What are Coping Skills?

What are Coping Skills?

A simple fact of life is that we are going to experience uncomfortable emotions at some point.

Unexpected life events, difficult relationships or unmet expectations can cause us emotional stress such as anxiety, frustration, or sadness. While certain factors may be outside of our control, how we handle emotional stress is something we CAN control.

Coping skills and strategies are the actions and behaviors that help someone deal with difficult situations and the distress they feel as a consequence of difficulties faced.

Follow the graphic below to consider if you need to change your situation or your emotional way of coping.

The Impact of Trauma on Coping

The Impact of Trauma on Coping

If you have gone through any kind of trauma in your life, particularly as a child, chances are you’ve developed means of coping that helped you survive. Often times though these coping skills are unhealthy and can be harmful later in life.

Some examples of unhealthy coping skills can be:

Substance use/abuse
Procrastination
Social Withdrawal/Difficulties
Over/Under eating

Sleep Issues
Negative thinking toward self
Aggression
Seeking validation from others

If you recognize some of these coping mechanisms within yourself, it may be time to honor the fact that these helped you through a VERY hard situation. If you are ready to continue your journey towards growth and healing, the next step is to consider learning new coping skills that could be more helpful.
Learning new coping skills is absolutely possible. However it takes some work.

You are literally re-wiring your brain to respond to stress in a new way and training your brain takes repetition and intentionality. So practice, practice, practice and keep going!

Finding Healthy Coping Skills

Finding Healthy Coping Skills

Everyone is unique in how they handle stress or painful emotions – what works for you may not work for your best friend.

This is why it is important to figure out which strategies work best for you so that you can build resiliency in the face of challenges.

The goal is to find healthy outlets that can help with overwhelming emotions and avoid unhealthy activities that end up being negative (harmful) in the long run.

Examples of Coping Skills

Examples of Coping Skills

Now it’s your turn.

Now it’s your turn.

Download and print out this helpful worksheet to make your own list of Healthy Coping Skills.

Try various ones to see which fit you the most. And keep trying! Sometimes it takes a while for the habit to catch on. Remember, you’re re-wiring your brain, so give yourself some time. But as you utilize these new skills you will be able to face those difficult life experiences head on.