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Behavioral activation techniques to try
Need fresh behavioral activation (BA) techniques in your therapy practice? Get practical ideas and tips — plus implementation help from Headway.
July 17, 2026
By the Headway Editorial Team • Clinically reviewed by Alyssa Peechatka, Ph.D.
6 min read
By the Headway Editorial Team • Clinically reviewed by Alyssa Peechatka, Ph.D.
Typically, much of therapy is verbal. A client speaks about their deepest thoughts and feelings, guided by thoughtful questions from their therapist.
But what we do, not just what we say, has a huge impact on our mental health. That truth guides behavioral activation, a therapeutic technique that’s all about helping clients improve their mental health by engaging in fulfilling activities.
Behavioral activation is best known as an evidence-backed treatment for depression, but it’s a versatile and accessible approach that can be used when developing treatment plans for clients of many ages, backgrounds, and diagnoses.
Looking for new ways to offer behavioral activation? Read on.
Key insights
1
Behavioral activation helps clients improve their mental health by engaging in rewarding activities, social interactions, or activities of daily living, breaking the vicious cycle of withdrawal and avoidance that so often comes with mental health issues.
2
When using behavioral activation with a client, your job is to help your client identify, plan, and carry out activities that create experiences of joy or accomplishment.
What is behavioral activation?
Behavioral activation hinges on the idea that changes in behavior can spark changes in mood. More action-oriented than many therapeutic techniques, behavioral activation aims to improve a client’s mental health by helping them take part in rewarding, fulfilling activities — even if they don’t want to at first.
This “fake it till you make it” approach may sound like a Band-Aid for larger problems. But research suggests behavioral activation can be a powerful treatment for depression, as well as conditions such as anxiety and PTSD. Taking part in activities that feel genuinely fulfilling — like time in nature or with loved ones — can re-energize clients and lay the foundation for continued positive change. Engaging is tasks that are “boring” but necessary — like finally folding and putting away the laundry — can create a sense of mastery that does the same.
Behavioral activation can be used as one component of a larger treatment plan, or as a standalone treatment.
Why is behavioral activation so effective for depression?
Depression is often a vicious cycle. A person withdraws from aspects of life that once brought joy or a sense of accomplishment — which typically only makes them feel worse and retreat further into isolation. Behavioral activation interrupts that cycle. Over time, re-engaging in activities becomes a habit, improving mental health by breaking the cycle of withdrawal and avoidance.
In studies, behavioral activation has proven to be as effective — and, in some cases, easier to administer — than the entirety of cognitive behavioral therapy, another go-to treatment for depression.
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Behavioral activation therapy techniques to try
Behavioral activation involves a lot more than simply encouraging your clients to “put themselves out there.” Below are techniques that can ground your behavioral activation practice.
1. Activity monitoring
When implementing behavioral activation, therapists often start by asking their client to keep a log of their daily activities, along with notes about how they felt during each one. This exercise helps establish a baseline, can start to unveil patterns of avoidance and the types of activities missing from a person’s daily life, and begin to identify activities that could be targeted for pleasure or mastery reasons.
Tip: Walk through the activity log with your client, helping them determine which activities made them feel best or worst.
2. Value and activity identification
Ideally, behavioral activation is about more than just getting clients out of the house (although that’s important, too). It’s about helping them tap into behaviors that positively impact their mood.To get there, it can help to have clients think about their values — not just what they want to do or achieve, but what’s actually important to them as a person.
Tip: Asking open-ended questions about how your client wants to show up in the world, not just what they want to do, may help clarify values.
3. Create an “activity menu”
Once your client has a better understanding of their values and what brings them fulfillment, help them brainstorm a list of activities that will serve them. These don’t have to be ambitious — in fact, it’s wise to start small so your client doesn’t get discouraged. You may even want to help your client rank activities from those that feel easiest to hardest to achieve, and encourage them to start with the easy things. It is important to have clients rate these activities on their sense of accomplishment and enjoyment they get from them. Revisit these ratings as clients engage in the activities, as our preconceived notion of how something will feel often differs from reality.
