Count to Cope COPECARD®

How It Works

Counting - a basic mathematical calculation - require numerous skills:

  • sequential reasoning: following logic/ stated rules to solve a problem step-by-step

  • visual processing / symbol recognition: decoding the visual form of numbers (e.g., visual shape of the symbol “2”) ,

  • visual/spatial processing: making sense of numbers such as “6” and “9” depending on how they are rotated

  • auditory processing: decoding the phonological feature of numbers (e.g., the word “two”)

  • working memory: the ability to hold information in our minds while we manipulate it

Counting to cope:

  • Stress and trauma disrupt our thinking and feelings. Complex thinking can become difficult. Engaging in a familiar, rudimentary task such as counting, can “re-start” the brain (get us into our “thinking brain”) which helps to stabilize our mind and also calm our “feeling brain”

  • focuses our attention on a neutral cognitive activity, giving us space from the stress/trauma, allowing us to “re-set”

  • exercises memory retrieval and integration, which are disrupted by stress/trauma

  • brings us into the present moment, especially when we count things in our environment

How to Use

Count by 2’s, 3’s, 5’, 10’s. Count forwards and backwards. Count people or things in your environment. Count things of the same category. Choose a number and think of five ways you can make the number (6 + 11 = 17, 20 – 3 = 17, 8 × 2 + 1 = 17, etc.) Count inside your own head. Count out loud - use your voice.

When to Use - Signs of Stress/Trauma

  • not talking, not answering questions

  • disconnected: staring blankly into space; immobilized - not moving

  • preoccupied, worried, overwhelmed

  • anxious, panicked, agitated

What It Can Do

  • decrease anxiety, distress; feel calmer

  • increase control over feelings (self-regulation)

  • think more clearly; increased concentration & problem solving

  • improve compliance: ability to hear and follow directions

  • reconnect to self and present moment

  • increase interaction with people and environment

  • strengthen fluid reasoning: the ability to think flexibly to solve a problem

  • slow down one’s experience of the present, which can be distorted by stress and trauma