Dealing with Tough Situations

We will all be in tough situations at some point in our lives. It can be helpful to think through these situations, to figure out what we can change and how to go about it. This worksheet can help you through this process. Be sure to start a new sheet for each different situation that you want to tackle.

This worksheet comes from Mental Health America’s 2020 Back to School Toolkit.

Here’s a web-friendly version of the questions from the worksheet:

1. What is the situation that is troubling you or stressing you out?
2. What about this situation can you change?
3. Who can you ask for help to change it, and what do you want them to do?
4. What about this situation are you not able to change?
5. What do you need to hear to feel better?

While you can’t always control your feelings or emotions, you can challenge your own thoughts and change your own actions. You also can’t change other people’s thoughts or behaviors. As hard as it is, sometimes we have to accept what we can’t control or change and make a plan to deal with those situations.