#22:  Build Mastery and Cope Ahead

#22: Build Mastery and Cope Ahead

Author: Bay Area DBT & Couples Counseling Center February 27, 2020 Duration: 32:24

In today's episode, Marielle and Ed discuss the emotion regulation skills of Build Mastery and Cope Ahead. These are future-oriented skills that involve some planning to carry out.

Build Mastery is a way to strengthen your sense of competence by doing small, regular things that are challenging. Over time, this skill will help you stretch yourself and believe in your capability to accomplish hard things which in turn, will increase your emotional resiliency.  This skill also helps you avoid a common mistake when trying to learn a new skill or do something hard: setting your sights too high and then giving up in defeat. Instead, Build Mastery helps you make small, incremental changes that are stretch you out of your comfort zone but aren't impossible. You'll find that the skill of Build Mastery will help you increase your sense of self-worth, self-efficacy, and pride in what you can achieve. 

Cope Ahead is a skill that walks you through a process of planning for stressful situations ahead of time. This is a good skill to use when you anticipate that you will be in a situation that will bring up strong painful emotions and/or you might feel like engaging in a behavior you are trying to stop. Part of why this skill can be so helpful is that it asks you to make a coping plan ahead of time, step by step, and then visualize coping well with the situation.

To learn more about this podcast and get full show notes, go to www.bayareadbtcc.com

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We'd love to hear from you! Where are you getting stuck with your skills application? Ask us a question for the chance to have it answered on the podcast. Submit your question here. 

Please note that questions, and this podcast in general, are not a substitute for individual mental health treatment.


Hosted by the clinicians at the Bay Area DBT & Couples Counseling Center, The Skillful Podcast is a practical guide for anyone feeling stuck in their emotional patterns or relationships. Instead of abstract theory, each episode breaks down tangible skills from two powerful frameworks: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Radically-Open DBT (RO-DBT). You'll hear straightforward explanations of concepts like mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotional regulation, but also learn about the often-overlooked skills of openness, flexibility, and social connectedness that RO-DBT emphasizes. The focus is always on application-how to take these ideas off the therapist's couch and weave them into your daily interactions and internal world. Whether navigating personal stress, a challenging conversation, or the pursuit of a more fulfilling life, this podcast offers concrete tools to try in real time. It’s a resource for building resilience from the inside out, episode by episode. Tuning in feels less like a lecture and more like a thoughtful consultation, where complex psychological wisdom is translated into actionable steps for reducing suffering and fostering deeper connections with others and yourself.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 61

The Skillful Podcast
Podcast Episodes
#10: The TIPP Skill: Using Your Body to Calm Down [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:27
Marielle and Ed continue their conversation about Distress Tolerance focusing on the TIPP skill. That extra P in TIPP isn't a typo! TIPP is an acronym that actually stands for 4 different skills. The skills in TIPP inter…
#9: Introduction to Distress Tolerance & the STOP Skill [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:13
Marielle and Ed delve into a discussion today on how you can learn to tolerate emotional distress and overwhelm without making things worse. There's a whole range of behaviors that we can learn, from mindfulness to using…
#8: Emotional Over-Control with Neil Howell, MFT [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:27
Are you someone who's good at getting things done, following the rules and planning ahead? These can be wonderful traits to have but you may notice that focusing on doing everything right interferes with relaxing, enjoyi…
#7: Understanding Validation in Relationships and Why We All Need It [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:52
Do you know how important it is to feel validated? Validation lets us know that we have been heard and understood. We all have the need to be understood by others, especially those closest to us. Today Marielle and Ed di…
#6: Get What You Want by Using the GIVE and FAST Skills of DBT [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:35
Would you like to learn how to ask for what you want, how to resolve a conflict, and how to have your opinion taken seriously in your relationships? Today, Marielle and Ed will be expanding on the interpersonal effective…
#5: Using the DEARMAN Framework to Say No [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:47
Do you find it hard to say 'no', or get what you want in your relationships? Today, Marielle and Ed will be talking about interpersonal effectiveness. The interpersonal effectiveness skills in DBT are practical and they…
#4: The HOW Skills of Mindfulness [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:20
Would you like to introduce a mindfulness practice into your daily routine? Today, Ed joins Marielle once again and they continue talking about the mindfulness skills in DBT. In today's episode, they discuss what you act…
#3: The "What" Skills of Mindfulness [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:54
Would you like to learn to practice mindfulness in the DBT framework? Today, Marielle and Ed will be discussing the three 'what' skills of mindfulness. These are called 'what' skills because they are what you actually do…
#2: Introduction to Mindfulness and the Wise Mind [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:15
Would you like to know more about DBT and where it all started? In today's episode, Marielle and Ed will be looking into the background and development of DBT. They will discuss dialectics and the concept of Wise Mind an…
#1: What is Emotional Dysregulation? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:32
Are you highly sensitive? And do you struggle with very intense emotions that sometimes overwhelm you? Today, for the first episode of The Skillful Podcast, Marielle will be talking to Ed Fowler, who works with her at th…