TIPP Skill for Managing Extreme Emotions
Posted: May 26, 2020 | Author: Lyndsey Nelson | Read Time: 2 minutes
As we face the COVID-19 crisis, it is entirely normal to experience emotions that feel beyond our control. Feelings of anxiety, depression, tension, stress, fear, sadness or a lack of motivation are an entirely normal reaction to the ever-changing state of emergency surrounding us.
In response to these reactions, Southern Utah University’s Counseling and Psychological Services created a COVID-19 Survival Guide to help students navigate these turbulent times. Included in that guide is the TIPP skill, which helps students to acknowledge and calm extreme emotions.
- T - Tip the temperature of your face with cold water to calm down fast.
- I - Intense Exercise
- P - Paced Breathing
- P - Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Tip the temperature of your face with cold water to calm down fast.
Cooling down can be a highly effective way to help calm your emotions. Splashing water on your face can help to calm anxiety by diverting the brain's attention, as well as helping to ground you in your body.
Holding your breath, dip your face in a bowl of cold water; keep water above 50 degrees. Or hold a cold pack or ziplock bag with ice water on your eyes and cheeks or splash cold water on your face.
Intense Aerobic Exercise
Exercise can help to decrease tension, elevate and stabilize mood, improve sleep, and improve self-esteem.
To calm down your body when it is revved up by emotion, engage in intense aerobic exercise for 10-15 minutes. This can be running, biking or a fast walk. Even dancing can help to get your body moving and raise your heart rate.
Paced Breathing
Practicing paced breathing can help to ground your body as well as regulate a heightened heart rate.
Slow your pace of breathing way down by breathing deeply from the abdomen. Breathe out for longer than you breath in. For example, if you breathe in for four seconds, breathe out for eight. Do this for 1-2 minutes to bring down elevated emotions.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
By taking time to focus on where your body stores tension and releasing that tension, you will be better able to ground and center yourself within your environment. This also helps to acknowledge what your body is feeling, another step recommended by CAPS in their COVID-19 Survival Guide.
Tense and relax each muscle group, head to toes, one muscle group at a time. Tense for five seconds, then let go; relax the muscle all the way. Notice the tension; notice the difference when relaxed. As you relax each muscle, say to yourself, "relax."
Remember, it is perfectly normal to feel extreme emotions during this time of crisis. SUU Counseling and Psychological Services will remain open during the summer for remote group and individual meetings. They will also be hosting fifty-minute hangout sessions for any SUU students looking to connect socially during this time.
If you have any further questions about group or individual counseling meetings, please contact CAPS directly.
This article was published more than 3 years ago and might contain outdated information or broken links. As a result, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Tags: Coronavirus CAPS
