Coping Skills

You’ve tried the deep breathing. You’ve gone for walks. You’ve journaled until your hand cramped. And you still feel just as anxious, angry, or overwhelmed as before. When the coping skills that used to work suddenly don’t, it’s easy to feel like you’re failing. But you’re not doing it wrong….

Stress is inevitable, but suffering through it isn’t. The difference lies in having healthy, beneficial coping mechanisms—strategies that actually help rather than just temporarily mask the problem. Coping strategies, also known as coping mechanisms or coping skills, are behaviors designed to help us manage difficult emotions from challenging events, situations,…

I had a picture-perfect childhood: loving parents, a nice house, a big yard and plenty of toys. My only concerns were going to school and playing with my Barbies, running off to soccer practice and riding my scooter, bugging my brother and watching Dragon Tales. Unfortunately, it never dawned on…

We all want to feel like we belong, whether it’s with friends, family, or coworkers. But since everyone’s brain, personality, and quirks are unique, there’s no single “right” way to fit in. But sometimes we find ourselves toning down or hiding parts of who we are to blend in more…

For decades, therapy has been synonymous with the classic image of a client lying on a couch while a therapist scribbles notes. Fast forward to today, and this image is rapidly changing. Imagine instead opening an app and confiding in an AI chatbot—a scenario that’s becoming increasingly common as artificial…

Everyone faces a range of emotions in life, including stress, grief, and anger, and finding ways to cope is a universal experience. While coping strategies are essential for dealing with life’s challenges, some can ultimately do more harm than good. Learn about unhealthy coping strategies that can harm your mental…

An inferiority complex refers to someone’s unrealistic perceptions of their inadequacy. While it can be a symptom of certain mental health conditions, inferiority complexes aren’t recognized in the DSM-5 but are still a mental health concern for many everyday people.  Learn the truth about inferiority complexes below, including the signs,…

A self-harm relapse occurs when someone engages in self-harming behavior after a period of approximately 3-4 weeks of abstaining. A self-harm relapse can happen via the same mechanism of self-harm or a different behavior. During a relapse period and the hours or days afterward, the individual may face additional temptation…

The bargaining stage of grief is a process in which an individual who has suffered a loss might seek to regain control of their inner narrative, as they slowly process what has happened to them or someone they care about. Bargaining involves psychological negotiating with oneself, other people, or even…

We all experience days when we’re just not in the mood to mince words; which means some conversations may get a little heated under the right circumstances. And often, we tend to snap at the people who are closest to us; the friends and family we care about.  Those arguments…

Anxiety is a human response to stressful stimuli. In other words, it’s normal. Whether we’re late for work, have ruined our favorite shirt, or totally failed a first date, life certainly offers us a lot to be anxious about.  However, when anxiety stops becoming an intermittent experience and becomes more…

Question:  I’m in my mid-20s and have a decent job. I’m able to pay all of my bills on time, and I try to save what I can for the future. But there are some bigger financial stressors that hang over my head, mostly my student loans and my car…