|
JOIN OUR LIST
|
 |
| Meet Dr. Blonna |
 |
|
Hello,
I am Dr. Richard Blonna, the editor of the Healthy Stress Newsletter. I am a nationally certified Coach (CPC), Counselor (NCC), and Health Education Specialist (CHES) with over 25 years of experience helping people just like you manage their stress.
I am the author of a best-selling college textbook and two self-help books in the field of stress management.
Besides teaching stress management in college I work with people at-a-distance using telephone and web-based instruction and coaching.
In addition to stress management I specialize in motivational coaching; helping people get unstuck and live their lives based on their values, goals, and dreams.
|
| What's New? |
|
|
Watch for the release of my new book, Stress Less, Live More: How Acceptance and Committment Therapy can Help You Live a Busy But Balanced Life. The book is being published by New Harbinger Publications and will be released in March of 2010
| |
|
| Volume # 2009, Issue # 5 |
November/2009 |
Dear Subscriber,
Welcome to the Healthy Stress Newsletter. Every month I will bring you information and tips about managing your stress.
Enjoy my free newsletter and podcast. I look forward to helping you learn how to manage your stress and turn your potential stressors into challenges!
Sincerely,
Dr. Richard Blonna |
|
| Is it a Threat? Can I Cope? |
I will keep coming back to these two questions that are discussed in my first newsletter because the way you answer them determines whether or not a potential stressor becomes an actual stressor for you.
Now that you have started a stressor log you need to begin to pay attention to how you answer these questions for every stressor you enter. I want you to pay special attention to two things:
1. how you rate the threat posed by each potential stressor
2. how you rate your ability to cope with the threat
As you start paying more attention to this you can begin to assess whether or not you perceive threat, and your ability to cope with it accurately. Do you tend to overestimate, underestimate, or accurately gauge the threat posed by potential stressors and your ability to cope with them?
There are many interesting outcomes for this process (called threat appraisal by Lazarus & Folkman). In some cases you might overestimate the threat and underestimate your ability to cope with it, a combination almost always resulting in stress. In other cases you might underestimate the threat and overestimate your ability to cope with it, also resulting in stress when you realize that you can't handle the threat. Still other times you might accurately gauge the threat and your ability to cope with it (resulting in no stress) even though the potential stressor was pretty serious.
The reason you need to begin to pay attention to how accurately you gauge the threat posed by potential stressors and your ability to cope with them is that ultimately this will help you develop your personal stress management plan. Your plan might emphasize learning how to more accurately assess the threat posed by potential stressors . Maybe thinking clearly about potential stressors is not your problem. Maybe you need more help learning how to cope with actual stressors once they occur. In that case, focusing on coping strategies such as relaxation , mindfulness, time management ,etc. might be the cornerstone of your personal stress management plan.
In my experience I find that most people need help dealing with both sides of the stress coin (appraisal & coping). My Five R's of Coping Model © for managing stress works on both stress appraisal and coping.
|
| StressBuster Tip # 5 |
|
Using Hindsight Effectively
Your stressor journal will be your most valuable tool in helping you learn how to gauge the threat posed by potential stressors more accurately. The only thing you must accept about using this tool effectively is that it will take a couple of months. Hindsight is the key factor involved in using this tool effectively. Hindsight allows you to look back and re-assess the potential stressor, how you rated it, and how things actually turned out after you were exposed to it.
Instructions:
1. Give yourself a minimum of two months to keep your daily stressor journal.
2. After two months go back and separate your potential stressors by the threat attached to them (your 1-10 rating). I suggest writing this down rather than doing it in your head.
3. Group the following numbers together, the 1's,2's and ,3's, the 4's, 5's, 6's and 7's, and the 8's, 9's, and 10's.
4. Label the first group mild threat, the second moderate threat, and the third, high threat.
5. Take a second look at the potential stressor and the threat you attached to it.
6. Based on your knowledge of what happened after actually being exposed to the stressor and trying to cope with it re-assess the threat.
7. Do you feel that you underestimated the threat, overestimated it, or accurately gauged it?
8. Repeat steps 3,4,5,6,& 7 with a focus on your coping.
9. Describe how you would now rate the threat and your ability to cope with it.
10. How did hindsight affect your new stress appraisal process?
Use this as the basis for evaluating your stress appraisal process every month or so to see if you are becoming more accurate in your perception of threat and your ability to cope with it. | |
For more information about my stress management related products and services go to my website:
For my latest free podcast go to the link below: http://www.healthystressdoctor.com/podcasts.html and click on the cast you want to view. Sincerely, Dr.Richard Blonna
| |
|
