Are you looking to learn some new ways of coping with difficult emotions?
If so, you’re in the right place.
What are coping skills?
Coping skills are tools you can use to help you tolerate, minimize, and deal with unwanted emotions. They can be useful when you feel anxious, angry, sad, or stressed. They can both be used in the moment to deal with something difficult as well as incorporated into your daily life to prevent difficulty regulating emotions. Coping skills can help to lower the intensity of feelings or shorten the duration of intense feelings. Most often, coping skills will not make the emotion go away completely, but rather help you handle the feeling while it lasts. Sometimes it takes utilizing several coping skills to feel in more control of your emotions. It is important to remember that emotions, will go away on their own with time. Emotions, even intense emotions, don’t last forever.
It is often useful to have a variety of coping tools in your tool kit. One specific coping skill may be useful in some situations, but not in others. Sometimes over-relying on one type of coping can cause problems. For example, in moderation distraction can be useful to manage intense feelings. If you overuse distraction to cope, it will likely leave you feeling disconnected from your life.
Here are some of my favorite coping skills you can add to your coping skills tool kit.
Coping Skills Videos
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Paced Breathing
This is a useful skill that you can use anytime, anywhere, without needing anything. It can also be used discretly if you are in public. For these reasons, this is my favorite coping skill to have in your back pocket.
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Tip the Temperature
If you are feeling overwhelmed or flooded with emotion, this skill can help you manage these intense feelings. It is the skill I recommend when you feel like you are in the most distress you’ve experienced.
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Grounding
When you are experiencing anxious thoughts or dissociation, this skill helps to ground you in the present moment. It helps you to redirect your attention to your current environment.
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Mindfulness
To help get out of your head and into the moment, this skill focuses on connecting to the environment you are in. This skill is helpful to use if you are feeling disconnected, critical, or anxious.
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Progressive Muscle Relaxation
If you want to release stress or anxiety, this skill helps you to relax your body. Relaxation techniques, like this, can be a powerful tool in your tool kit.
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Distraction
Intentionally engaging in activities can take your mind off what is upsetting to you. This skill can help you tolerate your emotions when you cannot change what is bothering you.
I want my clients to feel empowered in their ability to cope with difficult emotions and get through difficult times.
Interested in developing a coping tool kit tailored for you?
Let’s work together in therapy and build your confidence in your ability to cope with emotions.
Disclaimer: The information included on this web page is for educational purposes only. It is not intended as medical advice or a substitute for treatment by a health care professional.