Are you tired of handing teenagers fluffy, generic coping skills worksheets that feel dumbed down, don't address the root of their distress, or unearth way too many big emotions to send them off to math class after sessions?
Grounded and Free is a comprehensive, trauma-informed workbook designed for middle and high school students (grades 6-12) who are stuck in survival mode. Merging evidence-based Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) strategies with mindfulness and psychoeducation, this resource helps teens understand why their brains adapted to survive chaos, while providing concrete, usable tools to build sustainable emotional regulation practices.
Perfect for school social workers, school counselors, private practice therapists, and alternative education teachers, this workbook moves past toxic positivity and meets teens exactly where they are to provide clinical support that they can access independently or with your support.
In 18 pages that can be printed to form a workbook that progresses intentionally through different skills, you will find:
Mindfulness Practice: including coloring pages, accessible breathing techniques, and a safe-place visualization script
Trauma-Informed Psychoeducation: supporting students in honoring and then moving past survival habits and trauma symptoms that are holding them back
The Core DBT Toolkit: complete with worksheets to internalize signature DBT frameworks:
STOP Skill to pause before reacting
TIPP Skill to use somatic strategies that dissipate intense emotions
ACCEPTS Skill to distract from distressing thoughts
Opposite Action to actively shift behavior and "unstick" powerful emotions
Cognitive Reframing Exercises: guiding students step-by-step to identify, distract, and reframe intrusive negative thoughts
Positive Affirmations: helping students to form healthier views about their world and themselves
Harm-Reduction Strategies: pragmatic, non-judgmental alternatives to avoid unhealthy, reactive coping mechanisms
Why school social workers and school counselors love this resource:
No Fluff, All Substance: teens connect with the supportive, grounded, and direct tone that treats them as the experts of their own experience and the leaders of their own interventions
Ready-to-Print Caseload Asset: whether you're using it in individual counseling sessions, structured groups, classroom-wide, or as a grab-and-go independent tool, all you have to do is print and distribute
