Cope Ahead

When you can see it coming and want to enter it ready. It’s one of the DBT emotion regulation skills, and the skills picker can route a client here in the moment.

Not sure this is the right skill?

The free DBT skills picker asks what’s happening right now and routes to a skill to try.

Open the skills picker

When to reach for Cope Ahead

When you can see it coming and want to enter it ready.

How to practice Cope Ahead

Picture the situation in detail. Where, who, what's happening.
Imagine yourself coping well. Walk through the moves you'd want to make.
Anticipate what could go wrong. Plan a response for each.
Rehearse mentally one more time, just before. Your body remembers what you practiced.

If it doesn’t help: the DBT skills picker routes next to Self-Soothe. Different skills land for different people and moments — trying the next-best fit is part of the method, not a failure.

Tracking Cope Ahead on a diary card

Whether a client used Cope Ahead — and whether it helped — is exactly what a DBT diary card captures. Recording skill use day by day is how you see, in session, whether emotion regulation skills are generalizing.

Track skill use for free

Build a custom diary card that tracks the skills you’re working on, or track it digitally in Theracharts.

Build a diary card All DBT skills

FAQ

What is Cope Ahead in DBT?

Cope Ahead is a DBT emotion regulation skill. When you can see it coming and want to enter it ready.

When should I use Cope Ahead?

Reach for cope ahead when you can see it coming and want to enter it ready.

In crisis? Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, US) — free, confidential, 24/7. This page is educational and is not therapy, diagnosis, or a substitute for professional care.