manage the emotions tied to difficult tasks. Feelings like stress, frustration, or self-doubt can build quickly. They might worry that they won’t be able to do the task properly or correctly. Avoidance then becomes a way to escape those feelings.
Moreover, the negative feedback children with ADHD receive due to their inattention, impulsivity, or difficulty managing emotions can lead to feelings of shame. Hearing messages such as “Why can’t you do your homework?” or “Why can’t you just sit still?” can affect their self-worth. This then leads to avoidance behaviors, such as giving up to avoid failure.
How to Respond to Challenging Behaviors (Simple Steps That Work)
Understanding what’s behind the behavior is one thing, and knowing what to do in the moment is another.
These four steps won’t make every hard moment disappear, but they can give you a reliable framework to come back to.
Step 1: Stay Calm and Co-Regulate First
Before anything else, try to regulate yourself first. Children mirror the behavior of adults around them. Co-regulation involves helping them manage their emotions by staying calm and supportive with them.
The focus is on calming the moment before solving the problem. This might look like:
Lowering your voice instead of raising it
Sitting beside them rather than standing over them.
Saying “I can see this is hard. I’m right here.” and then waiting.
Step 2: Keep Directions Short and Clear
Children with ADHD easily get overwhelmed when faced with multiple tasks at once. “Can you please finish your snack, put the plate in the sink, get your backpack, and then come back so we can do homework?”
Instead, try giving one instruction at a time. Make eye contact before speaking, and use your child’s name first so they know what follows is meant for them.
For example, instead of “Can you please get your shoes and socks and hurry up because we’re late?” say “Let’s get your shoes on.”
Task initiation is much easier when the starting point is clear and small. For children with ADHD, “Clean your room” can feel paralyzing. Instead, “Focus on one area: your desk first” feels more doable.
Visual checklists can be helpful because they place each step where your child can easily see it.
Step 4: Use Choices and “When–Then” Statements
Offering small choices helps your child feel more involved in what’s happening, which can make it easier for them to cooperate.
For example, you might say, “Do you want to brush your teeth before or after you pick tomorrow’s outfit?” instead of “Brush your teeth now.” The expectation stays the same, but your child gets a say in how they move through it.
“When-then” statements link a required task to something your child actually wants, without threats or pressure. They are a simple way to show your child what needs to happen first and what comes next.
For instance, you can say, “When your shoes are on, then we can leave.”
This helps because it makes your expectations clear, keeps things predictable, and helps your child focus on one step at a time.
It’s not possible to prevent every meltdown, but you can make them less frequent by noticing your child’s patterns and planning ahead.
Spot Patterns in Your Child’s Behavior
Meltdowns usually occur at certain times of day, during certain transitions, or under certain conditions. Try to spot the patterns or keep a simple behavior log for one week.
Use these questions to guide you:
What time of day does it happen most?
What happened the night before?
How was sleep the night before?
Had they eaten recently?
Common triggers are:
Transitions or stopping one activity to start another
Hunger
Tiredness
Screen time ending
Too many instructions at once
Feeling rushed or pressured
Once you spot the patterns, you can adjust the environment.
Transitions are challenging for children with ADHD because they have to stop what they’re doing, shift their focus, and get ready for something new all at once. It can feel abrupt and overwhelming.
You can make this easier by giving gentle advance notice. For example, you can say, “Ten more minutes, then it’s dinner,” or “Five minutes left on the game.” This gives your child time to mentally prepare, which reduces resistance and emotional reactions.
How to Build Routines That Support Regulation
One change that can make the most difference for ADHD families is building a predictable routine. Not because it makes everything run perfectly, but because it takes some of the pressure out of everyday moments.
When your child knows what to expect, they don’t have to use as much energy figuring things out or bracing for what’s next. That extra energy can go toward getting through the day more smoothly.
Routines that work well for children with ADHD often share a few simple qualities:
Predictable sequencing: The order of activities stays mostly the same each day. Over time, this helps things feel more familiar and easier to follow. (Example: Wake up, get dressed, breakfast, brush teeth, wear shoes, go out)
Visual anchors: A picture chart, checklist, or simple schedule that your child can look at on their own reduces the need for constant reminders.
Built-in transition time: A little extra time between activities helps prevent that rushed feeling, which can quickly lead to stress and overwhelm.
