Teaching Coping Skills
Coping means doing things to deal with feeling upset, worried, or stressed. For trans and nonbinary folks, a big source of stress can be gender dysphoria.
When you can identify when you might feel gender dysphoria you can plan ahead and decide how you want to handle it. Some coping strategies are better at addressing specific triggers and intensities of gender dysphoria. In the sections that come next, we will talk about and show different coping strategies that other trans and nonbinary folks have used to handle their gender dysphoria so that you can choose which ones work best for you! By using specific tools to cope with gender dysphoria, you will experience improvement in how you are feeling.
It is best to practice the skills in low stakes environments, for example on a day or moment when your gender dysphoria is not as intense. That way when you do get an intense spike of gender dysphoria you are prepared! The key to building new habits of coping is repetition so the more you can intentionally practice the better the outcome will be.
Basic rules for when to use each kind of coping strategy
- Mindful awareness coping skills – when gender dysphoria is just starting to show its ugly face
- Action coping skills – if the gender dysphoria continues to grow and mindful awareness strategies aren’t quite helping
- Avoidant coping skills – when it is a super bad day and the gender dysphoria just won’t let you go
So remember: start mindful, use action, avoid if necessary
You’re on the final stretch for today—just one more section to complete! After you complete the next section you will take one week off to practice your new skills. You are almost there!
| Week 1 | ||
| Day 1 | Introduction | 13 Minutes |
| Identifying Gender Dysphoria Triggers | 30 Minutes | |
| Day 2 | Externalizing Gender Dysphoria | 30 Minutes |
| Day 3 & 4 | Notice The Gender Dysphoria Showing Up | |
| Day 5 | What Is Coping? | 10 Minutes |
| Mindful Awareness Coping | 50 Minutes | |
| Week 2 | ||
| Days 6-11 | Practice your new skills for one week! | |
| Week 3 | ||
| Day 12 | Active Coping | 60 Minutes |
| Day 13-18 | Practice your new skills for one week! | |
| Week 4 | ||
| Day 19 | Avoidant Coping | 50 minutes |
| Day 20-25 | Practice your new skills for one week! | |
| Week 5 | ||
| Day 26 | Coping Combos | 30 Minutes |
| Review And Coping Cheat Sheet | 10 Minutes |