DBT Diary Card Examples: What Entries Actually Look Like
A diary card is easier to understand in concept than in practice. Knowing you're supposed to track emotions, urges, and skills is different from knowing what that actually looks like when you sit down to fill it out.
Seeing examples can help bridge that gap—not as templates to copy exactly, but as illustrations of how the tracking works in real situations.
What a Diary Card Entry Captures
A typical entry includes:
- Emotion: What you felt, named specifically
- Intensity: How strong it was (usually 0-10)
- Urge: Any urges toward target behaviors and their intensity
- Trigger/Event: What prompted the emotion
- Skill Used: What DBT skill you applied (or could have)
- Outcome: Whether you acted on the urge, and what happened
The specificity matters. "Felt bad" is less useful than "felt anxious, 7/10, after disagreement with manager, used paced breathing."
Example Entries
Managing Anxiety with Grounding
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Emotion | Anxious |
| Intensity | 8/10 |
| Urge | Avoid social event (6/10) |
| Trigger | Upcoming work presentation |
| Skill Used | 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, paced breathing |
| Outcome | Didn't avoid event, anxiety dropped to 5 after grounding |
Interpersonal Conflict
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Emotion | Frustrated, hurt |
| Intensity | 7/10 |
| Urge | Snap at partner (8/10) |
| Trigger | Partner cancelled plans last minute |
| Skill Used | DEAR MAN to express disappointment |
| Outcome | Talked about it without yelling, still disappointed but didn't escalate |
Distress Tolerance in Crisis
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Emotion | Overwhelmed, panicked |
| Intensity | 10/10 |
| Urge | Self-harm (7/10) |
| Trigger | Received unexpected bad news |
| Skill Used | TIPP (ice on face, paced breathing) |
| Outcome | Got through the urge without acting, intensity dropped to 6 |
Emotion Regulation with Opposite Action
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Emotion | Sadness, hopelessness |
| Intensity | 6/10 |
| Urge | Isolate, stay in bed (7/10) |
| Trigger | Feeling rejected after job interview |
| Skill Used | Opposite action—went for a walk, texted a friend |
| Outcome | Still felt sad but less isolated, intensity dropped to 4 |
Recognizing Patterns
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Emotion | Anger |
| Intensity | 9/10 |
| Urge | Yell, slam door (8/10) |
| Trigger | Perceived criticism from family member |
| Skill Used | Check the facts—was it actually criticism? |
| Outcome | Realized I was interpreting neutral comment as criticism, intensity dropped |
Managing Jealousy
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Emotion | Jealous, inadequate |
| Intensity | 7/10 |
| Urge | Avoid friend who got promotion (5/10) |
| Trigger | Seeing friend's success on social media |
| Skill Used | Check the facts, self-validation |
| Outcome | Stayed connected with friend, acknowledged my own progress |
Using Mindfulness for Contentment
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Emotion | Content, calm |
| Intensity | 5/10 |
| Urge | None |
| Trigger | Quiet morning routine |
| Skill Used | Mindful observation—noticed positive emotion |
| Outcome | N/A (tracking positive experiences) |
Not every entry involves crisis. Tracking positive emotions and moments when skills work well is also valuable.
Practicing Radical Acceptance
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Emotion | Grief, resignation |
| Intensity | 8/10 |
| Urge | Ruminate on "should haves" (6/10) |
| Trigger | Thinking about ended relationship |
| Skill Used | Radical acceptance—acknowledging what is |
| Outcome | Pain still present but less fighting against reality |
Patterns to Watch For
Over time, diary card entries reveal patterns:
- Which emotions show up most frequently?
- What situations tend to trigger the most intense responses?
- Which skills do you reach for most often?
- Which skills tend to be most effective for you?
- Are there times of day when distress peaks?
These patterns become data for therapy sessions and help you anticipate challenging situations.
Tips for Effective Tracking
Be specific with emotions: "Frustrated" is more useful than "upset." The more specific you are, the more you learn about your emotional landscape.
Track urges separately from actions: Having an urge to do something and actually doing it are different. The diary card tracks both.
Note skills even when they don't work perfectly: An entry where a skill partially helped is still valuable data.
Don't wait until the end of the week: Entries closer to the moment are more accurate than reconstructed memories.
Track positive experiences too: Patterns of what's working matter as much as patterns of struggle.
How DBT Pal Helps with Tracking
DBT Pal makes diary card tracking more accessible:
- Log entries quickly without paper or templates
- Track emotions, urges, and skills in structured format
- Review patterns over time
- Have data ready for therapy sessions
What This Looks Like in Practice
- Quick entry after a difficult moment before details fade
- Logging a skill that worked so you remember it later
- Reviewing weekly patterns to prepare for your session
- Noticing which triggers keep showing up
Getting Started
If you want to start tracking or make existing tracking more consistent, DBT Pal offers a simple way to begin.
For more on diary cards and templates: