Triggers and Body Cues
What are coping skills and how are they used?
Coping skills are techniques used to help a person calm down, feel better, or avoid engaging in unsafe or otherwise negative/harmful behaviors. Coping skills can be used when you are upset for any reason.
Meditation is a popular relaxation technique. Explain why meditation might be helpful when trying to deescalate or reduce the intensity of your feelings.
Meditation can help you to identify stress and tension in your body from being angry and can help you to recognize that you need to relax. By doing meditation, you have a greater awareness of your body, which can be used to help you learn when you need to use your coping skills.
True. A HEALTHY expression of anger allows others to know how we feel and helps to resolve conflicts or problems. We all experience anger at one point or another.
Natural supports are people who are in your life that are supportive of you and your well-being. List your natural supports.
Any natural supports
Often times a precipitating event, or something that happens right before a reaction, causes us to feel angry. What are events or situations that can be triggering?
Disagreement with someone, unanticipated changes, being told no, being told what to do.
List 5 effective coping skills that help you calm down when upset or in crisis.
Any 5 given are acceptable.
Ex: count to 10, take a walk, listen to music, ask to take a break, deep breathing,
What is relaxation?
noun
the state of being free from tension and anxiety.
"a state of relaxation"
What is the most effective way to make sure your coping skills are automatic responses to stress?
Practice using them!
Once you know what your triggers are and your body cues are, what can you do with this information?
Use the knowledge of your triggers and body cues to develop effective coping skills that can be used to deescalate or cope with overwhelming emotions.
Sometimes you are in a place where you cannot access any of your tangible coping skills, such as journaling or listening to music. List 5 coping skills that are intangible, meaning they are not actual material items.
Counting to 10, positive self talk, taking deep breaths, zoning out, imagining yourself in a "happy place", thinking about a nice memory, walking away, talk to someone, stretch/get active, hum or quietly sing your favorite song, etc., etc.
What is the focus of mindfulness and why is it important?
The focus of mindfulness is being present, in the here and now, and feeling anything we are feeling without judgement. Mindfulness is important because simply being aware of feelings in the moment can help to let those feelings go without holding on to the negatives attached to them.
True or False: our beliefs, thoughts, and actions are all interrelated.
True. What we believe influences our thoughts and emotions, which influences our actions and vice versa. It is important to understand these concepts as a whole, as well as individually in order to be able to manage our anger.
What is venting and how can it be helpful?
To release your emotions, release your frustrations, release your worries...You can do this by talking to a counselor, parent, teacher, friend or even writing it in a journal. Doing this helps a person avoid making inappropriate choices related to anger or other feelings and emotions.
In what ways do you feel different body cues when you feel different emotions?
Example: when I am angry my heart starts beating really fast, when I am stressed my shoulders and neck are tense, and when I am sad I get a headache.
Examples:
The most difficult part of my day was _________________. It made me feel _________________, but I handled it by _________________.
Why is it important to relax both your body and mind when using relaxation techniques?
Even if our body is relaxed, we may not be able to relax if our minds are not relaxed. Also, don't forget that your mind and body are connected, by relaxing one, the goal is to also relax the other.
True or False: Relaxation techniques can be used before or after experiencing something stressful.
True! You can use relaxation techniques when you anticipate you might be triggered by something, as well as after you experience a trigger to help calm yourself back down.
Share a time when your (positive) coping skills did not work or were not effective. How did you deal with this? What could have been done differently?
Any story. Having many coping skills ready can help to deescalate situations when the first coping skill is ineffective.
What is the connection between your body cues, your thoughts and feelings, and your actions?
When faced with a trigger, your body physically reacts to stress. Because of this feeling, your thoughts and feelings are affected, causing anger and other emotions. From these emotions, we react as we see appropriate. By changing how we handle physical signs of stress, our automatic thoughts, and our subsequent behaviors, we can react to triggers in a more appropriate way.
Name 1 coping skills for each of your 5 senses that can be used to help you calm down.
examples:
Sight: look at your favorite animal(s) online, look around the room,
Touch: squeeze a stress ball, rub your arm, leg, the desk
Smell: smell your shirt, smell the marker on your desk
Taste: Imagine tasting potato chips, chocoloate, mints
Hear: listen to noises in the room,
List two different relaxation techniques that can be used 1) in public, 2) in school, 3) at home.
1) deep breathing, listening to nature sounds
2) reading a book you like, taking a break to ALC
3) yoga, meditation, listening to music
True or False: All stress is bad stress.
False. A certain level of stress is considered healthy because it keeps us alert and can enhance productivity and performance. The good kind of stress is called EUSTRESS. DISTRESS, on the other hand, is considered the bad kind of stress that takes a toll on our physical and mental well-being. Some stress is good, but too much stress causes distress!
Share some challenges or obstacles you might face when trying to use your coping skills or relaxation techniques.
Any challenges/obstacles.