Editorial standards

Clinical Editorial Process

Last reviewed 2026-09-29. This page describes how every worksheet, assessment, and article on this site is produced and checked.

Who reviews the content

Therapy Resource is made by a small team led by a master's-level mental health counselor registered with a state counseling board. The team researches, drafts and checks sources. The counselor who leads it signs off on clinical content before it goes live. Client-facing wording, case examples, and crisis instructions are checked against how they would land in a real session, not only against the literature.

How assessment scoring is validated

The 13 free assessments on this site score the published instrument, not an adaptation of it. For each one we hold the original validation paper, and the scoring code is checked item by item against it: item order and wording, reverse-scored items, the total range, the severity bands, and any item that must be flagged on its own regardless of the total (the self-harm item on the PHQ-9 and the EPDS, for example). The citation appears on the results screen and in print. Instruments whose authors prohibit public automated scoring are explained but never scored here; the DASS-21 is one.

Scoring runs entirely in the browser. Responses are never sent to or stored on our servers, so there is no result history to be wrong about later. A screen is a screen: every results page says that a score is not a diagnosis and points to what to do next.

How worksheets and articles are written

Each piece starts from a named treatment model (cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, exposure and response prevention, behavioral activation, motivational interviewing, and others with a trial base) and stays inside what that model's evidence supports. Where a diagnosis is discussed, the sheet names the actual DSM-5-TR diagnosis behind the everyday label and links to our DSM-5-TR guide. We paraphrase criteria and never reproduce a criteria set.

Every sheet and article that cites research has a reference list. Every citation has been matched to the published record, and every cited claim on the worksheets has been checked against its source.

Safety content

Any page that touches self-harm, psychosis, abuse, or a perinatal emergency carries the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and, where relevant, the specialist line (Postpartum Support International, 1-800-944-4773). Emergency instructions are written to be followed by a family member with no clinical training. Pages about high-profile cases never name them.

Updates and corrections

Content is revisited when the underlying evidence or an instrument changes, when a reader reports a problem, and on a rolling review of the library. Worksheet URLs are permanent; a corrected sheet keeps its address. If you find an error, a stale citation, or wording that would mislead a client, write to hello@therapyresource.net or use the feedback form. Substantive corrections are made on the page itself.

What this site does not do

Therapy Resource is an educational library for clinicians and the people they work with. It does not diagnose, does not replace treatment, and does not hold any client's clinical record. Nothing here is a substitute for care from a licensed professional who knows the person in front of them. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.