Stress

1. KAPLAN UNIVERSITY
HW410 Stress: Critical Issues in Management and
Prevention
Stress Management and
Prevention Program
Resource Guide
1

2. KAP LAN UNIVE R S I TY
Stress Management and Prevention
Program Resource Guide
By
Juliann Gates
Kaplan University
HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention
January 14, 2014

3. Table of Contents
U N I T 1 T H E N A T U R E O F S T R E S S
The Nature of Stress
Resources: My Health Philosophy and The Wellness Paradigm Revisited 1:6
Tools: Journal Writing Are You Stressed 1.1 and Personal Stress Inventory 1:5
U N I T 2 T H E B O D Y A S B A T T L E F I E L D
Physical Effects of Stress
Resources: 2.2 Immediate, Intermediate, and Prolonged Stress Effects
Tools: Journal Writing 3.1 Physical Symptoms Questionnaire and Health Profile 3.3
U N I T 3 F E A S T O R F A M I N I N E
Emotional and Psychological Effects of Stress
Resources: 5.1 Anger Recognition Checklist, 5.9 Emotional Well-Being
Tools: Journal Writing 4.1 The Psychology of your Stress
U N I T 4 O N E P L A N E T U N D E R S T R E S S
Exploring How Our Personalities Deal with Stress
Resources: Exercise 7.1 Your Personal Value, 7.6 Your Meaningful Purpose in Life
Tools: Journal 6.2 Stress Prone Personality Survey
U N I T 5 U N D E R S T R E S S : W H A T N O W ?
Changing Your Perception
Resources:
Tools: Journal Writing 8.1 Seeing the Bigger, Clearer Picture
U N I T 6 A G E L E S S W I S D O M O F M E D I T A T I O N
Bridging the Gap Tools to Deal with Stress
Resources: 18.3 Bridging the Hemispheres of Thought, 20.2 Three Short Guided
Visualizations
Tools: Journal Writing 18.1 Too Much Information, 20.1 I Have a Vision: The Art of
Visualization
U N I T 7 S I G H T , S O U N D , A N D B O D Y W O R K
Eating Behaviors

4. Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing 27.1 Stress-Related Eating Behaviors, 27.2 Self-Assessment:
Nutritional Eating Habits
U N I T 8 T H E W E L L N E S S M A N D A L A
Physical Approach to Dealing with Stress
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing 28.1 Physical Exercise
U N I T 9 A P P L Y I N G S T R E S S : C R I T I C A L M A N A G E M E N T A N D
P R E V E N T I O N T O Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N A L L I F E
Stress Management Techniques for Daily Use
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
U N I T 1 0 A P P L Y I N G S T R E S S : C R I T I C A L M A N A G E M E N T A N D
P R E V E N T I O N T O Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N A L L I F E
Body, Mind and Spirit
Resources: Progressive muscular relaxation, track 2
Tools: Journal Writing
A D D I T I O N A L I N F O R M A T I O N
(End of the Guide)

