Coping Skills

Coping Skills are defined as the specific cognitive and behavioral efforts that individuals employ to manage, reduce, or endure internal and external demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding their personal resources. According to the American Counseling Association (ACA) framework, these skills are categorized as either adaptive (healthy strategies like problem-solving and emotional regulation) or maladaptive (avoidant or harmful behaviors like substance use). Counselors focus on helping clients identify their current "Coping Style"—often distinguishing between problem-focused coping, which targets the source of stress, and emotion-focused coping, which manages the feelings associated with it—to build psychological resilience and improve overall functional outcomes.