Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)

Get a clear, evidence-based snapshot of your current stress load using the validated 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10).

Assessment · 5 min · Print-ready PDF · Free download

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Preview Assessment · 5 min

When to Use This Tool

A client wants an objective read on how much stress they're actually carrying right now

Using a validated 10-item scale to measure perceived stress over the past month

Understanding whether the strain is about the load itself or the sense of losing control over it

How to Introduce This Tool Plus

This scale measures how you've been experiencing the last month — not just what'...

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Coaching Tool Disclaimer

This tool is designed for coaching contexts, not clinical use. If you or your client is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) or Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741).

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Interactive Preview Assessment · 5 min

Tool Classification

Domain

Wellness

Type

Assessment

Phase

Discovery

Details

5 min Between sessions Monthly

Topics

Resilience Self-Care

For the Coaching Practitioner

Plus

Pathway Builder 🔒

Coaching Scenarios Plus

1 High-performer who normalizes elevated stress as the cost of ambition

Context

A managing director scores in the moderate-to-high range on the PSS but dismisses the result. She considers stress a feature of her role, not a problem, and interprets the score as evidence that she is working at the right level. She has held this frame for most of her career and finds the question of whether it's sustainable genuinely puzzling.

How to Introduce

Lead with the reverse-scored items before the total score. 'Four of the ten items measure your sense of coping capacity ...

2 Leader under acute organizational pressure seeking to gauge his own baseline 🔒

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4 coaching scenarios with introduction language, observation guides, debrief maps, and red flags

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For professional coaches and coaching practitioners

Tool Flow Plus

See what this tool requires and produces in a coaching engagement

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