For clinician-guided DBT review and skills planning. This worksheet does not replace risk assessment, crisis planning, or emergency care. If someone is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Free DBT worksheet

Free DBT Chain Analysis Worksheet

Map the sequence before and after a target behavior: vulnerabilities, prompting event, thoughts, feelings, body cues, actions, consequences, repair, and replacement skills.

What a DBT Chain Analysis Reviews

A chain analysis breaks a target behavior into observable links. Instead of stopping at “what happened,” it maps the conditions that made the behavior more likely, the prompting event, thoughts, feelings, body cues, actions, consequences, and where a different DBT skill could interrupt the chain next time.

Use It With Diary Cards and Skills Review

Chain analysis is often most useful after a diary card reveals a target behavior, high urge, skills miss, or pattern worth reviewing. Entries stay in the browser unless copied or exported. Clinical judgment, risk assessment, and treatment decisions remain with the treating clinician.

Related DBT and Regulation Tools

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a DBT chain analysis? +

A DBT chain analysis maps vulnerabilities, prompting events, links in the behavior chain, consequences, repairs, and replacement skills.

When should therapists use this worksheet? +

It can support clinician-guided review after target behaviors, missed skills, high-risk moments, or patterns that need replacement strategies.

Does this replace risk assessment? +

No. It is a review worksheet and does not replace safety assessment, crisis planning, diagnosis, emergency care, or clinical judgment.

Can I export the chain analysis? +

Yes. You can copy or export the chain analysis summary for session notes or care planning.

Next step

See the closest current workflow page

Use the free chain analysis now. CoralEHR does not have a dedicated DBT page yet, so the ACT page is the closest current bridge for skills-based, values-aware documentation.

Explore the ACT workflow