Using a DBT Diary Card Template for Emotional Tracking
A diary card is one of those DBT tools that sounds simple until you try to use it consistently. Your therapist gives you a template, you understand what goes where, and then the week happens—full of moments worth tracking that somehow never make it onto the card.
By the time your session arrives, you're filling in blanks from memory, unsure whether that anxious moment was a 6 or an 8, or whether you actually used TIPP or just thought about using it.
This isn't a sign of doing DBT wrong. It's a common mismatch between what the diary card asks for and how emotional life actually unfolds.
What a Diary Card Template Typically Includes
Most DBT diary card templates have a few core sections:
Emotions: What you felt throughout the day, often with an intensity rating. The point isn't to judge these feelings but to start noticing patterns—when certain emotions show up, what tends to follow.
Behaviors: Actions you took in response to emotions, both ones you're working to change and ones that represent progress. This creates a record of the link between feeling and doing.
Skills Practiced: Which DBT skills you used—mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness. Tracking this helps you see what you're actually practicing versus what you meant to practice.
Urges: Any urges toward target behaviors, whether or not you acted on them. Separating urges from actions is part of understanding your patterns.
Notes/Reflection: Space for context—what triggered something, what worked, what you might try differently.
Why Templates Help (and Where They Can Feel Limiting)
A template provides structure. When emotions are high, having a form to fill out removes the need to decide what to track. You can just respond to what's in front of you.
The limitation is that templates assume you'll have them accessible and have bandwidth to fill them out. In practice:
- Paper templates get left at home
- Digital templates can feel like another chore
- The moments most worth tracking are often the ones when tracking feels hardest
When these patterns repeat, it's usually not about willpower. It's about the logistics of reflection during emotional moments.
Making Template Use More Sustainable
A few things tend to help:
Keep it accessible: Whether paper or digital, the template needs to be where you are when emotions happen. For many people, that means their phone.
Allow partial entries: Logging one emotion and its intensity is better than skipping the whole day because you don't have time for the full template. Perfect tracking isn't the goal—some tracking is.
Separate logging from reflection: You can note what happened in the moment and add context later. The raw data matters more than polished entries.
Don't treat gaps as failures: Missing days happens. The non-judgmental stance DBT emphasizes applies to the diary card too.
A Simple Structure to Start
If you're creating your own template or adapting one, this structure covers the essentials:
| Date | Emotions (1-10) | Urges (1-10) | Skills Used | Events/Triggers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
You can expand this based on what your therapist recommends or what feels useful to you.
How DBT Pal Supports This
DBT Pal is designed to make diary card tracking more accessible. Instead of filling out a paper template from memory before your appointment, you can log entries closer to when things actually happen.
What This Looks Like in Practice
- Log an emotion and intensity in a few seconds
- Add urges and note whether you acted on them or used a skill
- See skills organized by category when you need to choose one
- Review your entries before sessions to ground discussion in actual data
When This Matters Most
Diary card templates tend to be most useful when you're actively in DBT, practicing skills regularly, and looking for ways to notice patterns between sessions.
If you're just starting, your therapist may have a specific approach that works well. A template—whether their version or one you adapt—is a tool to support that work, not replace it.
Getting Started
If you want to try a more accessible approach to diary card tracking, DBT Pal offers a gentle place to start.
For more on diary cards and DBT practice: