How to use this workbook
Fill this out once, on a day when you feel steady. Not after a hard session. Not when you’re fried. You’re making decisions now, while you’re regulated, so they hold later when a client’s distress is pulling hard on your empathy.
Come back to it once a quarter and adjust. Your edge can move. It just shouldn’t move in the middle of a hard moment.
My practice / role: ______________________________ Date: ______________________________
Section 1: My scope (where my role ends)
My role IS: _______________________________________________
My role is NOT: _______________________________________________
The scope line I cross most often when a client is struggling: _______________________________________________
A coach is not a therapist. An organizer is not a medical provider. “Let me connect you with someone” is a complete, caring answer.
Section 2: My non-negotiables (boundaries that hold when I’m depleted)
My client-message response window is: _______________________________________________
Between sessions, I will: _______________________________________________
Between sessions, I will NOT: _______________________________________________
My three non-negotiables: 1. _______________________________________________ 2. _______________________________________________ 3. _______________________________________________
A boundary you only keep on good days is a preference. Put these in your welcome packet so the structure says no for you.
Section 3: My capacity limits (what I can actually carry)
The most clients I can hold in a week and still have a life: ______
The most emotionally heavy sessions I can do in one day: ______
Buffer I need between intense sessions: ______ minutes
When I’m at capacity, I will: (waitlist, refer out, pause new intakes) _______________________________________________
One early sign I’m heading past my limit: _______________________________________________
Capacity isn’t only hours booked. It’s regulation fuel.
Section 4: My referral list (built before I need it)
Therapist(s) taking new clients: _______________________________________________
Prescriber / psychiatry option: _______________________________________________
Sliding-scale / low-cost options: (e.g. Open Path Collective, community health centers, university training clinics) _______________________________________________
Specialist referrals I reach for most: _______________________________________________
Crisis resource (always list it): 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988)
Referral isn’t failure. It’s scope working the way it’s supposed to.
Section 5: My own support (the helper needs holding too)
My own therapist (for my stuff): _______________________________________________
My supervision or consultation: _______________________________________________
My peers who get the ND-helper experience: _______________________________________________
Where I refuel that isn’t client work: _______________________________________________
The empty one I’ll fill next, for me: _______________________________________________
Sign your edge
“I can care deeply and still keep an edge. I’ll hold the work, not the person. I built these lines while I was steady so I could keep them when I’m not. I’m allowed to protect the helper too.”
Signed (initials are fine): ______________ Date: ______________ Review again on: ______________
A note worth keeping: the community and body doubling inside ND Hive are for your own regulation and peer connection. They are not therapy, supervision, or medical care.
You spend your days being the steady one. Borrow some steadiness back. Start your 7-day free trial of ND Hive. For training built for ND-affirming helpers, see ND Coaching Academy (ndcoachingacademy.com).