Behavioral activation handout
One page on what behavioral activation is, acting before you feel like it, starting small, rating how an activity went, and what to do when a plan doesn’t happen. Made to hand to clients or a group, or to keep for yourself.
Free to copy for personal, clinical, and educational use. US Letter, in English and Spanish.
Using it with clients or a group
The handout explains behavioral activation in plain words, so it works as a first session’s take-home or as the opening page for a group. It pairs with the one-week activity plan and the What matters to me worksheet on the printables page, and with the activity planner for clients who would rather plan on a screen.
It describes the method and doesn’t promise results, and it doesn’t replace care from a professional.
Read more
- What behavioral activation is
- How low mood and doing less feed each other
- Acting before you feel like it
- How it works, step by step
Where it comes from
The handout follows behavioral activation as Martell, Dimidjian, and Herman-Dunn and Lejuez and colleagues describe it. Its wording was written for Everyday Insight. The research page has the sources and what the studies have found.