Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHow CBT WorksSelf-MonitoringDiaphragmatic BreathingProgressive Muscle RelaxationBehavioral ActivationListing Pros and ConsCognitive RestructuringSetting and Managing GoalsFAQs
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
How CBT Works
Self-Monitoring
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Behavioral Activation
Listing Pros and Cons
Cognitive Restructuring
Setting and Managing Goals
FAQs
Close
What do you do when you’re feeling anxious? Angry? Scared? Negative feelings are an inevitable part of life, but how you deal with them can make or break your mental well-being. CBT coping skills are tools that can help you handle negative emotions in a healthy way. They provide strategies for getting through difficult situations with less tension, anxiety,depression, and stress.
CBT coping skills help youdeal with uncomfortable emotions(anxiety, depression, etc.) so you can feel better physically, make better decisions, and more. These cognitive strategies are especially important if you are dealing with certain mental health conditions, such aspost-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD).
At a Glance
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Cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) is based on the idea that psychological problems arise from the way we interpret or evaluate situations, thoughts, and feelings. Negative interpretations and evaluations can lead to unhealthy behaviors.
How to Get StartedIf you are looking to replace some of your unhealthy ways of handling problems with more helpful ones, consider trying some of the following CBT skills, including diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, self-monitoring, behavioral activation, listing pros and cons, cognitive restructuring, and goal setting.
How to Get Started
If you are looking to replace some of your unhealthy ways of handling problems with more helpful ones, consider trying some of the following CBT skills, including diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, self-monitoring, behavioral activation, listing pros and cons, cognitive restructuring, and goal setting.
Self-monitoringis a basic CBT coping skill. To a large extent, is at the core of all the cognitive-behavioral coping strategies described here, so this is a great place to start.
It works like this: in order to address a problem or a symptom, we need to first become aware of it. Self-monitoring can help with this. With this awareness, we can then take action to regulate our behaviors so we have more positive outcomes.
As you do this, you may start to notice certain patterns and triggers. It also allows you to track your progress as you work toward implementing healthier CBT skills.
How to Develop and Practice Self-Regulation
Diaphragmatic breathing, also called breathing retraining ordeep breathing, is a basic cognitive coping strategy for managing anxiety.It is a simple technique but can be very powerful.
Diaphragmatic breathing involves pulling your diaphragm down while taking a deep breath in. You should see your abdominal area rise with each breath, which is why it is sometimes referred to as “belly breathing.”
These 9 Breathing Exercises Can Help Relieve Anxiety
Relaxation exercises with aCBT appcan be an effective way to reduce your stress and anxiety. One such exercise is calledprogressive muscle relaxation(PMR) and involves alternating between tensing and relaxing different muscle groups throughout the body.
By tensing your muscles—a commonanxiety symptom—and immediately relaxing them, over time, the symptom of muscle tension may become a signal to relax.
How to Do Progressive Muscle Relaxation
When people feel depressed or anxious, they may be less likely to do the things they enjoy. That’s exactly why it is important to learn how to be more active.Behavioral activationis a CBT coping skill that helps you get more active, even when you might not be feeling it.
The goal of behavioral activation is simple: Get more active in areas of your life that you find pleasurable and enjoyable. Being more involved with and engaged in these experiences improves your mood.
As your mood improves, so will your thoughts and coping behaviors. Plus, being engaged in things you enjoy is a great way to distract yourself from feelings of rumination and anxiety.
How to Instantly Lift Your Mood
Making decisions can be hard, especially if you’re having a hard time with negative thinking, anxiety, or depression. It might leave you feeling paralyzed or trapped. When this happens, you may not know the best choice. Or you might make decisions that aren’t good for you in the long-term.
One way to move forward in situations like this is to weigh the short—and long-term pros and cons. This cognitive coping strategy can help us identify the best path to take—that is, a path associated with less risk and consistent with our goals and priorities.
Cognitive restructuringis a common CBT coping skill. How we evaluate and think about ourselves, other people, and events can have a major impact on our mood. This cognitive strategy focuses on identifying negative thoughts or evaluations and modifying them.
