The Window of Tolerance

The zone where you can feel your feelings and still feel okay.

When someone is flooded, shut down or somewhere in between, it helps to see it. This one-page Window of Tolerance sheet turns a big nervous system idea into a picture kids, teens and adults understand right away.

What’s inside

• All five zones mapped from top to bottom: hyperarousal, rising dysregulation, the window, sinking dysregulation and hypoarousal.
• The real-life signs of each zone, in feelings, urges and body sensations.
• Things that shrink your window: poor sleep, stress, illness, grief, sensory overload, masking and more.
• Things that expand your window: movement, music, nature, grounding, deep breathing, sensory tools, social support and more.
• A closing reminder that everyone’s window is different, and it can grow.

Who it’s for

Therapists, school counselors, parents and anyone learning how their nervous system works. It works for kids, teens and adults.

Ways to use it

• Introduce regulation in a first session.
• Help a client name where they are right now, without needing the perfect words.
• Hang it on the fridge so the whole family shares the same language.
• Use it as a between-session anchor or a homework check-in.

Why it’s different

It’s neurodivergent-affirming: sensory overload and masking are listed as real things that shrink the window, and leaving your window is treated as information, not failure.

What you get

A one-page printable PDF, US Letter, available as an instant download. Single-clinician license included.

Pairs well with: My Regulation Toolkit, Nervous System Basics, A Guided Body Scan