Beth’s Favorites Coping Strategies

Therapists talk a lot about “healthy” coping skills but do they actually follow their own advice? I should do and here is the list of my favorites. Feel free to steal any of my ideas because I didn’t come up with them on my own. It really depends on my mood and what I am needing that decides what I will find helpful. I sometimes even have to try a few before I figure it out. 

Note: I do not receive any compensation for sharing these. I truly recommend these because I have found them helpful. 

Before I share my first go-to coping strategy, there is something you need to know about me. I am no Yogi. I do not enjoy what people generally think of when they think of yoga. It actually makes me feel nauseous. BUT I love the Trauma-Informed Yin Yoga video by EchoFlow. My therapist actually recommended this one to me. It is more of relaxing, stretching yoga. It helps me with my tension headaches, calms my mind before bed, or even helping me feel more clear-minded and grounded. 

Trauma-Informed Yin Yoga is probably the coping strategy that I need the most but being creative is the one that I do the most. This one really helps me express what is emotionally happening, distracts me, or even helps me figure out what's going on. Even if all I can do is stroll on Pinterest to pin ideas it is still tapping into the creative part of my brain. 

The second coping skill that I do the most is reading “cozy books.” My favorite genre right now is cozy fantasy. If I am in a book rut I might watch a sitcom. I usually use this coping strategy when I am needing an “emotional hug.” 

So far, I have only mentioned things that I do on my own. I may be an introvert but I need people-time, too. I try to regularly make quality time with my quality people. I am all about finding your chosen family. I have a few people on my phone that I marked as my quality people with the leaf emoji. This way when I am feeling emotionally overwhelmed all I have to do is search for the leaf emoji and my people pop up. These are the people I feel safe asking for help, talking with, or spending time with when I feel low/anxious or even blah. 

I am not a huge music person (gasp!) but I use music to help with mood regulation or expression. I currently have playlists that I listen to when I have built up stress or am angry and need to express myself. You might catch me listening to this playlist on loud while I drive and sing to it (don’t be alarmed). I have a playlist that helps me feel cozy and relaxed. My mood booster playlist is where I keep all my empowerment, pump-up songs. Lastly, I have my Feel My Feels playlist which has songs that have helped me grieve my traumas. I don’t need this playlist as much anymore since I have worked on my own healing. It's ok to “outgrow” coping strategies because as we adapt, grow, and heal our coping strategies should, too. Check out the empowerment playlist that we made for you!

After a good cry or at the end of a stressful/upsetting day I like to take a hot shower, get in my comfiest clothes, and have frozen Dove chocolates. 

Coziness and comfort are usually what I need. Another way that has helped me is to use spiced candles or diffuse spiced essential oils no matter what time of year it is. It is the scent that makes me feel the safest and it's calming. 

There is a guided meditation or mindfulness practice that I call Creating Your Calm Place. This is where you mentally create a place that makes you feel calm, comforted, peaceful, or any other soothing words you can think of. I have found that I don’t need it much anymore since I have done my own healing work. I definitely used it ALOT during my healing work with my therapist and during COVID. Here is a link where I walk you through Creating Your Calm Place. 

Well, that’s me. I would love to hear about your favorite coping strategies. Email me at bethmorgan@counselingnts.com or comment on our social media.