Build Your Coping Toolkit online series: Managing Stress and Emotional Triggers
We all experience stress and overwhelming emotions, but many of us were never taught how to cope with this.
Coping strategies are practical tools that help us manage stress and emotional discomfort in the moment. They support us to stay in control, reduce the impact of triggers, and prevent situations from escalating. These are not about “fixing” emotions, but about creating safety, stability, and choice in how we respond.
This online series of information sessions is designed to gently introduce a range of evidence-based coping strategies, helping you understand what works, when to use it, and why sometimes it doesn’t work. All sessions will be run by Surinder Kaur, Cognitive Behavioural and EMDR Therapist. Surinder Kaur is a dedicated mental health professional with over three decades of experience in the NHS, specialising in mental health.
What Are Coping Strategies?
Coping strategies are methods you can use to:
Calm your nervous system
Bring your attention back to the present
Reduce emotional intensity
Create a sense of safety and control
Different situations require different tools. That’s why coping strategies are often grouped into types - so you can choose what you need in the moment.
Together, these approaches give you a flexible toolkit rather than a one-size-fits-all solution.
The Key Coping Groups We’ll Explore:
Grounding – Safety and Stabilisation
Grounding helps when you feel disconnected, overwhelmed, or “not quite here”. It brings you back into the present moment using your senses and body.
Examples include:
5–4–3–2–1 sensory exercise
tasting
touch
Grounding is often the first step — creating safety before anything else.
2. Mindfulness – Noticing Without Judgement
Mindfulness is about becoming aware of your thoughts, emotions, and sensations without trying to change them. It helps reduce reactivity and build emotional awareness.
Simple practices include:
Noticing the view from a window
Watching someone sleep or breathe
This is not about “clearing your mind” — it’s about noticing what’s already there, with kindness.
3. Breathing – Calming the Nervous System
Breathing techniques directly affect the nervous system and can reduce anxiety, panic, and emotional overwhelm.
We’ll explore:
Box breathing
Rhythm breathing
These techniques help regulate emotions and refocus the mind during moments of stress.
4. Imagery – Internal Stabilisation
Imagery uses the mind to create a sense of calm or safety in the body. It’s often used as preparation before deeper therapeutic work such as CBT or EMDR. Example:
Creating a safe place in your mind
It’s important to acknowledge that imagery has limitations, it doesn’t work for everyone, and that’s okay. Understanding when and why it helps (or doesn’t) is part of the learning.
5. Rhythm & Music – Body-Based Regulation
Rhythm and sound help regulate emotions by working with the body rather than the mind. These approaches are especially helpful when emotions feel too strong for talking or thinking. Examples include:
Bilateral tapping
Humming or singing
Dancing or tapping
When Coping Strategies Don’t Work
An important part of this series is looking at barriers.Sometimes strategies don’t work because:
The wrong tool is used at the wrong time
The nervous system is too overwhelmed
There hasn’t been enough stabilisation first
Expectations are unrealistic
Understanding why something isn’t working help you realise it’s not just you, and builds confidence in choosing alternatives.
Upcoming 7-Session Workshop Structure
This series is delivered over seven weekly sessions:
Session 1 – Understanding Coping strategies: why they matter and when to use them.
Session 2 – Grounding: Safety and stabilisation.
Session 3 – Mindfulness: Noticing without judgement.
Session 4 – Breathing: Calming and emotional regulation.
Session 5 – Imagery: Internal stabilisation.
Session 6 – Rhythm & Music: Body-based regulation.
Session 7 – Integration & Reflection: Creating your own personal coping plan.
Practical Details
🗓 Starts: Wednesday 18th February 2026
⏰ Time: Every Wednesday at 8:30pm- 9.30pm
📅 Last session: Wednesday 1st April 2026
Why This Matters?
Many of us, particularly within communities where emotional struggles are rarely spoken about, have learned to push through rather than pause and regulate.
These sessions are not about perfection. They’re about choice, understanding and compassion-learning what helps you, and building tools you can return to again and again.
Coping isn’t about never feeling overwhelmed. It’s about knowing what to do when you are.
Who are these sessions for?
These sessions are open to anyone who wants to better understand practical ways to manage stress and emotional triggers in everyday life.
The sessions are free of charge to ensure accessibility for all. Through initiatives like this, AMBER is committed to building a supportive community that empowers Asian women to thrive across our four pillars: wellness, parenting, careers and finance.