90 Coping Strategies
We’re often asking during a counseling session for coping skills and strategy recommendations.
Our answer: Whatever helps you cope!
Coping strategies can be used to alleviate symptoms of anxiety, stress, depression, dissociation, anger, sadness, and more. We often explain the difference between “healthy and “unhealthy” coping, and recommend creating a list of 15-20 healthy coping strategies that help you feel calm, relaxed, energized, and happy.
Here are 99 suggested coping skills:
Exercise (running, walking, weight lifting, boxing, etc.)
Write (poetry, journal, book, blog)
Doodle or draw
Be with others
Watch your favorite TV show or movie
Post online or read other’s posts that you relate to
Word-search, Crossword, Puzzles, Sudoku
Do schoolwork
Play a musical instrument
Sing
Paint your nails
Take a shower or bath
Star gaze
Punch a punching bag, or practice shadow boxing
Cover yourself with Band-aids where you feel like self harming
Cry
Play with your pet
Go Goodwill shopping
Take a nap if you’re tired
Clean or organize
Knit or sew
Read a good book
Listen to music
Meditate
Go somewhere in public that you enjoy
Bake
Paint
Rip paper into itty bitty pieces
Shoot hoops
Jump on a trampoline
Write a letter
Plan out your dream room
Hug a stuffed animal
Focus on something pretty (quote, art, nature)
Dance it out
Make hot chocolate or a smoothie
Play with modeling clay or dough
Build a pillow fort
Go for a long drive
Complete a task you’ve been putting off
Draw on yourself with washable marker
Try a new hobby
Look up recipes and cook a meal
Smell flowers
Build something
Pray
Write a list of blessings
Read the Bible
Visit a friend
Watch an old happy movie
Contact a hotline or your therapist
Talk to someone close to you
Get a massage
Ride a bike
Feed birds or ducks
Color
Memorize a song or poem
Stretch
Search for funny memes
Shop online without buying anything
Watch fish swimming
Play the “15 minute game” where you avoid something for 15 minutes and when time is up you start again
Plan an event (party, wedding, prom, etc.)
Plant
Hunt for cars or your dream home online
Sort through/edit your camera reel
Give yourself a facial
Play with your favorite childhood toy or game
Collect something
Play a video/computer game
Clean up trash at the park
Scroll and read the Atlanta Wellness Collective blog
Text or call a friend
Look up new words and use them
Write an “I love you because…” letter to yourself
Rearrange your room
Write a letter to someone that you may never send
Smile
Play with your kids/siblings/neighbors
Go for a mindful walk (noticing sights, sounds, smells around you)
Put together a puzzle
Yoga
Try to do a cartwheel or back bend
Learn a new language
Move everything in your room to a new spot
Play a sport with friends
Hug
Search online for new songs or artists
Make a list of goals for the week, month, quarter, year, 5 years, etc.
Perform a random act of kindness
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