Coping Skills Videos
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.
Strategies for Anxiety
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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 discreetly if you are in public. For these reasons, this is my favorite coping skill to have in your back pocket.
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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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Cognitive Defusion
When you are experiencing overthinking spirals, stress, or anxiety, this skill helps you take a step back. This skill teaches you to separate yourself from your thoughts and observe them as temporary.
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Radical Acceptance
This is a powerful skill for reducing tension in your thoughts. When you are struggling to navigate a situation, this skill can help you identify the things that are outside of your control.
Strategies for Depression
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Opposite Action
This skill is helpful when you are feeling sad or distressed and have the urge to act through your emotions. This skill is a powerful technique for navigating negative thoughts.
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Cognitive Restructuring
This skill can be used when you feel yourself catastrophising or falling into negative spirals. It helps you identify the thought, deconstruct it, and redirect your mind.
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Behavioral Activation
This skill is great for your toolkit because it helps combat cycles low mood or motivation. This skill boosts morale through positive reinforcement in real-world activities.
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Gratitude
This skill is useful because it can help flip your perception of a given situation into a positive one. This skill can shift your mind away from negativity to focus on the present.
Strategies for Trauma
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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 and physical positioning.
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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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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 by redirecting your focus.
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Self-Soothing
This skill is great for your toolkit because it can provide calmness during a period of high stress. This skill encourages you to engage with your five senses, which helps to restore safety and emotional regulation.
Strategies for Panic
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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 toolkit.
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Box Breathing
Box breathing is an exercise that can be done anywhere, anytime, and without any extra resources. This technique helps to switch off your fight-or-flight so that you can process thoughts more easily.
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Safe Space Visualization
This skill can trick your mind and body into thinking that you are in any space you can imagine. By engaging all of your senses, you can transport yourself into a safe place and reduce panic.
Strategies for Anger
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Opposite Action
This skill is helpful when you are feeling distressed and have the urge to act through your emotions. This skill is a powerful technique for navigating negative thoughts.
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Stacked Breathing
This skill is useful for diffusing feelings of negativity and anger. It can be used to improve lung health, but it also lowers arousal and shifts focus away from impulsive feelings.
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Urge Surfing
This mindfulness technique is a good way to observe momentary urges and let them pass. This skill can be done at any time and can stop unwanted behaviors before they happen.
Strategies for ADHD
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Pomodoro Technique
When you are struggling to start a task or stay engaged, this skill can make time management easier. By using this skill, you can break down productivity and breaks into periods that are most comfortable for you.
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Body Doubling
This is a valuable skill to have in your toolkit when you need to focus, and all you need is a friend, family member, or even a pet. Working on a task alongside someone else can boost your motivation and help you stay grounded.
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STOP Method
When you are feeling frustrated or anxious and want to act on your emotions, this skill can ease your impulsivity. STOP is an acronym for steps that help reset your body and mind before making decisions.
I want my clients to feel empowered in their ability to cope with challenging emotions and get through difficult times.
-Dr. Emma Nowicki
Interested in developing a coping toolkit 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.