Consistent sleep and wake times: Sleep plays a big role in regulation. When sleep is more consistent, it’s often easier for your child to manage their day.
There is really no perfect way to do this. Even when you have the right tools, there will still be hard days, because parenting a child with ADHD is complex and unpredictable. What makes the biggest difference isn’t getting everything right but making small, consistent shifts over time.
Some mornings may feel chaotic, moments where you lose patience, or times when things don’t go as planned. That doesn’t erase your progress.
You just have to keep showing up, adjusting, and trying again. Over time, those efforts will create change for both you and your child.
About the author:
Michael Vallejo is a licensed clinical social worker and child and family therapist based in Colorado. He runs Mental Health Center Kids, where he writes about practical strategies for parents and clinicians.
Knowing something about yourself and actually putting that knowledge into practice are two different things. You can understand why you procrastinate, recognize an unhealthy pattern, know that you can’t control everything, and still find yourself doing the exact same things you’ve always done. Being human is inconvenient that way.
I created these free worksheet packets to help turn reflection into something a little more practical. Each packet focuses on a different part of being human, including identity, relationships and connection, control and uncertainty, happiness and wanting, and fear and failure. The exercises are designed to help you examine your own patterns, beliefs, choices, and experiences rather than simply tell you what you should think or do.
There’s no right way to work through them. You can complete an entire packet, choose the exercises that interest you, use them for journaling and self-reflection, or return to them when a particular area of your life needs attention. Some questions may be easy. Others may make you stop and think longer than you expected. That’s probably where the interesting stuff is.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was designed for people who feel things intensely and don’t have great models for coping with those feelings. If that’s you, you’re not alone—and you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There are excellent DBT resources out there, and many of them are free. The challenge is just knowing where to look.
The skills in DBT are learnable. They take practice. They take repetition. But they’re doable. And they work.
Let’s get into it.
20 Free DBT Resources
Disclaimer: The resources listed in this post are created and owned by their respective authors and organizations. I did not create these materials, and this post is not affiliated with or sponsored by any of the sites or creators referenced. Please use these materials responsibly and respect all copyright and licensing terms. When in doubt, refer back to the original source for use guidelines and attribution requirements.
DBT Self Help | Self-serve resources for the DBT community Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy that combines Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Zen Buddhism. Created by Marsha Linehan, it was originally used to treat Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Now it is used to treat many different emotional dysregulation and impulse control disorders and symptoms.
Free Resources | Online DBT Skills Free videos and downloads to help you learn or strengthen your Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills knowledge and support your mental health.
6-Module DBT Course | An educational course designed for professionals to learn the basic principles for the diagnosis and treatment of borderline personality disorder. There are six 20-minute modules.
DBT skills take practice, patience, and repetition—but they’re learnable. The resources here are a starting point, not a finish line. Take what’s useful, leave what isn’t, and keep going. Building emotional regulation is a process, and you’re doing the work just by showing up.
Resilience isn’t about avoiding hardship—it’s about growing through it. Whether you’re navigating personal loss, chronic stress, or just trying to stay afloat in a chaotic world, developing emotional resilience can make all the difference. To support your journey, I’ve compiled a list of free resilience workbooks for teens and adults—resources designed to help you build mental strength, emotional flexibility, and healthier coping skills. These guides are ideal for individuals, therapists, educators, or anyone looking to cultivate a stronger sense of inner calm and grit.
“Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.”
–Steve Maraboli
Please note: These are external resources and are not affiliated with my site. Be sure to review each for suitability, and as always, follow all copyright guidelines when using or sharing materials.
Hard knocks, misfortune and adversity are things all humans have in common. We all are asked to cope with difficult times at some point in our life. Resilience is defined as the ability to adapt well in the face of adversity, trauma, loss or significant stress, bounce back from it and learn from it.
This resource is an initiative of Glasgow CHP South Sector Youth Health Improvement team developed in partnership with The South Strategic Youth Health and Wellbeing Group. This Emotional Resilience Toolkit provides practical guidance in promoting the resilience of young people as part of an integrated health and wellbeing programme. The resource is designed to be used by workers and volunteers working with young people aged 10 and over.
