SELF REGULATION EXERCISES & COPING SKILLS

https://s3.amazonaws.com/upload.regain.us/message_attach/counselor/134871/c98b656454d6d4bb273c1a9cad8a27bf?response-expires=Thu%2C%2001%20Jan%201970%2000%3A00%3A00%20GMT&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3Dcopingskillsregulation.pdf&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIATONFXGJ4XDRV2MV6%2F20220603%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20220603T053328Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=1200&X-Amz-Signature=e114dce3237d226a9b3089fb626cd5b0198188c7d2881958f94228108c62d00b PLEASE skills. This stands for Treating Physical Illness, Eating. Avoiding Altering drugs, Sleep, and Exercise. (Ensuring your physical health does not impact state!) Radical acceptance means merely accepting the state of things as they are, without working to change them. Basically, “it is what it is.” When we relinquish the need to control a situation and understand that there is nothing we can do to change it, the pressure to fix things often subsides. Radical acceptance is observing a situation, without emotion, and accepting that we are not omnipotent beings and some things are simply out of our control (Chapman et al., 2011). IMPROVE Skills: Imagery, Meaning, Prayer, Relaxation, One thing in the moment, Vacation, and Encouragement (Linehan, 2014). “One thing in the moment” exercise: this is when we slow down and break down a problem, addressing each part at a time instead of viewing our circumstance as one major obstacle. TIPP: (Distress Tolerance Skills): Temperature: (influencing your state through cold (cold shower/wash hands/hold ice cube, chew ice cube.) Intense Exercise (like cold temperatures, intense exercise changes the biochemistry of the system adaptively & releases endorphins to battle cortisol.) Paced Breathing (inhale through their nose slowly for a count of two, hold the breath for three seconds, and then exhale slowly through mouth for a count of five.), Paired Muscle Relaxation. (In (PMR), a pair of muscles, such as the toes on both feet, are tensed while breathing in and then relaxed while breathing out.) focus remains on channeling emotional energy through tensing the muscles. Distraction occurs while matching your breathe and muscle tensing. ACCEPTS skills: stands for Activities, Contributing, Comparisons, Emotions, Push away, Thoughts, and Sensation. Create a pros and cons list. Review list from wise mind perspective. (approaching it with balanced logic & feelings.) Using your wise mind: 1. observe what’s happening. 2. Describe what’s happening from a neutral or nonjudgmental place. 3. Participate by immersing yourself in the moment and allowing yourself to be present. Reframing Exercise: How can you view this situation in a more helpful way? Example: reframing a mistake as an opportunity to learn. Squeeze something or use a tactile object to release emotional energy. SELF REGULATION EXERCISES & COPING SKILLS Gratitude exercise: Picture 10 things you are grateful for and how your life has been impacted by these things. What if exercise: instead of asking yourself what if this goes wrong, ask yourself “what if this goes right?” Distract and learn with this video: https://youtu.be/NxrfDovnjA4 (Title: Do you have the ability to regulate your thoughts & emotions by The Holistic Psychologist on YouTube) Co-regulate with a pet by mirroring breathing and attuning to pet. Opposite Action Exercise. This is doing an action that’s functional and opposite of your current feeling. Feeling angry? Watch a comedy special. Feeling sad? Do something that brings you joy. Catharsis: expressing strong feelings in a healthy form of punching a punching bag, strength exercises, yelling into a pillow, or “smash the room” type activities. Listen to inspirational/motivational speakers. Journaling Exercise: Google a journal prompt that fits your current situation and get writing. Nature Exercise: Grab a towel or chair and sit outside in the sun for a few minutes. Physical Mindfulness. Go for a walk. Incorporate grounding senses. Spirituality Exercise. Visiting a spiritual place or going somewhere you feel more connected to your spirituality. This can also be reading, writing, reflection, etc. Smile exercise: your brain associates smiling with positive things and impacts physiology to help improve mood when attempting to self regulate. SELF REGULATION EXERCISES & COPING SKILLS Unmet Needs Exercise: identify the current needs you have and validate them. brainstorm solutions for meeting those needs. Positive Reinforcement: yourself for positive behaviors and choices. Give yourself recognition and praise. Reward yourself in a meaningful way for these positive/healthy behaviors. Shaping your behavior: do some thing you feel capable of right now to start motion towards your ideal outcome. Modeling Others Exercise: Observe or look up what skills someone used to effectively handle the same problem you’re going through right now. How can you emulate those skills in a healthy way? Being the Model Exercise: Strive to become a model for others with your behavior. “ what do I want to show others?