Coping Skills Training

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Coping Skills Training
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Coping skills training involves 5 steps

• Relaxation skills diaphragmatic breathing, PMR,
  cue-controlled relaxation
• Stressful-events hierarchy listing your
  stressful situations from least to most
  distressing
• Coping thoughts assist in getting through
  anxious or angry

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Coping skills training involves 5 steps

• Imago coping skills imagining the stressful
  event, feeling the tension and distressing
  emotions associated with it, and then relax away
  the tension and utilize coping thoughts
• In vivo coping skills applying the first 4
  steps automatically in your daily life in any
  stressful situation

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Coping Skills for Anxiety

• Learning to relax efficiently
• Being able to use them in a moments notice and to
  achieve relaxation in a short timeframe
• Pick a theme in your life where you feel anxious
• List the things that might trigger anxiety with
  this theme
• Fear of heights flying in a plane, driving over
  a bridge, standing on a ladder

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Coping Skills for Anxiety (cont.)

• Stress coping thoughts
• What is the stimulus situation
• Physical reactions as a result
• Rapid heartbeat, clammy hands, dry mouth
• Behavioral response
• Urge to get off the plane, drive around the
  bridge
• Thoughts associated
• I cant do this Im a nervous wreck The plane
  will crash and Ill die everyone will notice my
  fear

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When to use stress coping statements

• When you are preparing to do something anxiety
  provoking and are having thoughts that trigger
  anxiety
• When you confront the stressful situation and the
  anxiety thoughts interfere with your abilities to
  concentrate/cope
• When you feel tension and need to be reminded to
  relax
• When you have completed an anxiety-provoking
  activity and want to acknowledge that you have
  succeeded in getting through the event

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How to use stress coping statements

• Preparation
• Theres nothing to worry about
• Im going to be all right
• Ive succeeded at this before
• Its easier once you get started
• Confronting the stressful situation
• Stay organized
• Take things one step at a time, dont rush
• I can get help if I need it
• Its okay to make mistakes
• If it get tense, Ill take a breather and relax

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How to use stress coping statements

• Coping with fear
• Relax now!
• Just breathe deeply
• I am afraid only because I decided to be
• Ive survived this and worse before
• Reinforcing success
• I did it!
• I am able to relax my anxiety away
• I did all right. I did well.
• Next time I wont have to worry so much

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How to use imago coping skills

• Relax until you feel deeply relaxed, calm, and
  safe
• Imagine youre in the situation that triggers the
  anxiety
• See the situation, feel the tension in your body,
  hear what is going on
• Start to cope
• Begin relaxing and using coping thoughts
• Rate your anxiety
• On a scale of 0 (no anxiety) to 10 (most anxious
  you have ever felt)
• Review your thoughts to see if any are
  ineffective, replace them where necessary

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Coping skills for anger

• Same 5 steps used for anxiety coping
• Triggers for anger come from should statements
  ..
• Based on the assumption that someone has violated
  appropriate rules of behavior
• Often comes from the fact others may not agree
  with your definition of Appropriate rules of
  conduct
• People are more inclined to do what is in their
  self-interest, not what they should do
• Often have a sense of entitlement
• Include an idea of fairness
• Spring from the belief that you can change people
  if you apply enough pressure

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Coping skills for anger (cont.)

• . Blaming statements
• Based on the concept that the pain/discomfort you
  feel is because they did it to you
• Feels good to hold someone else responsible for
  your woes and to punish them, at least mentally
• Often involves assuming malicious intent
• Feeling someone is deliberately trying to harm
  you
• Often involves exaggeration
• Serves to magnify the seriousness of the problem
• Increases your anxiety and your anger as you
  sense you have been victimized
• Frequently includes global labels that indict a
  person
• Rather than focus on the behavior, sweeping
  negative judgments are used toward the other
  person

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Stress coping thoughts for anger

• The best coping thoughts simply remind your to
  stay calm and relaxed when faced with irritants
• Getting angry wont solve the problem
• As long as I keep my cool, Im in control
• Im not going to let them get to me
• Stay calm, no sarcasm, no attacks
• Keep an open mind, make no judgments
• Its not worth getting angry
• Its funny if you look at it that way
• I cant expect people to act the way I want them
  to
• I dont have to take this so seriously