Cognitive restructuring involves gathering evidence about certain thoughts and recognizing how they may be misinterpreted or distorted.
Then, you work on systematically replacing them with morepositive affirmations. By modifying our thoughts, we can improve our mood and make better choices regarding our behaviors.
Positive Affirmations for Anxiety
Goals (or things that you want to accomplish in the future) can give your life purpose and direction, as well as motivate healthy behaviors focused on improving your life.However, they can also be very overwhelming and a source of stress. Because of this, you want to be careful whensetting goals.
How to Set and Manage Goals
Takeaways
Sometimes, you just need a little extra help to manage the problems that life throws your way. That’s when CBT coping skills come in handy. They can help you better handle and manage difficult emotions and situations. By changing how you interpret feelings and events, you’ll feel better able to manage your emotions.
If you are struggling with anxiety,stress, depression, or other challenges, CBT coping skills can be a great tool to help you start feeling better. However, if you aren’t getting adequate relief from these approaches, talk to a mental health professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
CBT coping skills teach you how to better deal with difficult situations, such as how to relax your body (so your mind can also relax), also changing how you look at circumstances and events so you have more positivity. These processes use the same types of strategies like those used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).Learn More:CBT Types, Techniques, and Benefits
CBT coping skills teach you how to better deal with difficult situations, such as how to relax your body (so your mind can also relax), also changing how you look at circumstances and events so you have more positivity. These processes use the same types of strategies like those used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Learn More:CBT Types, Techniques, and Benefits
Regularly practicing cognitive coping strategies such as these can help improve your skills. It can also be beneficial to work with a mental health professional as they can focus directly on improving your CBT coping skills in the therapy session. Taking care of your physical health, such as through a healthy diet and exercise, can also help improve your cognitive health.Learn More:Types of Therapists and How They Help
Regularly practicing cognitive coping strategies such as these can help improve your skills. It can also be beneficial to work with a mental health professional as they can focus directly on improving your CBT coping skills in the therapy session. Taking care of your physical health, such as through a healthy diet and exercise, can also help improve your cognitive health.
Learn More:Types of Therapists and How They Help
Learn More:Ways to Cope With Anxiety
9 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychological Association.Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).Nakao M, Shirotsuki K, Sugaya N.Cognitive-behavioral therapy for management of mental health and stress-related disorders: Recent advances in techniques and technologies.Biopsychosoc Med. 2021;15(1):16. doi:10.1186/s13030-021-00219-wHirano M, Ogura K, Kitahara M, Sakamoto D, Shimoyama H.Designing behavioral self-regulation application for preventive personal mental healthcare.Health Psychol Open. 2017;4(1):2055102917707185. doi:10.1177/2055102917707185Ma X, Yue ZQ, Gong ZQ, et al.The effect of diaphragmatic breathing on attention, negative affect and stress in healthy adults.Front Psychol. 2017;8:874. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874Toussaint L, Nguyen QA, Roettger C, et al.Effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and guided imagery in promoting psychological and physiological states of relaxation.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021;2021:5924040. doi:10.1155/2021/5924040Hirayama T, Ogawa Y, Yanai Y, Suzuki SI, Shimizu K.Behavioral activation therapy for depression and anxiety in cancer patients: a case series study.Biopsychosoc Med. 2019;13:9.doi:10.1186/s13030-019-0151-6Crum J.Understanding mental health and cognitive restructuring with ecological neuroscience.Front Psychiatry. 2021;12:697095. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.697095Bailey RR.Goal setting and action planning for health behavior change.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2017;13(6):615-618. doi:10.1177/1559827617729634National Institute on Aging.Cognitive health and older adults.
