Trauma Worksheets
Empower your clients to understand, identify, and effectively manage the various trauma triggers they encounter in their daily lives using our Trauma Worksheet.
Fact Checked by Nate Lacson.
What Is A Trauma Worksheet?
Sadly, as a mental health practitioner, you will undoubtedly come across clients with a history of personal trauma. Trauma can take many forms, from childhood neglect to chronic emotional or physical abuse, surviving a traumatic event will take its toll of anyone- regardless of their background.
But that’s where our specially designed can help. This worksheet is a digital PDF resource to help your clients identify the trauma triggers they encounter in their daily lives and develop a plan for either reducing the exposure to or learning to cope with these triggers.
This worksheet is designed to be a collaborative effort between you and your client to give them the tools they need to manage their daily lives and frequently encountered trauma triggers. Objectives of this worksheet include helping your client understand what triggers are, how they know if they have been triggered, and the sorts of things that are triggers for them.
Printable Trauma Worksheets
Download these Trauma Worksheets to improve your client's treatment progress and health journey.
How To Use This Worksheet For Trauma
It’s a big decision to seek out help with dealing with past trauma, so we’ve made this resource as simple as possible to aid your clients in this process. To start incorporating this trauma worksheet into your clinical practice, just follow this step-by-step guide.
Step One. Download the Worksheet
The first step is to download a copy of this trauma worksheet. You can download the free PDF using the link on this page.
Step Two. Provide to your Client
Next, you will need to provide a copy of the worksheet to your client. You can send them a digital copy, as this PDF can be filled in completely digitally using the interactive textboxes, or if they prefer, you can print it out and provide them with a paper copy.
Step Three. Review the Worksheet and Offer Assistance
Once your client has completed as much of the worksheet as they are able, they may wish to discuss certain sections with you. The final table involves identifying ways to avoid, reduce exposure to, overcome, or cope with their five biggest triggers. This section will likely be where the most professional assistance is required.
Step Four. Store the Worksheet Securely
Finally, if your client chooses to share a copy of the worksheet with you, ensure you store it securely so it can be easily accessed in the future should you need to access this information again.
Trauma Worksheet Example (Sample)
To get a better idea of the sorts of things your client may include in this worksheet, take a look at our sample trauma worksheet. This example is based on a fictional client and is designed to illustrate how this worksheet can help your client first identify their triggers, and later move on to developing coping skills for those triggers that can not be avoided.
You can take a look at our example trauma worksheet, or download it as a PDF, here.
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Who Can Use this Printable Trauma Worksheet (PDF)?
Helping people through personal trauma can be a hugely important, but difficult task. The process of trauma therapy can uncover previously buried memories that will undoubtedly be painful for your client to process, and as such, this Trauma Worksheet should be conducted in conjunction with a qualified Mental Health Professional. Examples of the kinds of professionals who may find this worksheet useful to incorporate into their practice include:
- Trauma psychologists
- Psychiatrists
- Clinical Social Workers
- Clinical Psychologists
- Mental Health Counselors
- Psychiatric or Mental Health Nurses
Why Is This Worksheet Useful For Therapists
Structure your Session
This worksheet can serve as a great discussion starter for your client’s sessions with you. Offering a worksheet your client can take away and think about between sessions is a great way to invite your client to participate in their own care, as well as provide a structure for the following session with you.
Get a Better Understanding of your Client
By completing this worksheet, you will get a much deeper understanding of your client’s day-to-day life and the mental challenges they face as a result of their past trauma. You’ll be able to empathize with your client, and they in turn will be able to feel understood and heard.
Work with your Client
This worksheet presents a great tool for collaborative work with your client. As their mental health practitioner, you’ll be able to guide them on coping skills or tips for overcoming certain triggers, whereas your client will be able to help you better understand their viewpoint.
Why Use Carepatron For Trauma Software?
Working with clients with a history of trauma means delving into highly sensitive and personal information, which you have a responsibility as a mental health practitioner to store securely. Keeping your clients’ medical information stored digitally can be a great way to go, but you’ll also need to ensure it is somewhere accessible and secure, and that’s where Carepatron comes in. We offer bank-level encryption and HIPAA-compliant data storage for all your client’s medical documentation, which you can easily access from our mobile or desktop platform.
In addition to offering world-class data security, Carepatron also offers a whole range of practice management tools including smart dictation software, appointment scheduling, telehealth appointment functionality, medical coding, and billing management, and, in addition to this trauma worksheet, hundreds of forms, templates, and worksheets designed to standardize your practice and save you time.
Find out why 10,000+ medical practitioners, social workers, psychologists, and more have chosen Carepatron to elevate their practice to the next level.
Commonly asked questions
This worksheet is designed to be completed, at least in part, in conjunction with your client’s primary mental health professional. It should be completed when they are in a calm mindset and have the headspace to think about their trauma triggers and recall times in the past they have been triggered. This should therefore be a supportive environment where your client feels safe, such as in a session with you.
Different people will have different coping skills that work for them, but some common strategies include breathing exercises, grounding techniques, distracting activities, engaging in a hobby, journaling, talking to a peer or family member, or leaving a situation.
Warning signs that someone has been triggered could include trouble breathing, sweating, chest or abdominal pain, sudden change in mood, anger, increased sensitivity to noise, light, or certain tastes or smells, feeling disconnected from the current time or place, or feeling scared or anxious. Again, these warning signs will differ from person to person so it’s important for your client to think about the signs that are specific to them.
