Coping Combos
In this activity, you’ll read a series of situations where gender dysphoria shows up in different ways—like when you’re feeling overwhelmed, misgendered, anxious, or alone.
We want you to think of how you can mix and match the different coping skills. So, for each scenario, choose at least two coping strategies from the list that you think would help you most at that moment. You might start with a mindfulness skill (like deep breathing or sensory grounding) to calm your body, then follow it with an action-based skill (like a hope flip or affirm and feel) to support your emotions. If you’re feeling really overwhelmed or unsafe, an avoidant strategy (like break the loop or zone out time) matched with an action (like community connection) can be helpful too!
Learning to combine coping skills is one of the most effective ways to manage the gender dysphoria. The more you practice, the more natural it will feel—and the more confident you’ll be in using these strategies when you need them.