Therapist-Written Habit Change Workbook | Small Steps to Positive Change (PDF Download)

You want to make a change, but knowing what you want and following through can feel like two different things. Maybe you start with good intentions, fall back into a familiar routine, and wonder why it is so hard to try again. I created this to help you start to make progress towards making healthier habits part of your daily routine. Thank you for supporting my small business. 💗

Small Steps Toward Positive Change offers a compassionate place to begin. You do not have to overhaul your life or wait until you feel perfectly motivated. Start with one meaningful change, understand what gets in the way, and build a plan that leaves room for your real needs.

Created by Caroline Aaron, MSW, LICSW, for Peppie & Bean Therapy Tools, this therapist-written workbook combines plain-language teaching, fictional examples, guided practice, and encouraging reflection for adults.

Inside the workbook:
- A “Start here in 10 minutes” page to help you choose one small action, a cue, and support for difficult days.
- What Is Making Change Hard for Me?, an original 16-item reflection quiz with scoring guidance and suggestions for where to begin. Explore direction, capacity and support, thoughts and feelings, and setup and restarting. This is not a diagnostic assessment.
- Help understanding familiar patterns, mixed feelings, personal values, and the needs behind an old response.
- Tools for making an action smaller, choosing reminders, adjusting your surroundings, and asking for practical support.
- Supportive self-talk, reframing practice, and pause-and-choose coping skills.
- Everyday applications for health habits, movement, nourishment, rest, phone use, dating, boundaries, relationships, spending choices, and getting started on tasks.
- Two recurring fictional examples, Robin and Wren, with fully completed change plans you can use as models.
- A troubleshooting guide, difficult-day planning, and a reusable Begin Again card.
- Your personal change plan, a flexible four-week practice structure, a weekly practice page, progress reflection, and positive affirmations.

Four PDF files are included:
1. 01-Positive-Change-Color.pdf: the complete 56-page full-color workbook.
2. 02-Positive-Change-Low-Ink.pdf: the same 56-page workbook with white backgrounds and dark text for printing.
3. 03-Positive-Change-Fillable.pdf: the same 56-page workbook with 184 type-in answer fields.
4. 04-Positive-Change-Begin-Again.pdf: a one-page low-ink companion for convenient printing. This is the Begin Again page already included in the workbook.

The three editions contain the same workbook content and page numbering. The 56-page count includes the cover. All files are US Letter size, 8.5 x 11 inches.

Print the full workbook or select the pages you want to use. To type your answers, open the fillable edition in a PDF app that supports form fields. Save a copy, enter brief answers, save again, and reopen to check that your answers remain. The quiz totals are added manually. The workbook text and design are not editable.

After purchase, download the PDFs from your Etsy purchases using a web browser. You can work at your own pace or bring your own completed pages to a therapy session. Printing colors may vary by screen, printer, and paper.

This is a digital download. No physical workbook or other item will be mailed.

This educational resource does not provide diagnosis, individualized treatment, or medical advice and does not replace professional care. Adapt or skip exercises that do not fit your needs. Health-related changes should respect your medical needs and existing care plan. In the United States, call or text 988 for crisis support; call 911 for an immediate emergency. Elsewhere, contact your local crisis or emergency service.

Copyright 2026 Caroline Aaron, MSW, LICSW, Peppie & Bean Therapy Tools. For the purchaser's personal use only. You may print copies for your own use. Resale, public posting, redistribution, and sharing the files are not permitted.