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Course Content
Session One: Course Overview
You will spend the first part of the day getting to know participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.
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Course Overview
Session Two: Defining Stress and How It Affects Us
To begin, participants will explore what stress is and the effects it can have. They will also work on identifying their stressors.
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Where Are You Now?
Defining and Identifying Stress
Assignments
Ways to Look at Your Stress
Session Three: What is Stress About?
This session will explore some of the things that stress is about. Participants will also learn about the positive effects of stress and what eustress is.
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What is Stress About?
Session Four: Building a Solid Foundation
Next, participants will learn about the four pillars of stress management. Special focus will be given to relaxation techniques.
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Taking Care of Your Body and Your Mind
Assignments
Case Study
Assignments
Draft Lesson
Session Five: Mental Strategies
This session will give participants two mental strategies to manage stress. They will also learn about the Triple A approach: alter, avoid, and accept.
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Changing Ourselves
The Triple A Approach
Session Six: Stress at Work
During this session, participants will complete a stress inventory to help them identify areas of stress at work. Participants will also identify some solutions for work-related stress.
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Stress at Work
Stress Inventory
Assignments
Stress Logging
Session Seven: Time Management Tips
A little bit of planning can go a long way towards reducing stress. Participants will work in small groups to brainstorm ways of managing time.
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Time Management Tips
Assignments
Session Eight: Stress at Home
Next, participants will get some tips on running their household in a way that reduces stress, including budgeting, planning meals, general organization, and chores.
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Budgeting Basics
The Everyday Stuff
Organization Tips
Assignments
Session Nine: Drainers and Fillers
To wrap things up, participants will identify the things that drain and energize them.
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Assignments 1
Personal Action Plan
Stress Management
About Lesson

Stressors lead to stimuli which evoke some kind of a response. Whether your response is physical or psychological, stressors require that we adapt and respond in some way. The greater the gap between the demands and the resources, the more stressful a situation becomes for us.

Some stressors are small, like finding there is no toilet paper when we go into the bathroom, or calling someone and their voicemail is full. Farther up on the scale, there are major negative events, like being caught in a storm and unable to get home through downed power lines, or being the victim of a crime. Looming larger are catastrophic events, often unexpected, such as natural disasters, acts of wars, or riots.

Events over which we have very little control, which occur suddenly and unpredictably, and which have an impact that lasts for a long period of time, generally have the biggest impact on physical and emotional health. In addition, even small events that are chronically repeated over a long period of time (like your colleague being late for work every day for a prolonged period) can be equally taxing. 

Understanding Stress

These factors:

Can all contribute to these coping behaviors:

  • Avoiding priority tasks
  • Rigidity or disorganization
  • Self-destructive behaviors (such as substance abuse or alcoholism)

(Sources: “Stress, Appraisal, and Coping” and “Psychology Frontiers and Applications”)

Stress and Your Health

Stress is a significant factor in health problems in the world today. Repeated stress, whether positive or negative, leads to a release of hormones in the body. It is the constant battering of these stress-related hormones that can have a negative effect on our health over time.

Dr. Peter Hanson, author of The Joy of Stress and many other books on managing stress, says that stress is neutral until it lands on us. What we choose to do about stress determines how it will affect us, and so while it does not directly “cause” these problems, it certainly contributes to them.

  • Heart attacks or strokes
  • Substance abuse (illegal drugs, improper use of prescription drugs, alcohol)
  • Abdominal problems, such as irritable bowel syndrome
  • Physical illness
  • Hypertension
  • Migraines
  • High cholesterol
  • Insomnia
  • Depression and anxiety

 

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