This workbook provides a practical and entirely educational approach to improve personal resilience. The material is organized as a series of resilience exercises that support World Health Organization recommendations for suicide prevention. The exercises and the learning methods develop problem solving abilities and bring awareness to the importance of social support by applying positive coping skills to create less stressful outcomes to real life challenges. The materials can be used with all audiences to include organizations, educational settings, and families.
The Resiliency Toolkit is a comprehensive, evidence-informed workbook featuring 73 tools and worksheets designed to help people develop the emotional, mental, and behavioural skills needed to overcome life’s challenges. Created by Angela M. Doel, MS, this resource blends therapeutic techniques from CBT, ACT, solution-focused therapy, and positive psychology to support individuals in becoming more resilient, hopeful, and emotionally well.
The simplest way to define resilience is the ability to “bounce back” from life’s difficulties – to adapt well in the face of adversity or significant sources of stress, such as family and relationship issues, major health problems or financial hardships.
“Resilience is not what happens to you. It’s how you react to, respond to, and recover from what happens to you.”
– Jeffrey Gitomer
Supplementary Materials
Disclaimer: The following supplementary materials are intended to be used exclusivelyin conjunction with corresponding workbooks which must be purchased separately. They are designed to support the content and exercises within the workbooks and are not intended to be a standalone resource. Unauthorized distribution, reproduction, or use of these materials without the accompanying workbook is prohibited. Please respect copyright and intellectual property laws.
For highly-rated resilience guides and workbooks that can be purchased on Amazon, see below:
4.7 stars on Amazon, 1,961 reviews
Publisher’s description on Amazon: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A masterpiece of warrior wisdom: how to be resilient, how to overcome obstacles not by “positive thinking” or self-esteem, but by positive action. The best-selling author, Navy SEAL, and humanitarian Eric Greitens offers a self-help book unlike any other. “Eric Greitens provides a brilliant and brave course of action to help navigate life’s roughest waters.”—Admiral Mike Mullen, seventeenth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff In 2012, Eric Greitens unexpectedly heard from a former SEAL comrade, a brother-in-arms he hadn’t seen in a decade. Zach Walker had been one of the toughest of the tough. But ever since he returned home from war to his young family in a small logging town, he’d been struggling. Without a sense of purpose, plagued by PTSD, and masking his pain with heavy drinking, he needed help. Zach and Eric started writing and talking nearly every day, as Eric set down his thoughts on what it takes to build resilience in our lives. Eric’s letters — drawing on both his own experience and wisdom from ancient and modern thinkers — are now gathered and edited into this timeless guidebook. Greitens shows how we can build purpose, confront pain, practice compassion, develop a vocation, find a mentor, create happiness, and much more. Resilience is an inspiring meditation for the warrior in each of us. “This book is a gift not only to Greitens’s comrades-in-arms, but to readers everywhere.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
4.6 stars on Amazon, 1,415 reviews
Publisher’s description on Amazon: These days it’s hard to count on the world outside. So it’s vital to grow strengths inside like grit, gratitude, and compassion—the key to resilience, and to lasting well-being in a changing world. True resilience is much more than enduring terrible conditions. We need resilience every day to raise a family, work at a job, cope with stress, deal with health problems, navigate issues with others, heal from old pain, and simply keep on going. With his trademark blend of neuroscience, mindfulness, and positive psychology, New York Times bestselling author Dr. Rick Hanson shows you how to develop twelve vital inner strengths hardwired into your own nervous system. Then no matter what life throws at you, you’ll be able to feel less stressed, pursue opportunities with confidence, and stay calm and centered in the face of adversity. This practical guide is full of concrete suggestions, experiential practices, personal examples, and insights into the brain. It includes effective ways to interact with others and to repair and deepen important relationships. Warm, encouraging, and down-to-earth, Dr. Hanson’s step-by-step approach is grounded in the science of positive neuroplasticity. He explains how to overcome the brain’s negativity bias, release painful thoughts and feelings, and replace them with self-compassion, self-worth, joy, and inner peace.
