This content was created by Natalie Moore, LMFT. This content was uploaded by Natalie Moore, LMFT. This is a YouTube video titled "What is Coping? Intro to How to Deal with Difficult Feelings 💪" (published May 4, 2017) featuring Natalie Moore, LMFT, a therapist in Pasadena. It is a solo informational talk defining coping, contrasting unhealthy (e.g., uncontrollable drinking, binge eating, self-harm, gambling) and healthy coping strategies (e.g., exercise, eating well, meditation, journaling), offering real-life examples and practical recommendations for using coping skills both in and outside of therapy, and noting that future videos will explore specific skills in more depth.
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LMFT. Hey guys, I'm Natalie Moore, a therapist in Pasadena, and today I'm going to talk about coping. What is coping? Coping is any activity or behavior that we involve ourselves in that helps us deal with difficult feelings and difficult situations in our lives. There are two different types of coping: healthy and unhealthy. So let's talk about unhealthy coping first. This is any anything that's done in an unconscious, compulsive, and binge-like behavior. So uncontrollable drinking, binge eating and purging, self-harm, aggressive behavior, binge shopping, gambling out of control. On the flip side, there's also healthy coping. So in my practice, one of the things that I work on with my clients a lot is finding resources that are helpful for them to get through those tough emotions. Coping with emotions. This involves any type of self-care activity like exercise, eating well, meditating, journaling, and so on. I'll go into more depth in future videos about ways that you can implement healthy coping skills into your life. Let's apply this to a real-life example. Let's say you got into a really bad fight with a friend and it left you feeling sad, angry, and a bit ashamed. What could you do afterwards? Let's see, some people might want to get really drunk or get really high to deal with the emotions, but really you're kind of postponing the emotions because you're just not dealing with them. What could you do instead? Okay, maybe you could pick up a journal and write about your feelings. Maybe you could go and take a run, go to the park, spend some time in nature. There are many ways you can help yourself feel better following a difficult situation. Situation. Coping skills can help everyone, whether they're in therapy or not. If you are in therapy, great! You're already getting the help and support that you need. Coping skills are things that you can do in between sessions to continue to improve your mental health. If you're not in therapy or can't afford therapy, coping skills are a great way to get through difficult situations without that professional help. I hope you found today's video helpful. Stay tuned because I'm going to go into more depth about each coping skill that I recommend for clients and that I use in my own life. Thanks so much, see you next time.
