LIFE SKILLS

Learning specific behaviors and thought patterns will help you attain crucial life skills. These skills and the means of developing them tend to fall under broad categories. These ten categories of life skills are what keeps society functional and communities working together. You can learn to incorporate each of these methods into the way you interpret and respond to the world around you. Each of the following categories includes a handful of associated ways of acting and thinking that you can learn in therapy.

1. Self-awareness: Self-evaluation, positive thinking, and understanding how self-esteem and substance abuse are linked. 
2. Empathy: Watching for non-verbal emotional cues, showing sensitivity to what others are going through, and understanding the feelings and needs of people around you. 
3. Critical thinking: The ability to accurately interpret verbal and non-verbal cues and self-regulation.
4. Creative thinking: Keeping your thoughts open-minded, looking at situations from various perspectives, and finding new ways to complete tasks. 
5. Decision making: Evaluating risk, analyzing a situation and possible outcomes before acting, and anticipating logical consequences for actions. 
6. Problem-solving: Coping with issues using analytical problem solving, evaluating healthier alternatives, and implementing problem-solving solutions. 
7. Effective communication: Speaking openly and clearly, listening to what others say, being honest, and avoiding double-speak.
8. Interpersonal relationships: Collaborating with coworkers and peers, communicating honestly and openly with loved ones, and learning to manage conflict.
9. Coping with stress: Giving yourself a break when you need it, learning and practicing self-soothing techniques, and recognizing when to ask for help from your support system. 
10. Coping with emotions: Healthily expressing yourself, using helpful techniques like journaling, and lowering instances of negative emotions through regular meditation.