4.5 stars, 2,074 reviews
Publisher’s description on Amazon: In Do Hard Things, Steve Magness beautifully and persuasively reimagines our understanding of toughness. This is a must-read for parents and coaches and anyone else looking to prepare for life’s biggest challenges.”—Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers and Talking to Strangers and host of the Revisionist History podcast. From beloved performance expert, executive coach, and coauthor of Peak Performance Steve Magness comes a radical rethinking of how we perceive toughness and what it means to achieve our high ambitions in the face of hard things. Toughness has long been held as the key to overcoming a challenge and achieving greatness, whether it is on the sports field, at a boardroom, or at the dining room table. Yet, the prevailing model has promoted a mentality based on fear, false bravado, and hiding any sign of weakness. In other words, the old model of toughness has failed us. Steve Magness, a performance scientist who coaches Olympic athletes, rebuilds our broken model of resilience with one grounded in the latest science and psychology. InDo Hard Things, Magness teaches us how we can work with our body – how experiencing discomfort, leaning in, paying attention, and creating space to take thoughtful action can be the true indications of cultivating inner strength. He offers four core pillars to cultivate such resilience:
Pillar 1: Ditch the Façade, Embrace Reality
Pillar 2: Listen to Your Body
Pillar 3: Respond, Instead of React
Pillar 4: Transcend Discomfort
Smart and wise all at once, Magness flips the script on what it means to be resilient. Drawing from mindfulness, military case studies, sports psychology, neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy, he provides a roadmap for navigating life’s challenges and achieving high performance that makes us happier, more successful, and, ultimately, better people.
Additional Therapist-Recommended Resources for Resilience
When most people think of therapy, they picture sitting in an office talking to a psychotherapist. But healing doesn’t always look like a conversation across a couch. While traditional talk therapy is incredibly effective, many people also find relief and growth through non-traditional therapy and alternative approaches.
If you’ve ever felt like talk therapy wasn’t quite enough—or you’re simply curious about what else is out there—this post will walk you through several non-traditional therapy alternatives that support mental health and overall well-being.
Digital Non-Traditional Therapy Alternatives
Sometimes, the biggest barrier is access. That’s where digital platforms can help as non-traditional therapy alternatives.
Headway connects you with therapists who take your insurance—removing one of the biggest hurdles people face.
BetterHelp and Talkspace offer flexible, online therapy that fits into busy schedules.
Online-Therapy.com combines live sessions with structured worksheets, making it a more hands-on, skill-based option.
These platforms expand therapy beyond a once-a-week session and can be more accessible for people who want affordable, convenient care.
Mind-Body Practices
Our bodies hold stress and trauma, so healing isn’t always about words—it’s also about movement and stillness.
Calm or Headspace can introduce daily mindfulness practices to reduce stress.
Insight Timer offers free meditations as well as paid programs with expert teachers.
Yoga platforms like Alo Moves or Glo help people reconnect with their bodies through breath and movement.
These practices support nervous system regulation, which is often the foundation for deeper healing.
Creative & Expressive Therapies
For some, the path to healing is artistic expression.
Platforms like Skillshare and CreativeLive offer classes in painting, writing, photography, and more.
Journaling programs and art-based workshops provide structured ways to process emotions without relying solely on words.
Self-expression can unlock emotions that are hard to articulate, making creativity a powerful therapeutic tool.
Lifestyle & Holistic Wellness
Mental health is deeply tied to sleep, nutrition, and daily habits. Apps and programs designed for whole-person wellness can provide the missing puzzle piece.
BetterSleepfocuses on improving rest, which directly impacts mood.
Noom Mood uses CBT-based techniques to manage stress and anxiety.
Devices like Muse orApollo Neuro use biofeedback to help retrain your brain and body’s response to stress.
Free Non-Traditional Therapy Alternatives: Evidence-Based Self-Help & Mental Health Websites
These are also great resources, including this site, for evidence-based workbooks, worksheets, and psychoeducation, often free or low-cost.
Some approaches may not be mainstream (yet) but are gaining traction:
Ketamine-assisted therapy (in approved clinics) shows promise for treatment-resistant depression.
Neurofeedback and biofeedback offer cutting-edge ways to change brain patterns.
Hypnotherapy platforms (like Grace Space) guide users into deep relaxation and change work.
While these approaches aren’t for everyone, they highlight just how many avenues there are beyond talk therapy.
Final Thoughts
Healing isn’t one-size-fits-all. For some, traditional therapy is enough. For others, combining it with mindfulness, creative practices, holistic wellness tools, or other non-traditional therapy approaches makes all the difference.