9 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychological Association.Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).Nakao M, Shirotsuki K, Sugaya N.Cognitive-behavioral therapy for management of mental health and stress-related disorders: Recent advances in techniques and technologies.Biopsychosoc Med. 2021;15(1):16. doi:10.1186/s13030-021-00219-wHirano M, Ogura K, Kitahara M, Sakamoto D, Shimoyama H.Designing behavioral self-regulation application for preventive personal mental healthcare.Health Psychol Open. 2017;4(1):2055102917707185. doi:10.1177/2055102917707185Ma X, Yue ZQ, Gong ZQ, et al.The effect of diaphragmatic breathing on attention, negative affect and stress in healthy adults.Front Psychol. 2017;8:874. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874Toussaint L, Nguyen QA, Roettger C, et al.Effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and guided imagery in promoting psychological and physiological states of relaxation.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021;2021:5924040. doi:10.1155/2021/5924040Hirayama T, Ogawa Y, Yanai Y, Suzuki SI, Shimizu K.Behavioral activation therapy for depression and anxiety in cancer patients: a case series study.Biopsychosoc Med. 2019;13:9.doi:10.1186/s13030-019-0151-6Crum J.Understanding mental health and cognitive restructuring with ecological neuroscience.Front Psychiatry. 2021;12:697095. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.697095Bailey RR.Goal setting and action planning for health behavior change.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2017;13(6):615-618. doi:10.1177/1559827617729634National Institute on Aging.Cognitive health and older adults.
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Psychological Association.Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).Nakao M, Shirotsuki K, Sugaya N.Cognitive-behavioral therapy for management of mental health and stress-related disorders: Recent advances in techniques and technologies.Biopsychosoc Med. 2021;15(1):16. doi:10.1186/s13030-021-00219-wHirano M, Ogura K, Kitahara M, Sakamoto D, Shimoyama H.Designing behavioral self-regulation application for preventive personal mental healthcare.Health Psychol Open. 2017;4(1):2055102917707185. doi:10.1177/2055102917707185Ma X, Yue ZQ, Gong ZQ, et al.The effect of diaphragmatic breathing on attention, negative affect and stress in healthy adults.Front Psychol. 2017;8:874. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874Toussaint L, Nguyen QA, Roettger C, et al.Effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and guided imagery in promoting psychological and physiological states of relaxation.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021;2021:5924040. doi:10.1155/2021/5924040Hirayama T, Ogawa Y, Yanai Y, Suzuki SI, Shimizu K.Behavioral activation therapy for depression and anxiety in cancer patients: a case series study.Biopsychosoc Med. 2019;13:9.doi:10.1186/s13030-019-0151-6Crum J.Understanding mental health and cognitive restructuring with ecological neuroscience.Front Psychiatry. 2021;12:697095. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.697095Bailey RR.Goal setting and action planning for health behavior change.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2017;13(6):615-618. doi:10.1177/1559827617729634National Institute on Aging.Cognitive health and older adults.
American Psychological Association.Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Nakao M, Shirotsuki K, Sugaya N.Cognitive-behavioral therapy for management of mental health and stress-related disorders: Recent advances in techniques and technologies.Biopsychosoc Med. 2021;15(1):16. doi:10.1186/s13030-021-00219-w
Hirano M, Ogura K, Kitahara M, Sakamoto D, Shimoyama H.Designing behavioral self-regulation application for preventive personal mental healthcare.Health Psychol Open. 2017;4(1):2055102917707185. doi:10.1177/2055102917707185
Ma X, Yue ZQ, Gong ZQ, et al.The effect of diaphragmatic breathing on attention, negative affect and stress in healthy adults.Front Psychol. 2017;8:874. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874
Toussaint L, Nguyen QA, Roettger C, et al.Effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and guided imagery in promoting psychological and physiological states of relaxation.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021;2021:5924040. doi:10.1155/2021/5924040
Hirayama T, Ogawa Y, Yanai Y, Suzuki SI, Shimizu K.Behavioral activation therapy for depression and anxiety in cancer patients: a case series study.Biopsychosoc Med. 2019;13:9.doi:10.1186/s13030-019-0151-6
Crum J.Understanding mental health and cognitive restructuring with ecological neuroscience.Front Psychiatry. 2021;12:697095. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.697095
Bailey RR.Goal setting and action planning for health behavior change.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2017;13(6):615-618. doi:10.1177/1559827617729634
National Institute on Aging.Cognitive health and older adults.
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