Learning Enhanced Coping Skills (LECS)

1. Preparing for the LECS - DIY Exercise
2. User’s Instructions
3. The Saffron Prescription
4. The booklet: Cognitive Behavior Modification and Psychophylaxis for Stress Management.
5. Action Plan.

IMPORTANT: Have all the course materials ready prior to beginning the Exercise.

Choose a suitable time, free of distractions, for undisturbed dedicated time for about 20 to 30 minutes. Sit down leisurely in a relaxed state.

Read the User’s Instructions (white, 3 pages) and the Saffron Prescription (saffron, 6 pages). It does not matter what you understand and what you don’t at this time. It is not important at this stage if you don’t understand anything at all. Just read the User’s Instructions and go through the contents in the Saffron Prescription once, twice or more.

Read the booklet: Cognitive Behavior Modification and Psychophylaxis for Stress Management. At this time it is not important how much you understand. Just read it, anyway. See how you make out and what you understand. You may read it more than once.

You may do this Step 4 in the same sitting or in subsequent sitting(s).

(1). Read the User’s Instructions (white) again. Go to its page 3. For a few moments just think about its contents. Then complete page 3. If you need more space use page 4.

(2). Get the Saffron Prescription (saffron). Go through the items. Choose the items that are applicable and suitable for your situation. Mark them with a tick mark. Going through the booklet (Cognitive Behavior Modification and Psychophylaxis for Stress Management) will give the descriptions of the listed items. The items in the saffron prescription are numbered, with the same corresponding numbers in the booklet. That will help you to complete the Saffron Prescription.

(3). REMARKS: If you have any other information write under REMARKS in page 3, 4 of the User’s Instructions.

Some of you may find that the booklet helps you to Learn Enhanced Coping Skills (LECS). You can read the parts that you find useful as often as you wish. It is Auto-psychotherapy (APT). It is more than APT; it is Cognitive Behavioral and Intellectual Enhancement therapy – Cobiet.

This groundwork, doing Steps 1 to 4 will help you to reap more benefit from the LECS –DIY Exercise.

It is like going to a river or lake for water. You can take a glassful or you can fill your bucket.

Go to the Saffron Prescription. The different particulars for counseling are listed under the Formulas of psychophylaxis headings. You can see the description and details of these items by clicking on the corresponding links – the numbers on the right side of the item in blue. Select the suitable items to your situation by clicking on the boxes on the left side of the items. You can see a tick (\/) mark in the corresponding box. After you have selected the items suitable for your situation go to the bottom of that page and click on the Generate Saffron Prescription. Your custom made individualized Cognitive Behavior Modification and healthy Lifestyle (ICBM) prescription will appear. Then you can print your ICBM Rx for LECS and Stress Management

You can use it often, as and when you need, as cues / prompts and reinforcements to learn enhanced coping skills to deal with stressful situations.

I. ICBM therapy in busy Medical Care

1. It enables the prescription of LCBM (Lifestyle and Cognitive Behavioral Modification) in a busy Medical Care setting similar to the prescription of dietary, physical activity and pharmaco-therapy. (the prescription may be delivered by a Clinical Nutritionist, Fitness Physiotherapist, Pharmacist or Psychologist / Counselor).

II. Counseling more effective

2. Patient’s active involvement in identifying the causes of stress and the remedies thereof made easy by the Saffron Prescription facilitates delivery of effective individualized LCBM.
3. CBM therapy will be more effective prescribed at the opportune time (example: ER)
4. In the Mental Health Services it helps to plan therapy at the time of Intake.
5. CBM is made more effective coming from the patient’s Medical Practitioner (MP).
6. CBM / psychotherapy from the psychologist will be more effective supplemented with a tailor-made prescription coming from the patient’s MP and with active patient participation / involvement.

III. Facilitates the Clinician

7. For the clinician, it conduces to a higher level of functioning.
8. It facilitates counseling making the task less strenuous for the clinician.

IV. Pre-psychiatric Clinical Settings

9. CBM is indicated in many non-psychiatric / pre-psychiatric clinical settings. For such patients in many communities psychological counseling facilities do not exist.

V. Helps the Patients

10. Some patients may not need more in depth therapy.
11. Some patients will not go to a mental health professional.
12. CBM coming from the non-mental health professional overcomes the stigma that is still prevalent.
13. Even with the counseling by psychologist / counselor, short counseling by Physician will be very effective reinforcements.
14. The patient handouts - the booklet Cognitive Behavior Modification and Psychophylaxis for Stress Management helps as reference and reinforcement counseling for many patients
15. It conduces to ‘ patient empowerment ’ and Auto-psycho Therapy (APT)

VI. Clear Continuity of ICBM therapy

16. Continuity of CBM therapy can be maintained even with different clinicians doing the counseling with the list of counseled aspects marked clearly in the Saffron Rx .
17. The patient / client, can benefit from reinforcing counseling, instead of becoming dependent on a particular counselor.

VII. Easy Transferability of Skills

18. the skills for counseling ICBM can be easily transferred to clinicians and practitioners, even to professionals who are not routinely proficient in counseling skills using the Cobiet model and the Saffron Prescription.

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