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6. Unit 1
Unit 1: The Nature of Stress
Information to Remember:
 What is health philosophy? The body is composed of mental, physical, emotional and spiritual aspects.
Health philosophy is when the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual body is at a state of homeostasis
or harmony.
 The definition of stress is perceived threat whether real or unreal to our body, mind and spirit. Some
stress factors include changes that you encounter, issues with the body that wears a person down, issues
coping with situations, loss of emotional control, loss of inner peace and adaptation syndrome. (Seaward,
2009).
 Analyzing stress levels. It is important to figure out if you are stressed and what is causing the stress in
order to be able to learn ways to manage stress through specific relaxation techniques, guided imagery,
and breathing techniques.
Resources: Exercises:
 Inventory Exercise 1.1 (Seaward, 2009)– Are You Stressed? Understanding what stress is can be
evaluated through this exercise to determine if you are stressed and what are the causes of your stress.
This is important to know so you can figure out how to manage it.
Tools: Journal Writing:
 Unit 1 – Journal Writing Are You Stressed 1.1 and Personal Stress Inventory 1:5. This journal
questionnaires determine the level of stress you have in your life. This helps to deepen your awareness of
how much stress you have so you will learn what you can do to manage the stress.
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7. Unit 2: The Body as Battlefield
Unit 2 Unit 3
Information to Remember:
 Effects of Stress on the Body. Stress has effects on your body’s physiology and one’s ability to promote a
deeper sense of relaxation and healing will help to determine how well we cope with stress.
 Immediate and intermediate effects of stress effects the body which may increase in blood pressure and
heart rate, offsets the metabolism so food isn’t being digested properly. This is called acute Stress which is
short in duration; minutes, but intense.
 Prolong effects of stress can lead to more serious illnesses and disease. This is called chronic stress which
is much longer in duration; days, weeks, etc., but not as near intense. The prolong effects of stress can
lead to such diseases as arthritis, diabetes, heart attack, cancer and stroke.
Resources: Exercises:
· 2.2 Immediate, Intermediate, and Prolonged Stress Effects show just how much stress you are under
and how it affects the body.
Tools: Journal Writing:
 Journal Writing 3.1 Physical Symptoms Questionnaire and 3.3 Health Profile shows how stress affects
your body and where you are storing the stress.
Unit 3: Feast or Famine
Information to Remember:
 Psychological factors of stress are due to the way we perceive threats. The mind copes with stress
through denial, repression, projection, displacement, rationalization and humor. Iceberg states that there
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8. is a conscious mind and an unconscious mind. The conscious mind is when we are awake and the
unconscious mind is when we are at sleep(Seaward, 2009).
 Our first response to a stressful situation is anger or fear. In order to stay calm we must learn ways to
handle these two emotions. One way would be through our perception of the situation and find other
ways to look at the problem.
 Emotional wellbeing is affected by how we handle stressful situations. By learning stress management we
are better equipped to deal with stress and our emotional wellbeing is in harmony.
Resources: Exercises:
 5.1 Anger Recognition Checklist, 5.9 Emotional Well-Being shows how to recognize anger in yourself
and the importance of emotional well-being.
Tools: Journal Writing:
 Journal Writing 4.1 The Psychology of your Stress shows how our personalities handle stress, if we are
handling it well or we are prone to stress.
Unit 4: One Planet Under Stress
Information to Remember:
 Stress and Personality. There are two types of personalities, those who can resist stress and those who
are prone to stress. Those who are prone to stress tend to behave with a sense of time urgency,
multitasking, competitive, rapid speech patterns, hyperactive, control issues and are distracted. Those
who are resistant to stress are calm and more focused.
 To have personal value system or purpose in life tends to make life less stressful because one knows
where one is going in life and stays calm.
 Distractions can be such things as temptations that lead us off our spiritual path.
Unit 4
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9. Resources: Exercises:
· Exercise 7.1 Your Personal Value, 7.6 Your Meaningful Purpose in Life determine how well you can
manage stress. It is important to have good self-worth in order to cope with stress.
Tools: Journal Writing:
 Journal 6.2 Stress Prone Personality Survey is based on the traits of the codependent personality.
Unit 5: Under Stress: What Now?
Information to Remember:
 Seeing a Clearer Perceptive. Creating a positive mindset and having a sense of humor on life helps to
cope with stress. Stressful situations can narrow our focus and distort our perspective on the bigger
picture. As we obtain a clearer understanding of a situation it can help to change the threatening
perception to a nonthreatening perception.
 Value and Assessment helps to see things clearer or shows us where we may not be seeing things clearly.
By understanding what makes us deal or not deal with stress we can further our understanding and clear
our perception in order to cope with stress better.
 Healthy Boundaries are important because they define what you will or will not allow into your life and
further help relieve stressful situations to enter into your life.
Resources: Exercises:
 Not apply for this unit.
Tools: Journal Writing:
 Journal Writing 8.1 Seeing the Bigger, Clearer Picture, Robert Sapolsky text, Why Zebra’s Don’t Get
Ulcers.
Unit 5
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10. Unit 6: Ageless Wisdom of
Unit 6
Meditation
Information to Remember:
 Bridging the Hemisphere of thought. The mind can utilize meditation to help bridge the hemisphere of
thought. There are two main categories that most areas of meditation fall under, exclusive and inclusive
meditation. Exclusive meditation is the practice of focusing on one primary object, and eliminating all
other thoughts. Mantra. Inclusive meditation allows all thoughts to form freely and makes no attempt to
control the thoughts that are occurring; however these thoughts are required to be objective and free of
emotional responses. Zen
 Breathing meditation, diaphragm breathing helps to release stress in the body and calms the mind.
 Creative Visualizations give the mind something to focus on that is more peaceful.
Resources: Exercises:
 18.3 Bridging the Hemispheres of Thought, 20.2 Three Short Guided Visualizations are stepping stones
to begin to understand how to shift our perception and thinking mind to find peace.
Tools: Journal Writing:
