Riding the Wave as a Coping Skill

There are many different coping skills that you can learn in treatment. Coping skills can help you to make a difference in your long-term mental health. One coping skill that therapists can teach you in treatment is riding the wave. This helps to teach you how to handle a feeling and wait it out instead of acting on a negative urge. Riding the wave encourages you to sit with the feelings to use or do something destructive until they pass. This skill can be integral to your long-term recovery and your ability to keep yourself clean. West Coast Recovery Centers teaches the importance of exploring different coping skills in your mental health and addiction treatment. 

There are many different forms of treatment available to our clients. Talk therapy allows our clients to work through their issues and make a difference in their care. One form of treatment is called dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). This treatment teaches clients to handle their struggles and learn to live in that reality instead of succumbing to their struggles. Coping skills can be integral to understanding the best ways to keep yourself clean and sober, such as riding the wave.

What Is DBT?

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a type of talk therapy that is effective for patients who experience very intense emotions. DBT is good for many different types of mental health disorders. It is especially effective for borderline personality disorder (BPD), clients who struggle with suicidal ideation, and those with PTSD. This therapy teaches clients to work through their thoughts and accept the realities of their disorders and their thoughts. 

DBT is done with a qualified provider that can explore difficulties with their clients. As you build a relationship built on trust, you can work through your issues with your therapist. This allows you to manage different parts of your disorder. Treatment can teach people how to handle their symptoms and work through them to manage their health. It also teaches coping skills, which can help someone manage the symptoms of their disorders. 

Coping Skills

According to authors Algorani & Gupta, coping mechanisms, or coping skills, are “the thoughts and behaviors mobilized to manage internal and external stressful situations.” Any behavior or activity that you do to manage your stress and mental health is a form of coping. These coping skills can be taught to you in treatment such as DBT. Meanwhile, West Coast Recovery Centers offers different types of treatment, including DBT, to our clients to help them manage the symptoms of their mental health. 

Coping skills can be both healthy and unhealthy. When someone relies on something unhealthy to get through their mental health struggles, their brain may become dependent on behavior or things that are harmful to them. Alcohol and substances can become an unhealthy coping mechanism for people. If you continue to turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms like alcohol or substances, you may end up with substance use disorder (SUD). Getting treatment is imperative to teach you healthy coping skills that will help you live healthily. 

A healthy coping skill is something that allows you to work through your stressors without engaging in behavior that is unhealthy for you. There are many different coping skills that you can learn. DBT treatments allow a therapist to work with you to gain an arsenal of things that you can rely on when things get hard. One of these coping skills that are effective in the long-term management of mental health and SUD is riding the wave. 

Riding the Wave

Learning to ride the wave can make a large difference in your ability to work through your mental health struggles. Riding the wave is learning to manage and accept your thoughts and feelings as they come. When you are triggered or frustrated, you may want to take action to alleviate or take out this frustration, such as engaging in substance use or self-harm. These things may relieve the feeling in the immediate moment, but will not make a positive overall difference in your health. Riding the wave means sitting through these thoughts and feelings as they arise, and waiting with them.

It is important to note that when you feel overwhelmed by negative feelings, they will pass. Like an ocean, feelings are waves that come and go. While you may be experiencing a negative emotion, this emotion will pass. Riding the wave is the practice of waiting for your feelings to pass instead of immediately acting on them. It is possible to work through cravings for substances, self-harm, and other actions by employing the coping skill of riding the wave.

Riding the wave is a practice based on mindfulness. As you get better at sitting with your thoughts and feelings, you will be more in control of your actions. Being in control of your emotions will allow you to handle situations of stress better. Staying healthy means making mindful decisions related to your mental health. 

Negative feelings and thoughts are a part of the journey of recovery. As you work to manage your health or sobriety, you will encounter moments that are difficult to get through. Having healthy coping skills to rely on will allow you to make the choices that you want. Learning coping skills is a part of many different forms of therapy. Treatments like DBT will teach you the skills that you need to manage your struggles. Riding the wave is an effective coping skill that encourages you to work with your feelings, learning to sit with them instead of acting on them. If you are interested in learning more about riding the wave, call West Coast Recovery Centers at (760) 492-6509.