If talk therapy hasn’t clicked for you—or if you’re looking to enhance your current treatment—consider trying one of these non-traditional therapy options. Sometimes the most powerful healing happens in unexpected ways.
Disclaimer: A few of the links on this page are affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you—if you choose to make a purchase or sign up through them. These funds go directly toward keeping this site up and running. Please note that I do not specifically endorse any product, service, or organization listed here. The links are provided only as potential resources that may be helpful for your mental health and wellness journey.
Guiding with Purpose: A Self-Discovery Workbook for Counselors is on its way, and it’s full of helpful tools to make therapists feel stronger, more skilled, and more connected to
their work.
Great news for therapists and counselors! A new book is coming soon that will help mental health professionals learn, grow, and feel more confident in their work. Guiding with Purpose: A Self-Discovery Workbook for Counselors by Cassie Jewell, M.Ed., LPC, LSATP, is on its way, and it’s full of helpful tools to make therapists feel stronger, more skilled, and more connected to their work.
This workbook is for anyone working in mental health—whether you’re a student just starting out, a new therapist finding your way, or an experienced supervisor looking for fresh ideas for your students or residents and ways to reflect on your journey.
What Is This Book About?
Guiding with Purpose is not a regular textbook. It’s a hands-on workbook with simple exercises, questions, and activities that help therapists think, learn, and grow.
It will help therapists:
Build stronger relationships with clients
Improve counseling skills and techniques
Feel more confident in their work
Stop doubting themselves and overcome imposter syndrome
Avoid burnout and stress
Make better decisions in tough situations
Take care of their own mental health
Therapists spend their time helping others, but this book is here to help them. It gives professionals a chance to reflect, learn, and take care of themselves so they can continue doing their important work.
Who Is This Book For?
This soon-to-be-released workbook is perfect for:
Counseling students and new therapists
Experienced counselors looking for inspiration
Social workers, psychologists, and anyone in mental health
Clinical supervisors and teams in training
Anyone in the helping professions who wants to feel stronger and more confident
If you work in mental health or are studying to become a therapist, Guiding with Purpose will be a must-have book for your journey.
Why This Workbook Matters
Being a therapist is rewarding; it is also challenging. Many therapists feel tired, unsure, or stressed at some point in their careers. This workbook helps professionals pause, reflect, and grow, making sure they stay motivated and connected to their work.
Many counselors doubt themselves or feel like they don’t know enough. This book helps them see their strengths, build confidence, and find joy in their work again.
It’s not just about learning—it’s about feeling stronger, more balanced, and more prepared for the work therapists do every day.
About the Author
Cassie Jewell, M.Ed., LPC, LSATP, is a licensed therapist, substance abuse treatment practitioner, and clinical supervisor. She is also the creator of Mind Remake Project, a website that shares free mental health resources.
With years of experience in counseling, Cassie knows what it’s like to work in this field—the challenges, the doubts, and the joys. She has also written workbooks on grief and helping people heal after loss. Now, with Guiding with Purpose, she wants to help therapists reflect, learn, and keep growing.
When Will the Book Be Available?
The release date will be announced soon! Guiding with Purpose will be available in print and digital formats, making it easy for therapists to use. For updates and details, visit: https://www.mindremakeproject.org or email CassieJewellLPC@gmail.com.
The digital supplementary materials (discussion questions, quizzes, card decks and more can be downloaded/printed for free below, and utilized for educational, self-help, and therapeutic purposes. (Click the hyperlink after the preview to start download.)
Guiding with Purpose: A Self-Discovery Workbook for Counselors
Therapists do amazing work, but they also need time to pause, reflect, and care for themselves. Guiding with Purpose is coming soon to help professionals stay motivated, confident, and balanced in their careers.
If you are a therapist, counselor, social worker, or student, this workbook is for you! Get ready to learn more about yourself, improve your skills, and feel stronger in your work.
Disclaimer: I worked hard to include only tools that are reliable and validated, but please don’t use these tools as diagnostic measures. They’re provided here for educational purposes only. If a questionnaire is copyrighted, please comply with copyright regulations.
PDF=Direct link to PDF
PDF for download=Link to webpage (or website) with PDF link
