Coping Skills: Tools \u0026 Techniques for Every Stressful Situation by Faith G. Harper

Coping Skills: Tools \u0026 Techniques for Every Stressful Situation Reviews

• 
  Sara Habein

  While I appreciate a therapy-esque guide that is not afraid to swear, the editor side of me wants to say, "But surely repetitive words are still repetitive though?" Maybe in this book's original zine format, the superfluous use would have been just fine, but in this reading, I found myself thinking, "Yes, yes, you're not like OTHER therapists. You're the cool therapist. We get it." I know that makes me sound like a prude, sorry. However, this is still a bit like a very informative long tumblr post come to print. Which is great, if that's what you're looking for! There are still plenty of useful tips on how to get through anxiety/stress/etc-making situations, and some skills that I was previously unfamiliar with as a choice. So, it's certainly not a bad book, and it's a trim and easy read that most everyone could get something from. Your mileage may vary.
• 
  Akkisuitok

  There is some genuinely useful information here about practical methods to manage both daily, localized anxiety as well as the general anxiety over how crazy the world can be.
  I did get slightly exasperated by the author's extremely conversational tone and frequent swearing though. It's definitely a conscious stylistic choice but sometimes I just wished for a more neutral tone.
  I also felt like the section on the actual skills lacked some structure or at least a final summary that pulled it all together. Instead the book more or less just ends.
• 
  Jamie Corbett

  I'd rate it higher, but her style of writing is challenging. That being said, I will happily recommend this brief book.
• 
  Sofia

  Overall I enjoyed the book. Feels like I understand myself a little better, and learned a few things about health. Not sure if the techniques are explained and organized in a way I'll remember to use them. Like the toolbox metaphor, guess I'll have to look at what options I have as often as I need to use other tools.
  The swearing and jokes are hit and miss. Sometimes they add, sometimes they detract, making the explanation lacking or confusing. But I feel like they are some stories that you can laugh and relate to.
• 
  Rae

  A pretty solid voice that can make you love it or hate it. Probably give it to your 13-year-old who loves to swear and doesn't have the patience for thicker books. I feel like it'd be very entertaining in a comic format for young teens to sift through. That said, I'm still keeping it for reference for the straightforward material.
• 
  Dmitriy Rozhkov

  My God she swears! And the series of her books "unf*ck your _placeholder_" 🙄 it was not very pleasant experience to read the book given the explicit language. Although the content is actually valuable. And only 86 pages, which is a rare beast in our 280 pages time.
• 
  Nessie

  This book is brilliant, really helpful. It drove some points home and made me understand.
  And made me chuckle occasionally
• 
  Noor Abu Hassan

  What is stress and how can we deal with it.. trust me you need this book.
• 
  Rodrigo

  This is a valuable book that presents many ways to deal with the psychological consequences of problems we face in life. I’m not fond of cursing, but it’s a minor detail.
• 
  Noel نوال Ali

  “Internal Judo Skills—Here is where we go a bit deeper, and change our relationship with the bullshit in our own mind. How do we make space with what’s going on in our minds that gives us more of a sense of control but without blowing smoke up our own asses?”~Faith G. Harper
  
  This book is so useful I don't even know where to begin. This book is filled to the brim with great helpful coping mechanism skills for everyday stress, many of which I've begun to adopt. Everyday stress can snowball and avalanche into really big stress in no time, especially when you have mental health disorders and issues that can be difficult to manage as is without all the extra stress added on. I'm so thankful my library recommended this book to me, I highly recommend it to anyone who would benefit from learning about more coping skills to handle everyday stress and more.
• 
  Bethany Woodcock

  Unfortunately this book reads like a Tumblr blog ‘badass-bitch’ mood, y’all-ing and f-bombing all over the place. It's a shame - the actual content itself is interesting and useful, but as someone with a PhD I expected something a little more eloquent, it really feels they are trying too hard to be ‘hip’ and ‘down with the kids’.
  
  Two stars as some people will enjoy this style of self-help book and it does actually have valuable information, but it just wasn’t for me.
• 
  Leigh Anne Clark

  I read this for work. I love CBT and finding positives in life. This book is the worst. I think it pulls the worst out of people and it’s not helpful. It’s literally harmful with her weird SEAL stuff. You aren’t a SEAL. I had to skip over half the book cause my eyes burned from the weirdness and the semi-halfhardess to the true CBT thought process. Sorry I paid the money for this. Don’t make my mistake.
• 
  Jaco

  Some good advice however there is a lot of cursing. I almost feels like a teenager that just learned how to curse and took very much away from the experience in my opinion. I can see this book being lovely for some people, I am personally just not one of those people.
• 
  Karl

