How Short-Term Therapy Can Supplement Coping Mechanisms

As a relatively successful adult, you likely have taken steps to figure your stuff out and manage everyday stresses and obstacles. But when a major life event happens, your regular strategies may not be enough. Find out how short-term therapy can supplement coping mechanisms to help you make it through the hard times.

You Already Have Coping Mechanisms to Deal with Stress

Even if you have never visited a therapist, you almost certainly have adopted a variety of coping mechanisms that you use to deal with negative life events, stress, and conflict. Coping can fall into one of four major categories:

• Problem-focused strategies such as planning, exercising restraint, and prioritization of tasks
• Emotion-focused strategies that reduce negative emotions, such as positive reframing, affirmations, prayer or mediation, and humor
• Meaning-focused strategies that help you conceptualize the problem and derive meaning from the situation such as pro/con lists, obtaining objective opinions, and journaling
• Support-seeking strategies that reach out to your social networks for assistance and aid.

Most people begin learning coping mechanisms very early in childhood, and continue to develop new and different strategies as they mature. You may have adopted some of the same coping mechanisms and stress responses you saw modeled by your parents. Or perhaps you did some self-help work to learn new coping mechanisms as an adult.

Self-Taught Coping Mechanisms Can Work, to a Point

Many self-taught coping mechanisms will be effective up to a point. You may find meaningful relief from a stressful day by taking a bath, saying a prayer, or meeting up with supportive friends. Affirmations and setting intentions may help you start your day fresh and avoid dwelling on past events.

However, not all coping mechanisms are equally effective. For example, you may have learned to “mask” your emotional responses to conflict because of your early home life or a romantic relationship. But when a high-stress situation overcomes your ability to mask, it may cause you to lash out. Another strategy, such as positive reframing, may be more effective.

There are also some coping mechanisms that are more destructive than helpful. For example, you may find it compelling to turn to alcohol or controlled substances to numb negative feelings. You may also take escapist practices – such as reading or playing video games – too far to the point where they interfere with your day-to-day life.  If you come to rely on these less healthy coping mechanisms, they could cause more harm than good.

Short-Term Therapy Can Teach New Healthy Coping Mechanism

If you find yourself relying on unhealthy coping strategies to get through life, short-term therapy can help. A psychotherapist can meet with you and set a goal of making it easier for you to live your life without sessions that go on for years. If your goal is to learn new coping mechanisms, your psychotherapist can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of the strategies you are using now, and introduce new methods of coping that you haven’t tried. Through therapy, you can also practice coping mechanisms that are unfamiliar within a safe space and better learn how and when to put them into practice in your everyday life.

A Therapist Can Offer Support for Managing Difficult Emotions

Even when you have a repertoire of healthy coping mechanisms at your disposal, a major life event can cause significant disruption to your mental health and emotional regulation. You might want to consider using short-term therapy to supplement coping mechanisms during or after:

• A divorce or breakup
• Job loss or career transition
• The birth of a child or loss of a pregnancy
• Preparation for marriage
• The death of a loved one
• A traumatic event like a natural disaster or severe accident
• Going away to college
• A serious medical diagnosis
• High-conflict relationships with a spouse or employer

What these events have in common is that they can, and often will, cause you to experience intense negative emotions that could easily exceed your ability to cope on your own. If you fell like that is happening, you can sign up for short-term therapy with a psychotherapist who will help you to manage those emotions and move through the life transition more easily. Addressing the negative emotions that occur in the wake of a serious life event can even have long-term benefits, allowing you to process the event and move on, rather than dwelling on it or even having it result in ongoing depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Short-Term Therapy Shows You a Path Forward

One substantial benefit to short-term therapy is that it can show you a way through the obstacles you are facing. Through active goal setting, developing coping mechanisms, and improving your self-confidence, you can create a plan to overcome the challenges you are facing. In this way, therapy goes beyond relieving stress and responding to negative emotions, the way coping mechanism do. It can allow you to make changes in your life that will reduce your need to rely on those strategies to live a happy and enjoyable life.

David Stanislaw is a psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience. He helps adults, teens, and children, meet mental health goals through short-term therapy or ongoing counseling. Contact David Stanislaw to get help today.