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| 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.
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| What's New? | |
I am putting the finishing touches on a new stress management home-study course entitled; "Seven Steps to Conquering Your Stress." The course will include information and strategies derived from my books and newsletter. It will contain nine modules and have over 50 exercises that will teach you everything you need to know to manage your stress. The course will be offered with options to connect with via e-mail or telephone for personal coaching related to the modules. I will send out a special e-mail announcing its release.
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Dear Subscriber,
The past several newsletters have focused on Rethinking the Big Picture; your values, goals, and the overall meaning of your life. In this newsletter we will shift gears and begin to discuss how to Rethink the Little Picture; your individual potential stressors. Sometimes individual potential stressors seem threatening and beyond your ability to manage because you are not thinking logically or helpfully about the threat posed by them or your ability to cope with it. In this issue we will start to examine strategies to help you change the way you think about the Little Picture.
Dr. Richard Blonna.
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| Two Approaches to Rethinking the Little Picture |
I use two different approaches to help people Rethink the Little Picture. The first approach is based on substituting more logical and helpful thoughts for illogical and unhelpful ones. The second approach is based on mindfulness and acceptance. In this issue we will focus on the first approach.
Although both approaches are based on examining the unhelpful thoughts you have about potential stressors, they differ in how they manage your unhelpful thinking. The former approach teaches you how to substitute more helpful and logical thoughts for your unhelpful and illogical ones. The latter approach teaches you how to accept unhelpful and illogical thoughts and continue working towards your goals while bringing them along for the ride. Both approaches work. I've found that the different approaches work better with different kinds of potential stressors.
If you believe (as I do) that stress is the result of an appraisal process that leaves you believing that you can't cope with a potential stressor, you certainly realize how important your thoughts and beliefs are in this process.
Illogical thinking about potential stressors and your ability to cope with them is the single greatest cause of stress today. By thinking illogically, blowing things out of proportion, and misunderstanding the potential consequences of potential stressors, you create the bulk of the stress associated with modern living.
There are thousands of minor potential stressors for every life-threatening stressor or major life event you encounter in any year. If you can learn how to appraise potential stressors more positively by thinking more logically about them, you can drastically reduce your stress levels without even having to remove the potential stressors. You can defuse them as stressors simply by changing the way you think about them.
Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), developed by Dr Albert Ellis uses logical thinking and positive self-talk as aids in reducing stress. REBT techniques revolve around understanding your illogical beliefs and replacing them with more rational thoughts.
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| StressBuster Tip # 18: The ABCDE Technique |
Ellis invented a simple tool, the ABCDE technique to help people rethink the little picture.
A (Activating event)-the primary stimulus that activated the stress response
B (Belief system)-our illogical beliefs about A (accompanied by the specific negative self-talk)
C (Consequence)-the negative physical, mental, and behavioral effects of B
D (Dispute)-a process of substituting more rational, logical beliefs and self-talk for each B
E (Effects)-an assessment of the effects of the dispute process on C.
here is an example using Rich, a student of mine who was stressed out over changing his major in his senior year.
A. - changing his major in his senior year to Elementary Education from Finance.
B. - Rich subvocalizes the following illogical beliefs:
1. "I shouldn't make this change so late in my college career."
2. "I should really enter a career in which I can earn more money than I can earn teaching."
3. "I should have known sooner what I wanted."
4. "I shouldn't disappoint my girlfriend and my parents."
5. "I'll never amount to anything."
C. - As a result of all of this negative self-talk and illogical thinking, Rich is experiencing the following symptoms:
1. Physical
Muscle tension in his neck and upper back
Tension headaches
2. Mental
Loss of self-confi dence
Anxiety
3. Behavioral
Not wanting to go out much on the weekend
Not seeing his girlfriend in a week
Arguing with his parents over little things almost every day
Going out late a few nights a week, drinking
by himself at the local bar
D. - Rich decides to tackle his problem by analyzing each of these illogical beliefs and substituting more rational thoughts in their place.
1. "I know it's not going to be easy, but I need to make this change now. I know I will not be happy and productive if I stay in Finance."
2. "Money is important, but I'll never be good at something I don't want to be doing."
3. "It certainly would have been easier if I had known at 19 that I wanted to teach. The truth is, I didn't fi nd out until this summer when I did some work with a neighborhood youth group. "
4. "Although I don't like to cause my family and girlfriend pain, I've got to be true to myself if we are to have honest relationships."
5. "I've already accomplished a lot. There is no reason to believe I can't be an excellent teacher."
E. - As a result of working through the dispute and coming up with a more rational belief system concerning his decision, Rich experiences the following changes:
1. Physical
Muscle tension relaxes
Tension headaches lessen
2. Mental
Regains confi dence in decisions
Is still anxious but is able to discuss that
3. Behavioral
Is spending more time with his girlfriend
Has stopped arguing with his parents
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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
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