Types of Coping Skills
Taking some slow deep breaths
What is emotion focused?
Meditation, yoga, and listening to sounds around us
What is mindfulness?
Give an example of a meaning focused coping skill
Mindfulness, practicing gratitude, prayer
True or false
Coping skills are used to get rid of uncomfortable, painful, or distressing emotions
False
Coping skills help us manage painful or difficult emotions
How are coping skills helpful?
Builds confidence, manages emotions, builds positive relationships, help us stay or get back to our Window of Tolerance, etc.
Coping skills can be workable or unworkable
True - unworkable coping skills usually offer short term relief but make things worse in the long run
Doing something that feels nourishing or helps to settle your nervous system is this type of coping skill
What is emotion-focused?
Allowing self to cry, taking a shower, and snuggling with a pet
What are ways of self-soothing?
Give an example of a problem focused coping skill
Asking your teacher for help developing the outline for your essay, addressing conflict with a friend
True or false
Coping skills help you focus on important things in your life
True
When we feel confident in our ability to manage problems and emotions it help us focus on what we want and need to be doing
What things can make using coping skills difficult?
Unrealistic expectations for what coping skills can do, confidence, forgetting
Exercise can be a workable coping skill
True - exercise helps release endorphins, offer a sense of accomplishment; can also be unworkable if not approached in balanced way
Reaching out for support is this type of coping skill
What is social coping?
Watching a movie or reading a book
What is distraction?
Give an example of social coping
Talking to a friend about how you're feeling
True or false
Every coping skill is "healthy"
False
Coping skills can be workable and unworkable depending on the situation, what's important to us, what we want and need to be doing, etc.
Why is changing your relationship with your thoughts considered a coping skill?
How we think about situations impacts how we feel, physically & emotionally, and what we do; when we change our relationship with our thoughts we make room for other ways of thinking about the situation
Distraction is an unworkable coping skill because it doesn't address the problem
False - distraction can be very workable to settle nervous system, offer temporary relief; unworkable when used to avoid problem or to get rid of emotions in the long term
Practicing gratitude is this type of coping skill
What is meaning focused?
Joining a group at school focused on addressing social injustice
What is community organizing?
Give an example of emotional coping
Noticing and naming emotions and thoughts, journaling, taking a bath
True or false
Coping skills are something everyone is born knowing how to do
False
Coping skills are learned throughout our lives
What makes a coping skill unworkable?
It doesn't allow you to do all the things you want and need to be doing; doesn't allow you to be the kind of person you want to be or show up in relationships the way you want to
Mindfulness is a strategy you can use any time
True - we can always focus our attention on what we are sensing in the moment without judgement
Developing a study schedule for exams is this type of coping skill
What is problem focused?
Writing a list of outstanding assignments and determining what to start working on first
What is prioritizing?
Give an example of an all 4 types of coping skills
Meaning focused, emotional focused, problem focused, social coping
True or false
Coping skills are only used to help you relax
False
Sometimes workable coping skills mean making space for painful emotions or addressing a problem directly
Is it possible to be happy all the time?
Depends on the definition - if means feeling good then no, if means living a life worth fighting for then yes
Any emotion, problem, situation, etc. can be solved if the person knows "the right" coping skill
False - ex. social injustice and marginalization, bullying, etc.; coping skills can help individuals manage the day-to-day impact of these and they need to be addressed on at a systems level