When working with coaching or counseling clients who are experiencing anxiety over the future, I often invite them to engage in a worst-case-scenario exercise. Here, they imagine “What’s the worst you think could happen if…”, and express various results.

Sounds counterintuitive, I know. We’re supposed to help people feel and think more positively, not encourage them to generate a whole bunch of negative possibilities and ponder them! But often, in order to truly free ourselves and others from fear, we have to face the negative to reach the positive.

For example, one client was telling me about his fear of not doing well on a project he’d just been assigned to. He felt excited about the opportunity to prove himself, but understandably anxious about failing, since it was his first chance, and things were new for him.

I invited him to engage in a worst-case-scenario exercise—what’s the worst that could happen, the results, and how he’d deal with it if that happened. Here’s how it went, step by step, as he expressed it:

Failing would mean making many mistakes that cost a lot of money. That would cause a lower profit, which he’d have to explain to higher ups if it got too low. That would damage his reputation, which could cost him his job, which would then ruin his chances of a good future in his career. Final result—“I’d be devastated.”

By now you may be thinking, “how is this a way to encourage someone and give them hope, making them think of all this terrible stuff?!” But that thinking is already there, consciously or subconsciously. It has to be brought to light to refute and/or address it. Refute if it’s way-out-ridiculous. Address if it really could happen—come up with ways of preventing it.

If it needs addressing, we do this step by step, this time in reverse, starting with the end-result of the worst case, thinking of ways under his control he can avert each bad result. Think of this as climbing back up the same “stairs” of negative progression we just went down, so we end back up at the top instead of the bottom.

For example, going back to the guy with the fear of a devastated life and future, beginning with his fear of failing on his new project:

–How to keep from a devastated future—Consider his skills and good experiences for other options in case he loses his job.

–How to keep from losing his job—somehow protect his reputation, even if things go wrong because he made a mistake.

–How to keep his reputation from tanking—“They would know I worked hard and tried hard”—showing diligence and teachability

–How to keep from losing too much money even if he does make a mistake—Ask for help, don’t be afraid or too proud to mitigate his mistake, even though it was his fault.

–How to keep from making mistakes to begin with—Research, look for a good mentor, ask for advice, ask his boss for a good partner that can do the things he can’t.

Ahh, now that’s comforting! By now, my client was realizing there were things he could do at every point of possible harm. He didn’t have to fear the worst because he had agency to make it better!

Here’s another worst-case-scenario-exercise example:

A client from India was legitimately anxious about losing her job amid company layoffs. If that happened, she could lose her work visa if she couldn’t get another job and sponsor. In the end, the worst case would be she and her husband would have to go back to India and leave the new house they just bought. As she talked about all this, her face brightened when she realized even if all that happened, she’d still be ok. How? As she thought and explained, if they have to go back, her parents are there, who she misses, they also have a house there that they left to come to the U.S., etc. After thinking of and expressing all that, she felt much better.

These two worst-case-scenario-exercises illustrate two ways they help us overcome anxiety. In the first instance, the guy first discovered things he could do to prevent it from happening. Then he focused on feeling better, just in case the worst happened anyway. In the second, the woman couldn’t do much. Nothing about possibly being laid off or losing her visa was directly under her control. But she could find ways to feel better, regardless of what happened, and chose to start there. This put her in a frame of mind where she could then think of some possible actions within her control. In both cases, this exercise freed them from anxiety paralysis and helpless mindset so they could do and feel, or feel and do, better.

For those of us who know and have relationship with the Lord as our good and sovereign Father, we have these promises as weapons to wield against any worst-case scenario:

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Is. 41:10

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Tim. 1:7

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Rom. 8:28

All of these and more assure us that God will make sure we and things will turn out ok, even good, no matter what.

Ultimately, when we face down worst-case-scenarios, we enable ourselves to see challenges as adventures vs. catastrophes, and anticipate the positive, having disarmed the negative. It helps us avoid catastrophic spiral-thinking when we see how improbable that possible catastrophe really is. Or, if it were to happen, how we could recover from it and how our lives wouldn’t have to be destroyed by it. The “what if”s lose their toxic potency.

How about you? What are you facing that’s keeping you up at night with fear and anxiety? Fear of any kind of loss can do that— loss of a loved one, of acceptance and a respect in a community, of financial security, of physical health and ability to function, of…

Try the worst-case-scenario exercise and see what happens. The best thing about it is, it builds emotional fortitude, resilience, strength of character, strategic planning skills, reduces anxiety, and improves physical health due to better sleep and less stress-hormones being produced. And well, if it doesn’t do all that, what’s the worst that could happen?