· Journal Writing 18.1 Too Much Information, 20.1 I Have a Vision: The Art of Visualization helps
you to practice the calmness of the mind and body.
Seaward, B. (2009). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being . (6th ed.). Jones
and Bartlett Publishers.
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11. Unit 7: Sight, Sound and Body Work
Unit 7
Information to Remember:
 Stress Related Eating Behaviors affect our health. When we are stressed we may tend to eat more food,
possibly the wrong kinds of food as well or we may skip meals and not eat as much which has a huge
effect on our physical bodies where we may lack in proper nutrition.
 Effects of stress on nutrition. Nutrition and the four stress dominos according to Seaward, Chapter 27,
the four stress dominos are: Stress tends to deplete nutrients in the body, current lifestyles under stress
do not promote or reinforce good eating habits which leads to overeating or under-eating., food
substances such as caffeine increase sympathetic drive or other psychological responses that keep the
stress response elevated. Many foods that are processed contribute to a cumulative effect of toxins.-
which affects the body’s ability to absorb nutrients: it can trigger allergic responses, and may also cause fat
storage which leads to obesity or hardening of the arteries.
 Eating healthy foods according to color also have an effect on helping us to deal with stress as well as
keeping our bodies healthy.
Resources: Exercises:
 Imagery and guided visualizations
Tools: Journal Writing:
 Journal Writing 27.1 Stress-Related Eating Behaviors, 27.2 Self-Assessment: Nutritional Eating Habits
Seaward, B. (2009). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being . (6th ed.). Jones and
Bartlett Publishers. Chapter 27: Nutrition and Stress
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12. Unit 8: The Wellness Mandala
Information to Remember:
 Physical Exercise strengthens the integrity of the body’s physiological systems. It is important that the
body returns to homeostasis. Parasympathetic Rebound Effect causes a Decreased resting heart rate,
decrease resting blood pressure, decreased rate of breathing and quicker return to homeostasis.
 My body, my physique – when one has a low physical image of oneself then they tend to be more
stressed. Exercise keeps our bodies in physiological balance by balancing stress related hormones, and
supporting our immune system.
 Listening to your body rhythm – your body has it’s own natural rhythm called ‘life force’. Many different
traditions call it something different such as prana, and chi, but they mean the same thing, lifeforce.
Resources: Exercises:
 Anaerobic and aerobic exercises. Weight lifting and Swimming
Tools: Journal Writing:
 Journal Writing 28.1 Physical Exercise describes your daily habits and helps build a formula for a
successful healthy lifestyle.
Unit 8
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13. Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical
Management to your Professional
Life
Information to Remember:
 Stress management is important to control stress levels such as relaxation techniques that evoke the
body’s relaxation response which is the opposite of the stress response. Daily practice of these
techniques can build physical and emotional resilience, heal, and boost overall feelings of joy and
calmness.
 There are various techniques for stress management such as Tai Chi, Yoga, breathing exercises and
meditations. These techniques focus on the relaxation response in the body and mind. Finding a teacher
or a program that can help guide you properly.
 Creating a stress management program in your daily life helps to keep a strong, healthy body and a calm
mind. Routine daily practice is the key to success. Set aside time and place for your daily practice.
Resources: Exercises:
 Not apply for this unit.
Tools: Journal Writing:
 Not apply for this unit.
Unit 9
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14. Unit 10: Applying Stress: Critical
Management to your Personal Life
Information to Remember:
 Muscle relaxation – “The body’s muscles respond to thoughts of perceived threats with tension or
contraction. Muscular tension is believed to be the most common symptom of stress, and although it
may not send people to hospital emergency rooms like other stress-related disorders, its cumulative
effects can be stiffness, pain, and discomfort. In extreme cases, it can distort and dis-align posture and
joint stability.”(Seaward, 2009).
 Calming the 5 senses
 Survival kit
Resources: Exercises:
Progressive muscular relaxation, track 2
Retrieved from: http://health.jbpub.com/managingstress/6e/audio.cfm
Tools: Journal Writing:
 Not apply for this unit.
Unit 10
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15. Additional Information
Primary source:
Seaward, B. (2009). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being. (6th
ed.). Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Sapolsky, R. (1998). Why zebras don't get ulcers. (3rd ed., pp 235-236). New York, NY: St.
Martin's Press.
Secondary sources: 1-2 sentences why I chose them
Progressive muscular relaxation, track 2
Retrieved from: http://health.jbpub.com/managingstress/6e/audio.cfm I chose this because it
explains the techniques of how to relax your muscles with applying the breath.
Verrengia, Justin, Pineal Gland Activation Secrets | Third Eye Conspiracy Retrieved from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Jm3J_RKkw This utube video is very well done by Justin
as he explains about the importance of the pineal gland and the connecting links between the
physical and the spiritual world within ourselves.
Retrieved from: http://www.yoga-age.com/modern/philosophy/phylosophy16.html This is a
site on yoga which explains how the mind works and the importance of the body/mind
connection and how to apply meditation.
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16. Additional Information
Primary source:
Seaward, B. (2009). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being. (6th
ed.). Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Sapolsky, R. (1998). Why zebras don't get ulcers. (3rd ed., pp 235-236). New York, NY: St.
Martin's Press.
Secondary sources: 1-2 sentences why I chose them
Progressive muscular relaxation, track 2
Retrieved from: http://health.jbpub.com/managingstress/6e/audio.cfm I chose this because it
explains the techniques of how to relax your muscles with applying the breath.
Verrengia, Justin, Pineal Gland Activation Secrets | Third Eye Conspiracy Retrieved from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Jm3J_RKkw This utube video is very well done by Justin
as he explains about the importance of the pineal gland and the connecting links between the
physical and the spiritual world within ourselves.
Retrieved from: http://www.yoga-age.com/modern/philosophy/phylosophy16.html This is a
site on yoga which explains how the mind works and the importance of the body/mind
connection and how to apply meditation.
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