Tic Disorders Tourettes worksheet​

This tic disorder and Tourette syndrome worksheet is a comprehensive, printable, and fillable tool designed to help individuals better understand and manage motor tics, vocal tics, and premonitory urges. The worksheet provides clear psychoeducation on the neurobiology of tic disorders, including the role of the basal ganglia and dopamine pathways, while guiding users through structured tic tracking, symptom monitoring, and self-assessment. It includes a self-scoring severity scale, reflection exercises, and coping strategies to support tic disorder treatment and Tourette syndrome management. This resource is helpful for individuals experiencing tic disorders in children or adults, and can be used alongside CBT and CBIT therapy for tics, making it an effective tool for improving awareness, reducing symptoms, and supporting long-term tic disorder coping and treatment outcomes.
Tic Disorders & Tourette Syndrome Worksheet | Mark Zauss Therapy
Tics • Tourette Syndrome • Psychoeducation • Printable Worksheet

Tic Disorders & Tourette Syndrome Worksheet

A branded, fillable, self-scoring, self-dating worksheet that explains tic disorders, including Tourette syndrome, and helps patients track symptoms, triggers, urges, and coping strategies.

Mark Zauss, LMHC, LPC, CCMHC, NBCC, BC-TMC, ADHD-CCSP, C-DBT, CCTP

What Are Tic Disorders?

Tic disorders are neurological conditions involving sudden, rapid, recurrent movements or sounds called tics. Tics may be motor-based, such as blinking, shoulder shrugging, facial movements, or head jerking, or vocal, such as throat clearing, sniffing, grunting, or repeating certain sounds.

Tics are not usually done on purpose in the ordinary sense. Many people describe them as partly involuntary or as behaviors that can sometimes be delayed for a short time but become harder to hold back over time. Many individuals also notice a premonitory urge before a tic, such as tension, pressure, irritation, or an uncomfortable body sensation that feels briefly relieved after the tic occurs.

Research suggests tic disorders involve brain circuits related to movement control, habit learning, and inhibition, especially pathways involving the basal ganglia, frontal regions of the brain, and dopamine signaling. Stress, fatigue, excitement, illness, and increased self-consciousness can make tics more noticeable.

Common Types of Tics

  • eye blinking
  • facial grimacing
  • head or neck movements
  • shoulder shrugging
  • throat clearing
  • sniffing or coughing sounds
  • grunting or brief vocal sounds
Important: Tics often increase during stress and may decrease during focused activity. Fluctuation does not mean the condition is “fake” or “intentional.”

Types of Tic Disorders

Provisional Tic Disorder

Motor and/or vocal tics are present for less than 1 year.

Persistent (Chronic) Tic Disorder

Either motor tics or vocal tics are present for more than 1 year, but not both.

Tourette Syndrome

Both multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic have been present at some point for more than 1 year.

Tourette syndrome does not mean a person constantly swears or shouts offensive words. That symptom, called coprolalia, occurs in only a minority of individuals with Tourette syndrome.

Client Information

Step 1: Identify Tics and Triggers

Step 2: Self-Scoring Symptom Check

Rate each area from 0 to 5, where 0 = none and 5 = very severe.

Area
0
1
2
3
4
5
Tic frequency
How often did tics occur today?
Tic intensity
How strong or noticeable were the tics?
Premonitory urge
How uncomfortable was the urge before the tic?
Functional impact
How much did tics affect school, work, focus, or comfort?
0Total Score / 20
0Average Severity
0%Severity Percentage
Severity summary: complete the ratings above.

Step 3: Coping, Support, and Reflection

Sources

This worksheet provides psychoeducation and self-monitoring support. It is not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment.

  1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR).
  2. Leckman, J. F., & Bloch, M. H. (2014). Clinical features of tic disorders and Tourette syndrome.
  3. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Tourette Syndrome Fact Sheet.
  4. Pringsheim, T., et al. (2019). Practice guideline recommendations for tic disorders and Tourette syndrome.
  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Tourette Syndrome and Tic Disorders.

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