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DBT Diary Card

Emotion selection
Emotions — Rate intensity of each emotion
Skills used
Skills — Record DBT skills used
Daily actions
Daily actions — Track target behaviors

The DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) Diary Card is a structured activity for tracking therapy-related targets, emotions, and skills. Originally developed for the LA County consortium partnership, it digitalizes the standard DBT diary card process.

ActivitySpec: lamp.dbt_diary_card

Configuration​

  1. Click + Add in the Activities tab and select DBT Diary Card.
  2. Select the target group.
  3. Configure the card's targets, emotions, and skills sections.
  4. Save.

The card can be customized to include specific targets, emotions, and skills relevant to each participant's treatment plan.

Example Configuration​

  • Targets: Self-harm urges, substance use urges, treatment compliance, suicidal ideation
  • Emotions: Joy, anger, sadness, fear, shame, guilt (each rated 0–5)
  • Skills: Mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness (each rated by frequency of use)

Usage​

The diary card consists of several sections:

  • Targets — Track target behaviors (e.g., self-harm urges, substance use, treatment compliance).
  • Emotions — Rate the intensity of emotions experienced during the day.
  • Skills — Record which DBT skills were used and their effectiveness.
  • Notes — Add freeform notes about the day.

Clinicians can review entries through the dashboard, tracking patterns in targets, emotions, and skill usage over time.

Data​

temporal_slices​

One entry per section response, similar to survey responses:

FieldDescription
itemThe target, emotion, or skill being rated
valueThe rating or response value
durationTime on this item in milliseconds

Example​

{
  "timestamp": 1649859300000,
  "activity": "dbt_diary_card_id",
  "duration": 120000,
  "static_data": {},
  "temporal_slices": [
    {
      "item": "Self-harm urges",
      "value": "3",
      "type": null,
      "duration": 5000,
      "level": null
    },
    {
      "item": "Anger",
      "value": "4",
      "type": null,
      "duration": 3000,
      "level": null
    }
  ]
}

Cortex Features​

No Cortex features currently process DBT Diary Card data.

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