Okuzeka
Psychology vocabulary · Emotion and Motivation

Cope with

Meaning in psychology, with examples

/ˈkəʊp wɪð/phrasal verbCore term

In psychology, cope with means: To deal with a difficult situation, feeling or problem in a way that lets you keep functioning, for example by solving the problem or managing your emotions.

In Turkish: başa çıkmak, baş etmek

How it is used

Very common in clinical, health and stress research. The noun coping appears in coping strategies, coping skills and problem-focused versus emotion-focused coping. Clinicians often ask: 'How are you coping?'

Example sentences

  1. How are you coping with the new job and the baby?

  2. Drinking had become his main way of coping with loneliness.

  3. We teach students practical skills for coping with exam stress.

Common collocations

  • cope with stress
  • coping strategies
  • coping skills
  • struggle to cope
  • stressThe body's and mind's response to demands or threats that seem to exceed a person's resources, involving physical arousal, tension and worry.
  • resilienceThe ability to adapt well and recover after adversity, trauma or serious stress, drawing on personal strengths and support from others.
  • emotion regulationThe processes people use to influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how strongly they experience and express them.
  • defence mechanismIn psychodynamic theory, an unconscious mental strategy that protects a person from anxiety or painful feelings, such as denial, projection or repression.

More terms: Emotion and Motivation

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level:

This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.