Head4Change - Hypnotherapy and counselling in Stockbridge, Hampshire. Caring confidential help to achieve your goals and overcome life's challenges

Stress Management

Stress can be positive, giving us the driving force to achieve our potential. However when it becomes excessive it can have a negative impact. Every one of us is different and there are many descriptions. The one I think sums it up is: “stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize”. In other words we feel out of control or powerless to act.

Stress can creep up on us and many magazines and employers are becoming more aware of the balance we need to be aiming for. Millions is lost in sickness absence. Whether you’re employed/self employed, a mother looking after demanding children, a carer or a teenager finding your path in life – taking action will ensure you don’t burn out.

I take a holistic view to help you identify and manage stress more effectively –using three major approaches:

Action orientated – in which we seek to confront the problem causing the stress, changing the environment or the situation
Emotionally orientated – in which we do not have the power to change the situation, but we manage stress by changing our interpretation of the situation and the way we feel about it
Acceptance orientated – where something has happened over which we have no power and no emotional control, and where our focus is on surviving the stress, i.e. coping strategies

Remember too that stress is bad for your heart – three 10 year studies concluded that emotional stress was more predictive of death from cancer and cardiovascular disease than smoking. People who were ineffectively managing stress had a 40% higher death rate than non stressed individuals. In addition, other physical issues can be triggered by stress too, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome and panic attacks.

I could go on but you know how it feels. Unfortunately some of us choose coping strategies that, if abused. can also damage our health such as smoking, drinking, taking drugs or gambling – fine in moderation – but dangerous if excessive and over a prolonged period of time. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can start as a mechanism to regain perceived ‘lost control’.

Taking action today will make you feel better immediately and, with my support, a better way forward can be achieved for the future.