Coping ahead is a skill from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) that helps you prepare for stressful situations before they happen. Instead of waiting to react in the moment, you mentally rehearse how you’ll handle challenges using specific coping strategies. 

This worksheet will walk you through it. Think of it as planning for both logistics and emotions: 

You anticipate what might feel hard.
You create supports to make things easier.
You visualize yourself responding calmly and successfully.

(2 pages)

Before we can build new neural pathways—new ways of thinking, responding, and being—we need to remember something essential: we’ve already done it before. This is the first in a series of Building Mastery worksheets designed to help you reconnect with your strengths, skills, and progress. In this exercise, you’ll reflect on past successes—moments when you overcame something difficult, learned something new, or made a meaningful change. These memories are more than just reflections; they’re evidence that you already have what it takes to keep going. Mastery begins with remembering that you’ve done hard things before—and you can do them again.

Download a PDF that you can either fill out on your computer or print to fill in by hand.

(1 page)