Print The psychological term for dealing with your problems or stressful situations is called coping. There are multiple coping strategies, but none of them is solely the right one, your reaction often depends on the situation. We can distinguish seven coping strategies which are discussed below:
- Active Approach: Take immediate action if there are any difficulties.
- Palliative Response: Trying to do other things such as walking, eating, smoking, or drinking.
- Avoiding Coping: Avoid the difficult situation.
- Looking for Social Support: Share your concerns with someone.
- Passive Reaction Pattern: You do nothing and isolate yourself from others.
- Expression of Emotions: Show your emotions in an active and clear way.
- Reassuring Thoughts: You realize that every cloud has a silver lining.
Coping Styles
Your coping style can be active or passive. So, do you take action to solve the problem or do you sit back and do nothing about it? In addition, coping can be emotion-oriented or problem-oriented. If you are emotion-oriented, you look at what the problem does to you emotionally and cope with that. If you are problem-oriented, you look at the actual problem itself and what you can do about it, without taking your emotions into account.
Behaviour
Below you will see a table that distinguishes between the active, passive, emotion-oriented, and problem-oriented coping styles. Each of the seven coping strategies described above is shown in the table. For each coping style, it is explained what kind of behavior suits it.
If you look at the different styles you will notice that you will probably use them all from time to time, but that there is one style that particularly has your preference. This is the coping style that fits your personality best.
| Active | Passive | |
| Emotion-oriented | Looking for social support Expression of emotions Reassuring thoughts ● Giving a positive meaning to something that happens to you● Physical activity (going for a walk) ● Accepting the things you cannot change ● Searching for emotional support |
Palliative reaction Passive reaction pattern ● Drinking alcohol, smoking, eating unhealthy● Blaming yourself for the situation you are in ● Focusing on your own shortcomings ● Being hostile to others, blaming others |
| Problem-oriented | Active coping ● Making a plan of action and following this plan● Looking for practical support with others ● Find information to solve the problem |
Avoiding ● Denying the problem● Avoiding the problem ● Worrying ● Waiting until the problem solves itself |
Consequences of Coping Styles
Different coping styles lead to different consequences. Because everyone has a certain coping preference that suits them most, people with different coping styles also deal differently with problems and experience different consequences. When you notice that you often use a certain coping style that does not have the desired effects, you can start practicing adjusting your coping. Coping can be learned.
A coach or therapist can help you with this. Together you will see which style you use, what this style will bring you, and what you would like to change. You can then practice this together.An example of how Alina copes with a problem is given in the article ‘Example of a coping situation’. There are also a couple of assignments to challenge your own coping.
Sources
https://bsw.ugent.be/VVGP/UCL.pdf
https://encyclopedie.medicinfo.nl/coping/966cc4d99db44e84b4063a8eaa8e639f
https://mentaalbeter.nl/artikelen/copingstijlen-hoe-ga-jij-met-stress-om/
