Use these emotion-focused coping techniques
Emotion-focused coping comes in handy when we don’t have the opportunity to resolve a life situation. The goal of this coping strategy is to alleviate negative emotional stress reactions and reduce our negative emotions.
Healthy emotion-focused coping activities
There are two main types of coping strategies that people do when they are in a stressful situation. These 2 types of coping are emotion-focused coping and problem-focused coping.
We know and apply a lot of healthy emotion-focused coping techniques every day when we feel out of control. For instance, doing sports, meditation, being with animals, doing a hobby, and humour can all help us to feel relaxed.
I use dishwashing and humour as a healthy way of stress reduction. Doing the dishes can distract us and it helps to stop ruminating on the problem, and it distracts our thoughts.
Humour
Humour helps us to see the problem from the outside. We look at the situation from above, so solutions are easier to come to mind. At the same time, laughter reduces the levels of stress hormones in our bodies. Furthermore, laughing helps the immune system to function optimally.
Relaxation
Relaxation techniques can be great to self-soothe and destress. Progressive Muscle Relaxation helps your mind to relax while relaxing your muscles at the same time. Your body sends the 'rest' signal to your brain, then your brain will think 'I am safe, and I can relax'.
Hobbies
Engaging in your favourite hobbies helps to reduce the emotional impact of a stressful event. When you experience big emotions do some activities that you enjoy such as puzzling, colouring, listening to music, or dancing.
Physical exercise
Any type of physical exercise reduces the stress hormones in your body. Therefore engaging in physical activity will help you become calm quicker. Do yoga, cardio, running, or go for a walk.
Unhealthy coping skills
We may use a lot of unhealthy stress reduction methods. These maladaptive methods can help us feel calm but may be unhealthy in the long run. There are some examples of unhealthy coping strategies that we should not engage in.
Alcohol and drug use
Avoiding
Overeating, overspending
What emotion-focused coping methods do you use? What helps you?