“ “ Who can I model Healthy Behavior to?” “ Who can I model healthy behavior for?” Practice new behaviors to shape healthy behaviors you want to demonstrate for others. Crowd out unhealthy behaviors: Pick at least five exercises/skills to do before engaging in the behavior(s) that you want or need to change. Practice skills until they become self-reinforcing and feel more natural. Being skillful feels good! Implement safety plan if you have one. GIVE skills: these are skills to defuse anxiety & self-regulate during Communication: be genuine, interested, validating, and easy mannered. Implement these to help connect & relating to others. Additionally, implement these in your self talk. Strengths Exercise: list and review your strengths. What can you apply right now? Change your current environment. SELF REGULATION EXERCISES & COPING SKILLS Question Exercise: what is going right right now despite negative thought and/or circumstance? Question Exercise: What resources do you have right now for your problem internally + externally? Question Exercise: Pick a problem you’re having currently. What is the silver lining? Dialectical control: Reflect on what you can control and what you can’t. Are you giving something external too much power or assigning yourself too much responsibility? All or Something Change: Sometimes we hold ourselves back from change out of fear. Let’s mindfully challenge you to embrace change. How can you throw yourself totally into change or at least do something toward change? Compassion Exercise: Think about the hardships, beliefs, and struggles another person is going through that is contributing to their perspective. Example: when a boss is critical of their employees, take a moment to think about the responsibility and pressure they may feel to provide a stable business for their employees and clients. How can you be compassionate towards another? Extending compassionate towards them allows you to defuse your own strong emotions and influence how you choose to those emotions going forward. Scaling Exercise: Improving your circumstance through scaling. Rate the severity of your problem on a scale of 1-10. Now, think about what behaviors you will do if the problem improved by two points. Now, commit to those behaviors. Example: An overweight person rates his problem at an 8. If the problem is a 6, it would most likely be due to him going to the gym 3 days a week. So, he decides to commit to new behaviors. SELF REGULATION EXERCISES & COPING SKILLS Utilize professional resources. Use a hotline, schedule a therapy appointment, use text therapy services like talkspace, use recommended tools from your therapist, watch videos or read articles from professionals on your current issue. Grounding Exercise: 5 senses. Intentionally shift focus outside of yourself through your senses.. Assertiveness Skills: Excuse yourself to step away, set limits on your time and energy, state and assert boundaries. Visualization Exercise: Close your eyes. Picture yourself in your favorite place. What do you hear? What do you see? What do you smell? What do you feel? What do you taste? Drawing exercise. Right now, pull out a pen or pencil. We’re going to have you draw your “fantasy island.” This is a visualization exercise where you create your ideal world. Artistic ability doesn’t matter here. Just draw whatever comes to mind when you think about your island. On this island, think about the following questions: what are the rules on your island? What happens if the rules are broken? Who lives on the island and who can visit? Who is an allowed on the island? What activities are on the island? What would you call your island? What would you feel on the island? What would you hear on the island? What would you smell on the island? What would you touch on the island? What would you taste on the island? How would you spend your time on the island? Second drawing exercise: draw what comes to your mind when you think about feeling safe. Where do you feel safe? Who makes you feel safe? What do you do when you feel safe? What parts of you can come out when you feel safe? How do you create safety in your life? REFERENCES https://dialecticalbehaviortherapy.com https://positivepsychology.com/coping-skills-worksheets/