Stress Therapy and the Best Way to Approach It

Stress is an unavoidable part of life. In the face of adversity and countless uncertainties, it’s only natural to feel overwhelmed. But there are ways to keep that stress to a minimum and manage it if it does rear its ugly head. We’ve compiled some tips on how you can take steps in your everyday life to minimize anxiety, we’ve put together a list of coping strategies for making tough decisions and extracting yourself from difficult situations, and we’ve even created a workbook for personal growth that helps those who are looking for new ways to combat stress.

Stress management therapy is a unique process used to relieve stress’s psychological effects. It was first developed in the late 1800s by the French psychologist Paul Dubois, who met with patients who had suffered severe trauma or illness. In his work, he taught patients how to relax their bodies and take control of their emotions and thinking processes. Today it is still used as a tool by psychologists and psychiatrists to help people cope with everyday life issues.

Stress management therapy can be applied to many different circumstances: after a stressful situation or before an occasion that may result in stress (such as an interview).

Things you can do to cope with stress:

Accept the feeling of stress. If a situation stresses you out, don’t fight it; give yourself a break. Take a deep breath, count to 10 and calm yourself down.

Seek professional help if the situation affects your emotions and beliefs about yourself and others. Talk to a psychologist or psychiatrist about how your life is being affected by stress or by the way someone much older than you has treated you (e.g., a parent). They may be able to provide you with some psychological treatment, such as:

Accept your stress. If the situation is out of your control, accept that it has happened and that there is nothing you can do about it. Please do not dwell on it. Think of a positive way to describe it, for example: “this happened, but I am still happy.” It will help you look forward to a new future instead of being stuck in the past… and stop stressing over something meaningless! Be active and try new things to forget what is stressing you out.

Stress management skills are helpful in the workplace as well as at home. They include stress reduction techniques such as breathing exercises and cognitive restructuring (changing your thoughts).

Stress management techniques will also help you cope with stress in your home life. Stress management skills include:

Focus on the present. It is easy to get lost in thinking about the past or obsessing about how something will turn out negatively if you don’t do it this way. Instead of thinking through all these possibilities ahead of time, focus on the present and what will happen today and tomorrow. Make a plan for what you can do or say next… before anything happens!

Nurture your relationships. This cannot be easy with family members, but it is necessary to be loved and supported. When you feel stressed, it is easy to focus on the people close to you and how they treat you (or not treat you well). Instead of focusing on them and getting angry or upset, focus on how they are in this moment and what they have done for you lately. Try to see them objectively: try to have eyes that see past their poor treatment of you instead of eyes that only see what they have done.