Coaching practices for What to Do Before a Crisis

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For What to Do Before a Crisis, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• When I’m calm I know exactly what helps me, but the second I’m actually in the grip of it my mind goes blank and I can’t remember a single thing to do or even where my stuff is
• When a real emergency hits
• I only ever try to learn how to calm myself down once I’m already in full panic, and of course nothing sticks in that state
• I’m right on the edge of doing the thing I always regret
• I keep pulling all-nighters for emergencies that, if I’m honest, I could see coming weeks out

Practices that may help

1. Prepare your dive-reflex kit before a crisis
   Stock the freezer and brief people in your life before dysregulation peaks — crisis plans work only when made in advance.
   The Dive Reflex, Made Practical
2. Protect your Q1 response capacity
   Real crises are handled best by someone who is not already exhausted — Q1 capacity requires Q2 investment.
   The Eisenhower Life Audit
3. Build coping skills before the storm
   Practice regulation skills in calm times so they’re available — and credible — under pressure.
   Building Resilience, Made Practical
4. Pros and cons before acting on an urge
   List the pros and cons of acting on the crisis urge before you do it — to give the decision back to your wiser self.
   Distress Tolerance Skills, Made Practical
5. Prevent Q1 crises through Q2 investment
   Trace your recurring crises to neglected Q2 work — then schedule it before the next deadline emergency.
   The Eisenhower Matrix and Delegation
6. Cope-ahead planning for high-stakes interactions
   Rehearse a difficult conversation in detail — mentally and verbally — before it happens.
   DBT Interpersonal Effectiveness: Getting What You Need Without Destroying the Relationship
7. T — Take a Step Back: Create Physical and Mental Space
   Step back from the situation — physically if possible, mentally always — to interrupt the reactive loop.
   The STOP Skill: A DBT Technique for Crisis Moments
8. Cope Ahead: DBT’s Method for Preparing for Difficult Situations
   Cope ahead, a DBT skill developed by Marsha Linehan, involves mentally rehearsing a likely difficult situation in detail — imagining the emotions that will arise, and practicing the exact coping responses before the event. It is not positive visualization; it is stress-inoculation rehearsal that pre-loads effective responses so they are available under real-time pressure.
9. TIPP: Rapid Physiological De-escalation for Intense Distress
   Use Temperature, Intense exercise, Paced breathing, and Paired muscle relaxation to bring crisis-level emotion down quickly.
   The STOP Skill: A DBT Technique for Crisis Moments
10. Use grounding before anxiety peaks, not after
    Start the technique at the first sign of anxiety — not once the wave is overwhelming.
    The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique

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