Coping skills and strategies (Brain Science #4)

Mireille and Adam discuss coping skills and strategies to use when managing the emotions and struggles of everyday life. We talk through some common ways people manage their emotions, strategies for emotional coping, as well as problem solving coping.

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Featuring:

• Mireille Reece, PsyD – LinkedIn
• Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X

Show Notes:

We discussed the concept of SMART goals — they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and based on a specific time frame.

We discussed the concept of HALT. Are you hungry, angry, lonely or tired? If so, coping will invariably be different, regardless of your age.

We also discussed several examples of emotional coping strategies:

1. Name it to tame it
2. Grounding - Our senses are real-time, so orienting yourself to what you can see, smell, taste, touch, or hear will give you a realistic view of your circumstances and environment.
3. Deep breathing
4. Meditation - Check out Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
5. Visualization
6. Ice — Allow a small ice cube to melt in your hand. It’s a distraction and a file for tolerating the “wave” of emotion.
7. Music — Listening to music or singing (various parts of the brain are involved).
8. Front-loading — Doing things in a certain way to conserve energy to allocate to other things.
9. Graduated exposure vs. Flooding

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!