Feel Better Fast are psycho-educational workshops that teach coping strategies to address our emotions so that we can thrive-even under stress!
Topics include: how to cope with moods, manage stress, increase focus, and strategies to change how your mind and body responds to stress.
Virtual Drop-in Workshops
Feel Better Fast 60-minute psycho-educational workshops are offered multiple times a week and are led by one of our EKUCC clinicians. Drop-in as many times as you would like in a week! FBF workshops are currently offered:
Tuesdays 1:00 – 2:00 pm online! To attend our online workshop, select this link during the scheduled workshop time – Join Current Workshop
Thursdays 3:30 – 4:30 pm online! To attend our online workshop, select this link during the scheduled workshop time – Join Current Workshop
For a list of our Feel Better Fast! workshops, see our Events page and Engage, or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for daily reminders.
Coping Strategies (By Topic)
10 Minutes
10 Minutes – By now, you’ve probably heard people talk about this idea of mindfulness. However, it’s hard to know what it really is. Is it deep breathing? Sitting and chanting? Does it teach you how to fly? Andy Puddicombe, the creator of the App “Headspace” provides insights about mindfulness based on his experience of being a monk, and wanting to share the power of mindfulness with the world. This is an excellent starting point for beginners to mindfulness.
Mindful Movement
The Mindful Movement – Take 10 minutes out of your day when you may be feeling stressed or overwhelmed to practice this short guided meditation to help you balance your energy and get grounded. Enjoy a time of curious introspection, noticing your breath and your body, then inviting in relaxation and ease.
by Sara Raymond
Heart Meditation
Heart Meditation by Chris Collins
30 Seconds to Mindfulness
30 Seconds To Mindfulness – Don’t have 10 minutes a day? Watch this short video to get tips on how to utilize mindfulness in 30 seconds or less. Phil Boissiere teaches the 3X3 method and provides new tools as to how to apply mindfulness to your daily life.
Mindful Strategies
Mood Balance (Emotional Regulation)
Regardless of whether you’re at home or school, every day we can experience a wide range of emotions. The intensity of these emotions can change quickly and be very difficult to manage. Here are some tools to address coping skills that can be effective at giving us control over our emotions and improving our ability to regulate our moods.
Internal Hijackers
Internal Hijackers – Do you ever feel like you are being driven by your thoughts and feelings? This short video provides examples of what it is like to feel overwhelmed by thoughts and feelings and one way to respond to them.
Feelings Wheel
Feelings Wheel – Emotions are vast and complex internal experiences. While most people are familiar with the “Big 4” (Happy, Sad, Angry, and Scared), they struggle to add specific detail to these feelings, or recognize the vast but subtle differences that exist in emotions that give us a better idea as to what we are feeling. This resource helps give sharper definition to emotions, to better understand what they are telling us, which in turn allows us to make better decisions as to how to respond to them.
Reducing Vulnerability
Sleep Hygiene
Sleep Hygiene – One very important aspect of mood balance is getting enough sleep. If this has been a problem for you, use this resource and try applying the tips to your sleeping schedule. It may take a little while for your body to get used to the changes that are suggested, but putting the effort in to be consistent with the application can have a huge impact on your emotional functioning.
I Can Take It (Distress Tolerance)
Feeling like you’re currently in the middle of an unfinished Jumanji game can lead to feeling overwhelmed. Changes in your daily routine and the people you’re around can lead to a mixture of emotions. These new experiences can be stressful. The tools provided below are aimed to provide you with skills to navigate these intense emotions and increase the positive experiences throughout your day.
Distress Tolerance Tips
Distress Tolerance Tips – This short video will provide an introduction to Distress Tolerance and provide some information about ways to effectively manage it.
Covid Lockdown Guide
Crisis Survival Strategies
Unwanted Party Guest
Unwanted Party Guest – This short video provides application skills to distress tolerance through an animated example, to help you see the concepts in action.
Body Inventory
Body Inventory (for physical relaxation and stress reduction)
Study Skills and Time Management
Going from have the daily structure of in-person classes to doing all of your work online can be a difficult adjustment to make. Family members, pets, video games, and Netflix can easily take our attention away from our studying priorities. Here are tools that may help provide structure for your academic work so that you can prevent the stress that often comes with procrastination.
Effective Study Skills
Weekly Planner Template
Weekly Planner Template – Anytime we transition to a new environment, it can be hard to create a new structure for getting things done. This tool helps to provide a visual breakdown of the hourly blocks you have available throughout any given week. Start by filling in times for activities that are not flexible (such as work/class). Then add other obligations that you need to complete for the given week. Once this is done, you have a clear picture of the other times available throughout the week that you can use to accomplish your goals. As an added bonus, you can use this resource throughout the week by tracking how you spent your time during the flexible blocks of time between your weekly obligations. Use this information for your next week’s page to determine how to maximize the times when you are most productive.
Maximizing Learning
Test Anxiety
Test Anxiety Skills – With the semester winding down, that means finals are getting closer. Finals can create some positive feelings of concluding the semester but may bring up some anxiety due to exams that come with it. These are ideas and skills that can reduce your stress and anxiety relating to exams to give you confidence and motivation to finish the semester the way you want to!