Emotional Regulation
This coping technique uses the five senses to bring your attention back to the present moment
5 senses grounding technique
What is the term for accepting your body without requiring yourself to love how it looks?
Body neutrality
This chemical messenger is the primary neurotransmitter associated with the brain's reward pathway, which gets heavily altered by prolonged substance use.
Dopamine
Marked by intense, sudden waves of fear and physical symptoms like a racing heart and shortness of breath, this event is often mistaken for a heart attack
Panic attack
This process involves learning to step back and see your thoughts as just words or passing events rather than literal truths, rules, or absolute facts.
Cognitive Defusion
This breathing technique involves breathing in for 4 seconds, holding for 4 seconds, breathing out for 4 seconds, and holding for 4 seconds.
Box breathing
True or false: Your body size determines your worth as a person
False
Abbreviated as PAWS, this clinical term describes the constellation of subtle emotional and psychological withdrawal symptoms that can persist for months or even years after initial detox.
Post-acute withdrawal syndrome
Characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts and repetitive behaviors a person feels driven to perform.
Obsessive compulsive disorder
This cognitive distortion involves seeing a situation as only two possible extremes, such as “I’m either successful or I’m a complete failure.”
All or nothing thinking / black and white thinking
TIPP stands for....?
Temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing, progressive muscle relaxation
These are positive, present-tense phrases—like "I am worthy" or "My body is strong"—that you repeat to yourself to challenge negative thoughts and build self-compassion.
Affirmations
What are the 3 stages of the commonly taught relapse process?
Emotional relapse, mental relapse, physical relapse
When treating mental health conditions, what is the best form of treatment? Medication only, talk therapy only, or a mix of both?
A mix of both
Rather than accepting a negative thought as a fact, using this cognitive skill involves gathering objective data for and against the thought, much like a lawyer in a courtroom.
Examining the evidence
What are the 3 components of the STOP skill?
Stop, Take a step back, Observe, Proceed mindfully
This internal voice can lead to low self-esteem by constantly pointing out your perceived physical flaws, but it can be quieted using self-compassion.
Inner critic
True or false: The clinical and psychological concept of addiction applies strictly to substances you consume, such as drugs or alcohol.
False
True or False: Mental health diagnoses are completely uncurable, meaning a person will experience active symptoms for the rest of their life.
False
Instead of reacting immediately to an emotional trigger, this foundational cognitive skill involves deliberately focusing your attention entirely on the present moment without judgment.
Mindfulness / present moment awareness
This coping strategy involves intentionally delaying an impulsive behavior and telling yourself that you can reconsider after a specific amount of time.
Urge surfing
This practice involves treating yourself with the same kindness, care, and lack of judgment that you would show to a close friend when they are struggling.
Self-compassion
This specific term describes the phenomenon where a person stops using their primary drug of choice but unconsciously replaces it with a new drug or a compulsive behavior.
Cross-addiction
This clinical term describes the co-occurrence of a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder in the same individual.
Dual diagnosis/ co-morbidity
This specific cognitive intervention reduces anxiety by forcing you to evaluate the actual likelihood of a feared event happening, and then planning exactly how you would cope if the worst-case scenario did occur.