About this resource
When mood is low, people often do less, which can keep low mood going. This planner supports a structured behavioural activation approach: building a personal activity menu across routine, enjoyable and important activities, scheduling small steps across the week, and rating mood and sense of achievement to review patterns together.
Purpose
To help clients re-engage with valued activities in small, planned steps and notice the links between activity and mood.
Who it is for
Primary profession: Psychologists. Also relevant for counsellors and therapists.
Client or participant group: Adolescents and adults experiencing low mood or withdrawal, working with a psychologist.
Practice setting: Individual psychological treatment, with between-session practice.
Suggested uses
- Between-session practice in treatment for low mood
- Building a personal activity menu linked to values
- Reviewing the relationship between activity and mood
- Planning graded steps after withdrawal or illness
Instructions for practitioners
- Introduce the rationale using the client's own experience of low mood and withdrawal.
- Build the activity menu together, including small and very small versions of each activity.
- Schedule a few achievable activities for the coming week, not a full timetable.
- Review ratings at the next session, problem-solve barriers and grade activities up or down.
Instructions for clients or participants
- Add activities to your menu under each heading.
- Plan a few small activities into your week.
- After each one, rate your mood and your sense of achievement from 0 to 10.
- Bring the planner to your next session.
Accessibility considerations
Ratings can use faces or colours. Activities can be pictured. Keep the first week's plan small to reduce load.
Scope and limitations
An educational behavioural activation worksheet for use within a formulation-led treatment plan. It is not a treatment protocol, and the ratings are not a measure of depression or a validated assessment.
Research basis
Behavioural activation, which builds routine and rewarding activity, is an effective treatment for depression. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has a strong research base for anxiety, depression and many related problems; this resource uses CBT techniques to support, not replace, a structured treatment plan.
- Beck, J. S. (2021). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
- Ekers, D., Webster, L., Van Straten, A., Cuijpers, P., Richards, D., & Gilbody, S. (2014). Behavioural Activation for Depression; An Update of Meta-Analysis of Effectiveness and Sub Group Analysis. PLoS ONE, 9(6), e100100. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100100
- Hofmann, S. G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I. J. J., Sawyer, A. T., & Fang, A. (2012). The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-analyses. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36(5), 427–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-012-9476-1
What is included
A 3-page printable A4 PDF, including a practitioner notes page with the research basis (version 1.0).
Originality
Original Practitioner Plus content: wording, activity structure, layout and icons were created for this resource. No third-party worksheets, illustrations or text were reproduced. Behavioural activation is a well-established psychological approach for low mood; this worksheet's structure and wording are original.
