Welcome to 3-2-1 Tuesdays with Better Wellness Naturally- Coping or Healing? The Difference Between Surviving and Truly Thriving
- Admin
- Apr 22
- 4 min read
Thank you for joining us for 3-2-1 Tuesdays!
Quick bits of therapeutic info and learning, ideas, concepts, and quotes.
Brought to you by Better Wellness Naturally
3: Keys
2: Concepts
1: Quick Article
"Coping is getting by; healing is growing beyond."
3 Keys
Notice and honor your coping
Coping strategies are natural responses to stress and difficult emotions. They allow us to survive, manage overwhelm, and protect ourselves in the short term. Healing begins when we gently notice these coping patterns and ask, “Am I just getting by, or am I ready to grow beyond this?” Remember, with awareness change is possible and that awareness is the first step.
Embrace your feelings fully
Coping often involves pushing emotions aside to function day-to-day, which is completely understandable. Healing, however, requires creating space to feel emotions fully, safely, and without judgment. This might include journaling, mindful reflection, therapy, or creative expression—practices that help your mind and body integrate experiences rather than just endure them.
Take intentional steps toward growth
As much as we would hope it would be, healing isn’t instantaneous, nor does it happen by accident. Healing involves small, consistent, intentional actions that nurture your well-being. This could be anything from setting healthy boundaries to practicing restorative yoga or engaging in community support. Unlike coping, which is reactive, healing is proactive—it’s a conscious commitment to thrive, not just survive.
A Couple of Concepts
Survival Mode vs. Growth Mode
Survival mode is where coping lives. It’s about conserving energy, protecting yourself, and managing immediate stress. Growth mode is where healing happens: you reflect, learn, and create space for personal development. The shift from survival to growth is subtle but powerful—it transforms everyday reactions into intentional, meaningful living.
Adaptive vs. Maladaptive Coping
Adaptive coping strategies are healthy ways to manage stress and maintain balance, like exercise, connecting with loved ones, or practicing mindfulness. Maladaptive coping provides temporary relief but can create long-term challenges, such as emotional eating, numbing with TV or substances, or avoiding feelings altogether. Recognizing the difference helps you honor coping while moving toward healing.
A Quick Overview:
Coping and healing are both responses to stress, but they work in very different ways in the brain.
Coping strategies often trigger the amygdala—the part of the brain responsible for threat detection, helping you survive in the short term. This is why coping mechanisms, like distracting yourself with TV or work, can feel comforting—they signal safety and control. However, chronic reliance on coping alone can keep your brain and body in a heightened state of stress, which over time may contribute to anxiety, burnout, or emotional exhaustion.
Healing engages both the emotional and cognitive systems. Mindfulness, expressive writing, restorative yoga, or therapy stimulate the prefrontal cortex, which helps regulate emotions, reframe negative patterns, and create new neural pathways—a process known as neuroplasticity. Even small, intentional practices like naming your emotions, journaling, or deep breathing exercises can strengthen these pathways, helping you respond to stress with resilience rather than just reacting.
Interestingly, research also shows that engaging in creative expression like painting, dancing, or music can reduce activity in the amygdala while boosting connectivity in the prefrontal cortex, effectively combining coping with healing in a transformative way.
In essence, coping is about survival; healing is about thriving. Coping keeps the lights on; healing lets your whole house shine. By honoring where you are, reflecting on your coping strategies, and taking intentional steps toward growth, you can move from merely getting by to living fully—with energy, clarity, joy, and purpose.
And if you want to explore healing on a deeper level, we’ll be holding After the Shatter: The Liminal Space Retreat in August 2026, Stateside. This retreat is designed to guide participants through that often-challenging space between “what was” and “what’s next,” offering tools, practices, and community support that go beyond coping and help you step into true healing and transformation. So yes… it’s an invitation to rediscover your wholeness and embrace the life waiting for you on the other side of survival.
References:
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1988). Coping as a mediator of emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(3), 466–475.
Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1–18.
Siegel, D. J. (2012). The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are. 2nd Edition. Guilford Press.
Brown, B. (2010). The Gifts of Imperfection. Hazelden Publishing.
Neff, K. (2011). Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. William Morrow.
We’d love to have you join us on retreat!
For more info and to Retreat with us: www.BetterWellnessRetreats.com
by Laura Weber Garrison, PhD
New Review:
“Reading Damaged Rudders feels like sitting with someone who really cares and really gets it. Dr. Garrison doesn’t sugarcoat, yet she writes in a way that makes the hard truths land with compassion. The mix of research and real-life understanding made me stop, reflect, and actually apply what I was reading. It’s not just another self-help book—it’s a companion for the work of healing.”
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