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Track your substance use day by day to identify patterns, triggers, and the relationship between mood and use.
Record each episode of substance use as close to the time as possible. Be honest \u2014 this is for your benefit. Over time, patterns will emerge that can guide your therapy. If you didn't use on a given day, that's worth recording too.
Use throughout treatment to monitor substance use patterns, including frequency, quantity, context, and triggers. Essential for establishing a baseline, tracking progress, and identifying high-risk situations.
Frame as a non-judgmental record of actual use patterns. Emphasise that honesty is more valuable than 'good' entries — the diary is a clinical tool, not a behaviour report card. Explain that patterns in the data will help tailor treatment to their specific situation.
For clients who are not ready for abstinence, frame monitoring as harm reduction — tracking to understand patterns, not necessarily to eliminate use. For those using multiple substances, include all substances including alcohol, cannabis, and prescribed medications where relevant.
If completing the diary triggers shame spirals that lead to increased use, address the shame cycle therapeutically and simplify the monitoring. Some clients benefit from recording contextual factors without recording quantity, to reduce guilt-driven cycles.
Look for patterns in time of day, day of week, social context, emotional state, and location. High-risk situations identified through the diary become the targets for relapse prevention planning. Also track substance-free days and activities — building a picture of what supports non-use is as important as understanding what triggers use.
Suitable for clients working with substance-misuse, diary, monitoring, patterns. This tool can be used as a standalone worksheet or as part of a structured homework plan.
Create a free account to access 10 worksheets per month.
A cognitive formulation of substance misuse based on Beck et al.'s (1993) model. Maps the pathway from early experiences through beliefs and automatic thoughts to substance use and its maintaining cycle.
Weigh up the pros and cons of continuing to use substances versus making a change. A core motivational interviewing technique.
Track urges to use substances without acting on them. Practice the skill of riding the wave of craving until it passes.
A simplified motivational tool to explore your reasons for and against changing your substance use.