Emotion Regulation · DBT skill
Cope Ahead
Cope Ahead is preparing for a hard situation by deciding which skills you'll use and rehearsing it in your imagination beforehand.
The steps
- Picture the situation in detail. Where, who, what's happening.
- Imagine yourself coping well. Walk through the moves you'd want to make.
- Anticipate what could go wrong. Plan a response for each.
- Rehearse mentally one more time, just before. Your body remembers what you practiced.
When it helps
When you can see it coming and want to enter it ready.
An example
A holiday with relatives who argue is two weeks away. Someone pictures the dinner in detail, picks the skills they'll use, imagines the hardest moment, and rehearses handling it. On the day, that moment feels familiar instead of overwhelming.
Where people get stuck
- Only imagining things going well. Rehearse the hard part, including what you'll do if it goes poorly.
- Keeping it vague. The more specific the scene you imagine, the more the rehearsal carries over.
- Rehearsing once. A few run-throughs work better than one.
When not to use it
When the imagining turns into a worry spiral. Cope Ahead is a plan with an end; if you're replaying the scene without planning anything new, stop and do something else.
Related skills
- Read the full explainer on our blog →
- DBT glossary →
- How DBT skills groups teach Emotion Regulation →
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