Tip: If your client is struggling to think of activities that would feel good, ask them about previously fulfilling practices they might want to restart.
4. Schedule activities
Next, help your client craft plans for engaging in the activities they’ve identified. These plans should be as specific as possible to make it simpler to follow through. “I will go for a 15-minute walk with my husband as soon as I finish work at 5 p.m.,” is better than “I will take a walk each day.” It is best to make these as realistic as possible to implement and repeat in daily life. Consider introducing the SMART Goal framework for these behavior changes.
Tip: Write out plans on a calendar or worksheet to encourage accountability.
5. Develop commitment strategies
Motivation can be a major hurdle for clients struggling with depression. The key to successful behavioral activation is knowing that motivation is not a prerequisite for action – you don’t have to want to do something before starting, you have to commit to doing it no matter how you feel. It can be helpful to discuss strategies to build commitment and accountability. Would it help to get loved ones involved in activities? Would small rewards reinforce positive behavior? Talk it through in advance, so they leave therapy set up for success.
Tip: If your client has struggled with unproductive habits in the past, proactively discuss them and come up with plans for overcoming them.
Tips for implementing behavioral activation techniques in your practice
Behavioral activation is an effective, versatile tool to add to your repertoire. Here’s how to incorporate it into your existing practice.
Session structure and planning
Behavioral activation often relies on your client to follow through with plans outside of the therapy session. To make the most of your time with your client, use therapy sessions to:
- Provide psychoeducation
- Discuss values and how to select activities that will feel most fulfilling
- Create specific plans and schedules
- Troubleshoot potential roadblocks
- Discuss what’s going well (or is still a struggle) and changes in your client’s mood
If you have a client who is struggling with avoidance of a task that can be completed during therapy, don’t hesitate to complete it together in session. This is often a great way to make psychoeducation about the topic more concrete and enhance buy-in to out of session work.
It is important to note that behavioral activation is a process that should be consistently revisited across the course of care. Revising activity menus, discussing prior weeks’ activity schedules, and monitoring ongoing activity together are all important aspects of ongoing behavioral activation.
Documentation and compliance considerations
As with any therapeutic technique, it’s important to keep good records as your client progresses through treatment. Make sure your intake note, treatment plan, and progress notes tell a cohesive story about your client’s presenting concern, diagnosis, symptoms, and improvements as they go through treatment. To simplify the process and make billing insurance easy, lean on Headway’s library of free documentation templates and AI-enabled note-taking assistance.
What are criticisms of behavioral activation therapy?
A large body of research supports the effectiveness of behavioral activation. Nonetheless, some clinicians may critique its relative lack of focus on thought patterns and internal processes. Others may find its approach insensitive, arguing that it’s minimizing to encourage someone struggling with depression to simply “get active.”
To address these issues, consider:
- Using behavioral activation alongside other complementary modalities
- Providing psychoeducation about why and how it works
- Trying approaches like activity ranking to help your client start small and build momentum, rather than getting overwhelmed
Explore other therapy approaches with guides from Headway
If you’re expanding your practice’s offerings or just want a refresher on different modalities, check out Headway’s other therapy guides:
Focus more on behavioral activation implementation and less on admin with Headway
When you’re adding new treatment approaches to your roster, your clients should be the only thing on your mind. If you work with Headway, they can be. We’re here to make complicated logistics simple, streamlining tasks like credentialing, insurance billing, and documentation.
Our suite of free features — including our all-in-one EHR, complete with an integrated telehealth platform and scheduling and communication capabilities — is purpose-built to save you time, so you can focus on what matters most: client care.
This content is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute clinical, legal, financial, or professional advice. All decisions should be made at the discretion of the individual or organization, in consultation with qualified clinical, legal, or other appropriate professionals.
© 2026 Therapymatch, Inc. dba Headway. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.
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