  Lots to reflect on. This is a small book but it’s packed with techniques and information beyond the deep breathing, epsom bath, hot tea realm of skills.
• 
  Dov

  Well written and easy to understand. Provides many options and tools for coping. Easy reference and a must have on every nightstand.
• 
  Doctor

  Prayers, Meditation and Breathing. And You are good at coping skills.
• 
  Dani Rodriguez

  Very helpful will be definitely read it again
• 
  Jacqui Butler

  Awful.
  Only got through part of it. Too much y'all , yo and swearing.
  One of the worst books I have ever attempted to read.
• 
  Liz

  Meh. There is some genuinely helpful info and a pretty useful list at of a bunch of helpful coping skills, but overall i didn’t find it too satisfying.
  
  A couple issues i have:
  
  1. The author is definitely trauma informed but certainly not very trauma *sensitive*. At one point she says that everyone has experienced trauma (which ya is true) but doesn’t really specify that some trauma is more extensive or might affect coping skills in one way or another. Sure everyone has faced terrible things, not every walks away unscathed.
  
  2. At times the book seems to be more about relationships (read couples therapy-like) and doesn’t do a particularly good job at it either. It seems like when the author talks about stress it’s largely ambiguous or weirdly specific at other times
  
  3. It’s very casual and has a lot of swear words, which is cool if you’re into that! But don’t be fooled into thinking this is the professional version of the zine
  
  4. I would’ve loved a summary or conclusion. The ending was very unsatisfying and i felt lost putting the book down at the end.
• 
  Pontus Enander

  “Coping Skills...” has some useful tips and it’s an alright book but I’d warmly recommend Harper’s book “Unfuck Your Brain: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-outs, and Triggers” instead. It has much of what’s in “Coping Skills...” but also more and it’s written in with more nuance and depth.
  
  My biggest problem with “Coping Skills...” is the language and then the lack of references to claims made. “Unfuck Your Brain...” is a whole different reading experience in that regard, even though it’s the same author. “Coping Skills...” starts of a bit funny with the use of swear words and what could have been modern street talk poetics but it lacks nuance and really soon it just becomes crap prose. And it deters from the actual content which is a shame.
  
  So, some good stuff in the book but poor language/writing and more of a draft version than a finished book lacking references and further reading tips. Therefore only three stars.
• 
  Erin-Joi

  I had to look up the author then look at other reviews before writing my own. I wanted to be sure that I wasn't being sensitive or something. Nope, this author just swears a lot. It sounds like the book was written then edited to add more swearing and colloquialisms in as many places as possible. If listening to the author speak, I probably would be turning to a companion and asking which generation she was trying to fit in with.
  
  There is some really good information here, but it is masked by the attempt to be "reachable". I don't know any woman her age who says "Ya feel me?", and I am close to her age. It sounds as fake as when everyone went around saying "Capiche?" after the Godfather movies.
  
  The attempt at being familiar and overuse of swearing diminishes the impact of what could be an otherwise good book, and half the length.
• 
  Bebe Brown

  This book is extremely practical. It examines stress and our stress responses and then gives so many ways of responding to stress and triggers—or interrupting the stress cycle. Many of the ideas were new to me. The author’s writing style is conversational with lots of swearing. She is credentialed and even quotes studies pertaining to Navy Seals. She also gave me some definitions for prayer, meditation, and spirituality that I am going to use in the future. Some of the techniques are quick and practical and some require some planning. This book is insightful. I feel I will use her ideas in the future like the ladder of self care. The book is insightful and would be a good gift.
• 
  Emma Pace

  I was recommending this book to colleagues, friends, and anyone who would listen before I hit page 31. I am a counselor and am always trying to find things for my clients to use that would benefit them. Who knew a shit ton of the answers would be between to orange covers? I seriously asked myself, “where has this book been all my life?”. Seriously, read it. And then read it again. Then share it, and then re-read it when it comes back to you. It’s okay to work on your brain even if you swear up and down you’re “fine”. This book will tell you so.
• 
  Tim Tuttle

  A good self-help book for learning coping skills. I appreciate the author's head nod to spirituality, (prayer and meditation), though I was disappointed that she did not address the usefulness of connecting in relationship with safe people and talking about your distress as an effective tool. I get the profanity thing... she's trying to reach a certain audience, but I just found it annoying and distracting (-1 more star).
• 
  Helfren Filex

  The tool of therapy and how we can use it to cope with the stress and depression that causes by the daily disruption in work place and other environment. The best take from this book is:
  
  "OK, let me get through this assignment, I can always quit after,”
  
  A very make sense way of Navy Seal on how to get through hard times. Quite realistic usable quotes in real life. 5 stars for this!