Grounding Skills
Grounding Skills use these to reduce anxiety and take you into the present moment.
What are the 5 senses?
Name 3 of your favorite distraction skills.
Name a distraction skill
Something that gets in your way of doing something.
What is a barrier/obstacle?
Sometimes to get a new perspective, we have to do this.
What is Ask for Help/Support?
Sally is so angry, that she cannot think straight. What coping skill could help her?
Distraction Skill/Deep breathing
This grounding skill has you breathe in for 4, hold for 4, until you draw a shape.
What is box breathing?
Name the main benefit of using a distraction coping skill.
What is it gives you time away from the problem (to calm down).
Share how you have overcome a barrier in your goals. What specifically did you do?
Response must give specifics.
This strategy involves writing down lots of information in order to figure out what needs done.
What is Make a Plan?
Jerry has a big problem at work and he is not sure how to handle it. What kind of skills would help him?
Talk to someone/ask for support
Make a Plan
This grounding skill has you use your senses and environment. You must find a certain number of things for each sense.
What is the 5-4-3-2-1 method?
Why does distraction help us sometimes?
It takes our mind off of the problem so we can regulate our emotions.
Not being able to do this with our emotions is often a barrier to problem solving.
This strategy makes what is okay and not okay known and sets rules about a situation.
What is setting boundaries?
Jacob had a stressful day at work. He goes home and decides to watch a new series on Netflix. Two hours later, he is watching the 3rd episode in the series.
What negative strategies is Jacob using?
Procrastination/over-doing Distraction/Avoiding the problem.
Give 2 examples of sensory grounding strategies you can use to calm down and be present.
Examples: Fresh air, Cool water on the face, Smelling a candle or scent, touching something soothing, enjoying the taste of something fully etc...
This is why these skills are sometimes considered not helpful.
They do not solve the problem.
This is when we can only see a situation from one perspective.
What is Tunnel Vision (or lack of perspective/being too close to the problem etc...)
These skills involve prioritizing what is most important and accomplishing those tasks first. You might make a list of what needs done and set time frames for getting tasks done.
What is Time Management?
Kelly can't stop worrying about the future. She feels very anxious. What is the BEST type of coping skill she can use?
What are Grounding Skills. (Brings you into the present moment)
This area of the brain is soothed when we use grounding skills.
What is the limbic system?
Share a way we can avoid the problem of distracting for too long?
Examples: set a timer or alarm to return to the problem; set a boundary (i will watch 1 30 min. TV show and then problem-solve).
This common barrier often results in the person not getting anything done, because they put it off.
What is procrastination?
This is a classic CBT technique where you have to recognize that your belief may not be true and then turn it around.
What is Challenge your False Beliefs?
Bella is so tired of her family not helping her out around the house. What type of problem-solving strategy will help her with this problem?
What is setting boundaries?