Coping Skills

What is a coping skill?

Coping skills sound awesome, right? But what exactly is a coping skill?

Simply put, a coping skill is anything that helps you to feel better when you are stressed out. The first (and probably easiest) thing I recommend for my clients is to think of things that you love/enjoy doing. It doesn’t have to be complicated - sometimes simple things help the most.

• Playing with a pet

• Going for a walk

• Changing your environment (meaning go to another room, going outside, etc)

• Get outside - did you know that even sitting in the sun for a few minutes can you help you feel better?

• Talking to someone you trust

• Listening to your favorite song

• Take deep breaths

• Count to 10

• Read a book

• Watch a funny movie or video

Now, there are things that we might see people doing to cope with stress that makes us stop and think “wait, it doesn’t seem like that is something good to do”. When we see or hear of someone doing something to cope with stress that may make us pause, such as hurting themselves or using drugs to cope, we call that an unhealthy coping skill or mechanism. We want to learn and use what are called positive coping skills to work through things that are stressing us out. Sometimes it may be hard to figure out in the moment what to do to help us feel better. Here are a couple of things that can help us out when we feel that way:

• Make a plan for coping or a list of positive coping skills when you are calmed and not stressed out.

• Ask our family, friends, or someone that we trust to help us when we are struggling.

The possibilities are endless. I hope that this gives you some ideas for things you can do to help feel better when you are stressed or upset, as well as what to do whenever you aren’t sure what can help you feel better.

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