Coping Skills Library: Find the Right Skill for Anxiety, Anger, Sadness, or Overwhelm
A big, categorized menu of healthy coping skills for anxiety, anger, sadness, and overwhelm, so you have options ready before you need them.
Reviewed by Michael Callans, MSW 
About this tool
Coping skills are the healthy strategies we use to get through difficult emotions and stressful situations. Everyone copes somehow, but not all coping is equal. Avoidance, numbing, lashing out, or substances may bring quick relief while making things worse over time. Healthy coping skills help you tolerate, soothe, or work through a feeling without causing harm.
Different feelings call for different skills. Anxiety often responds to slowing the body and grounding; anger to discharging energy and cooling down; sadness to gentle activity and connection; overwhelm to breaking things down and pausing. Having a varied menu means you are not stuck with one tool that may not fit the moment.
Coping skills broadly fall into a few types. Some calm the body (breathing, movement, cold water). Some shift your thinking (reframing, perspective, self-talk). Some use distraction or activity to ride out an intense wave. Some involve reaching out to others. A good coping plan draws on several types.
The key is to practice these when you are calm, so they are familiar and available when you are not. Try several, keep the ones that genuinely help you, and build your own short list. What soothes one person may do nothing for another, so personal experiment matters more than any single recommendation.
Psychologists Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman's influential model of stress describes two broad coping styles: problem-focused coping, which works to change or remove the stressor itself, and emotion-focused coping, which works to change how you feel about it when the stressor cannot be changed. Most situations call for a mix of both, which is why this library spans skills that solve, soothe, and simply help you get through the moment.
A common mistake is leaning on only one type of skill, usually distraction, because it is the easiest to reach for. Distraction has its place for riding out a spike of intense emotion, but on its own it does not resolve what is underneath. Pairing it with a skill that processes the feeling, journaling, talking to someone, or naming what is underneath an emotion, tends to hold up better over time.
If you find yourself reaching for these skills constantly, or hard feelings are frequent, intense, or getting in the way of daily life, that is a sign coping skills alone may not be enough. It is worth talking with a therapist, who can help you address what is driving the distress rather than only managing it in the moment.
References
- Lazarus RS, Folkman S. Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. Springer; 1984.
- Linehan MM. DBT Skills Training Manual. 2nd ed. Guilford Press; 2015.
Cite this source
Psychology.com. (2026, September 14). Coping Skills Library. Psychology.com. https://psychology.com/tools/coping-skills
Coping Skills Library FAQ
What are coping skills?
Healthy strategies for getting through difficult emotions and stress without causing harm. They include calming the body, shifting your thinking, distraction, activity, and reaching out to others.
Why are they grouped by feeling?
Different emotions respond to different skills. Anxiety often eases with slowing down and grounding, anger with discharging energy, sadness with gentle activity and connection, and overwhelm with breaking things into steps.
What counts as unhealthy coping?
Strategies that bring quick relief but cause harm over time, such as avoidance, numbing, lashing out, or using substances. Healthy coping helps you handle the feeling without making things worse.
How do I find the ones that work for me?
Try several when you are calm, keep the ones that genuinely help, and build your own short go-to list. What soothes one person may do nothing for another.
What is the difference between problem-focused and emotion-focused coping?
Problem-focused coping works to change or address the stressor itself, like breaking a task into steps or asking for help. Emotion-focused coping works to change how you feel about it, like breathing exercises or self-compassion. Most people benefit from both, depending on whether the stressor can actually be changed.
Is distraction a healthy coping skill?
Used occasionally, yes. Distraction can help you ride out an intense wave of emotion without making it worse. Used as your only strategy, it can keep you from processing what is underneath the feeling, so it works best paired with a skill that lets you reflect or reach out once the intensity passes.