My Regulation Toolkit

Your personal go-to list, organized and ready.

When you’re dysregulated, it’s hard to remember what helps. This one-page fillable worksheet helps you build a regulation toolkit while you’re calm, so it’s ready the moment you need it. It’s organized by where you are in your Window of Tolerance, because different states need different tools.

What’s inside

• Above my window (fight or flight): ways to bring it down, like a slow exhale, cold water on your face, squeezing a pillow, walking it off, a heavy blanket or a quiet space.
• Inside my window (regulated): ways to stay steady and refuel, like a sleep routine, regular meals, movement, time with your people, hobbies and sensory breaks.
• Below my window (freeze or shutdown): ways to gently bring energy up, like standing and stretching, a cold drink, upbeat music, a strong scent, naming 5 things you see or texting a safe person.
• Room in every zone to write how you know you’re there and what helps your body, senses, mind, and people and places.
• A “Make it ready to use” plan: your first step when you notice you’re leaving your window, who you can reach out to and how, and where you’ll keep the toolkit so you can find it fast.

Who it’s for

Kids, teens and adults learning coping skills that fit their own nervous system. It’s useful for therapists, school counselors and families.

Ways to use it

• Build it together in session, circling the starter ideas and adding the client’s own.
• Send it home as homework, then review what worked at the next visit.
• Keep a copy on the fridge, in a backpack or as a phone photo for quick access.
• Update it over time as you learn what works for your body.

Why it’s different

The tools are sorted by nervous system state, not one generic coping list. It includes plenty of sensory-friendly options, and the guiding message is to “keep it real and small”: tools you can do anywhere in under five minutes.

What you get

A one-page printable PDF, US Letter, available as an instant download. It’s informed by the Window of Tolerance (Siegel, 1999). Single-clinician license included.

Pairs well with: The Window of Tolerance, Nervous System Basics, Coping Skills, Sorted