Coping Skills Cards for Teens — 24 Printable Grounding Cards | ADHD Emotional Regulation

You don't need the whole plan. You need the next card.

24 cut-out grounding cards in four families — body, senses, thoughts, and people — with a way to pick one when you can't think straight. For teens ages 13–17.

Coping strategies fail for one boring, predictable reason: people meet them for the first time in the middle of the worst moment. A brand-new technique, tried while flooded, will not work — and then you conclude none of them work. These are built to be dull and familiar before they're needed.

What's inside — 6 pages, US Letter

• Body & senses cards (12) — push a wall, cold water, walk fast, tense-then-drop, five-four-three, feet flat on the floor
• Thoughts & people cards (12) — fact or fear, what's the likely case, wait twenty minutes, text one person, "I need a minute"
• "Which card, right now" — pick by what your body is doing rather than reading all 24
• My go-tos page — the three or four that actually work, plus a no-streak practice tracker
• Start-here guide — why body comes before thoughts, and why two cards face up beats the whole deck

Designed to look nothing like a children's worksheet — no cartoon icons, no reward chart. A teen who's handed something babyish won't use it.

Instant download — printable PDF, US Letter. No physical item will be shipped. For personal use.

Not therapy and not medical advice. Includes a plain note that if the bad days outnumber the okay ones, telling a trusted adult, a doctor, or a helpline is the right step.