Training Module on the Right to Mental Health for the Security Sector ACTIVITY V. Coping Skills. Coping is a way to protect, delay, avoid or manage stress Purpose: To identify the types of coping and be able to apply it during stressful situations. Materials: PowerPoint, projector, laptop Time: 15 minutes (5 minutes each) Instruction: Form 3 groups. Each group shall discuss to the audience the three types of coping (Appraisal-Focused, Problem-Focused, and Emotion-Focused) and the Basic Ph of Coping. Coping is a way to protect, delay, avoid or manage stress. APPRAISAL-FOCUSED (Adaptive Cognitive) Directed towards challenging one’s own assumptions (adaptive cognitive). • Occurs when the person modifies the way they think • For example, employing denial, or distancing oneself from the problem. People may change the way they think about the problem by altering their goals and values, such as seeing the humor in a situation. Some have suggested that humor may play a greater role as a stress moderator among women than men. PROBLEM-FOCUSED (Adaptive Behavior) Directed towards reducing or eliminating a stressor (adaptive behavioral). • People using problem-focused strategies try to deal with the cause of their problem. They do this by finding out information on the problem and learning new skills to manage the problem. • Problem-focused coping is aimed at changing or eliminating the source of the stress • The three problem-focused coping strategies identified by Folkman and Lazarus are taking control, information seeking, evaluating the pros and cons. EMOTION-FOCUSED Directed towards changing one’s emotional reaction. • 21 Involves releasing pent-up emotions, distracting oneself, managing hostile feelings (towards enemies), and mediating or using systematic relaxation procedures