What would you do if your house caught on fire? Would your kids know what to do? Dr. Robin says having a plan in place to deal with an emergency or crisis will help you get out of a bad situation safely. "I want you to develop an emergency plan right now," Dr. Robin says. "Don't wait for trouble to knock on your door."

Dr. Robin says you should not only have a plan to protect yourself from physical harm, but you should have one to protect yourself from emotional harm as well. Don't wait for your marriage to start unraveling or your children to start experimenting with drugs before you start thinking, "What should I do?" Dr. Robin says. Just like the fire drills you practiced in school, you should think through and practice your own emergency plan, she says. "If you find that things have gone wrong and you have a plan, you will say, 'I know what to do!'" Dr. Robin says.

While you cannot always predict what kind of crisis you may have to deal with, Dr. Robin says being prepared will give you peace of mind. "We can plan in the time of peace about what we are going to do when there is such unrest in our lives," she says.