Coping Strategies

Sometimes stressful or upsetting situations are unavoidable so here are some tools designed to address difficult behaviour or emotional meltdowns happening. To build resilience and as a preventative measure we recommend incorporating these types of activities into your routine.

A strategy card (similar to the template below) is useful for writing down what they should do when experiencing different feelings.

Create personalised activities they can do to diffuse any negative behaviour and improve their emotional rating. Activities can be anything they enjoy or that relaxes them.

We suggest trying worry boxes, breathing & relaxation exercises, journals and using safe spaces/dens.

But first use an energy ladder (like below) to get your loved one to identify how they feel and make suggestions of what they can do to keep themselves in a positive energy level. By creating their personalised energy ladder with activities or things they can do to calm or build their energy levels they will develop invaluable self-regulation skills. The energy ladder is also a great visual tool to help people to communicate how they feel at any given time.