Stress Management Program

 

STRESS MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMS

Stress management programs typically involve three phases.

In the first phase, participants learn what stress is and how to identify the stressors in their own lives. In the second phase, they acquire and practice skills for coping with stress. In the final phase, they practice these coping techniques in targeted stressful situations and monitor their effectiveness (Meichenbaum & Jaremko, 1983).

1.     Assertiveness Training

The person is encouraged to identify the people in the environment whjo cause them stress called stress carriers and develop techniques for confronting them.

2.     A Stress Management Program

 A program called Combat Stress Now (CSN) makes use of these various phases of education, skill acquisition, and practice.

i-                   Identifying Stressors:  In the first phase of the program, participants learn what stress is and how it creates physical wear and tear.

ii-                Monitoring Stress In the self-monitoring phase of the program, students are trained to observe their own behavior closely and to record the circumstances that they find most stressful.

iii-              Identifying Stress Antecedents Once students learn to chart their stress responses, they are taught to examine the antecedents of these experiences. They learn to focus on what happens just before they experience feelings of stress. For example, one student may feel overwhelmed with academic life only when contemplating having to speak out in class,.

iv-              Avoiding Negative Self-Talk Students are next trained to recognize and eliminate the negative self-talk they go through when they face stressful events. For example, the student who fears speaking out in class may recognize how self-statements contribute to this process: “I hate asking questions,” “I always get tonguetied,” and “I’ll probably forget what I want to say.”

v-                Completing Take-Home Assignments In addition to in-class exercises, students have take home assignments. They keep a stress diary in which they record what events they find stressful and how they respond to them. As they become proficient in identifying stressful incidents, they are encouraged to record the negative self-statements or irrational thoughts that accompany the stressful experience.

vi-              Acquiring Skills The next stage of stress management involves skill acquisition and practice. These skills include cognitive-behavioral management techniques, time management skills, and other stress reducing interventions, such as exercise.

vii-           Setting New Goals Each student next sets several specific goals that he or she wants to meet to reduce the experience of college stress. For one student, the goal may be learning to speak in class without suffering overwhelming anxiety. For another, it may be going to see a particular professor about a problem. Once the goals are set, specific behaviors to meet those goals are identified.

viii-         Engaging in Positive Self-Talk and Self- Instruction Once students have set realistic goals and identified some target behaviors for reaching their goals, they learn how to engage in self-instruction and positive self-talk. Self-instruction involves reminding oneself of the specific steps that are required to achieve the goal. Positive self-talk involves providing the self with encouragement.