Professional Development Workshop

Stress Management: A Holistic Approach

Facilitator – Dr. Michael Ryan Centre For Education and Developing Human Potential

LIT -Tipperary

Workshop Themes & Methodology

Themes• Human Needs• Understanding Stress :

Sources and Symptoms• Managing Stress:

Techniques and Tools

Methodology• Information & Insights• Activities• Good Humour• Questions/Discussion• Some Quiet Time• Respect for Difference• Collective Wisdom

The noisy world we live in...

“When Mozart was composing at the end of the eighteenth century, the city of Vienna was so quiet that fire alarms could be given verbally, by a shouting watchman mounted on top of St. Stefan's Cathedral. In twentieth-century society, the noise level is such that it keeps knocking our bodies out of tune and out of their natural rhythms. This ever-increasing assault of sound upon our ears, minds, and bodies adds to the stress load of civilized beings trying to live in a highly complex environment.”

Steven Halpern

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZUKA1gK4b4

What is stress?

• Stress is a negative state, which involves, to varying degrees, anxiety, fear and agitation.

(Health & Safety Authority 2012)

Human Needs – Emotional • Security — safe territory and environment • Attention (to give and receive it) — a form of nutrition • Control and autonomy — having volition to make choices • Community — feeling part of a wider community • Intimacy and friendship — knowing at least one person accepts us

totally for who we are, “warts 'n' all” • Competence and achievement — feeling you are achieving and are

competent in at least one area of your life• Privacy — opportunity to reflect and consolidate experience • Status — within social groupings • Meaning and purpose

– — being stretched - a sense of competence and achievement.– — being needed– — religion/spiritual belief

7

Resilience & The Four Cs of Humanity

based on work of Adler

• We need to Connect• We need to Count• We need to feel Capable• We need Courage

What occupations suffer most from stress?

Top of the stress list in Britain are:• prison warders• police• social workers• teachers• ambulance drivers• nurses and doctors.

Setting The Context• Stress is inevitable :

Maturity is achieved when a person accepts life as full of tension (Joshua Liebman)

• One in four people experience significant stress at some stage in their professional life

• There are no magical solutions…but there are conscious (professional) strategies that really help us to cope much better

• How we cope with stress does depend somewhat on:- personality type - our capacity to recognise the symptoms and respond - overall physical and psychological resilience - availability of & access to support networks- stage of life

Personality Disposition

Type A• Competitive/

ambitious• Chronic sense of urgency• High expectations• Anxious & Serious• Doesn’t delegate• Busy/workaholic• Impatient• Hostility

Type B• Non-competitive• Responsive/calm• Realistic expectations• Playful• Co-operative• Leisurely• Patient & tolerant

Extroversion/Introversion

Extroverts• Tendency to look outside

oneself & blame others in stressful situations

Introverts• Tendency to look inward

and blame oneself in stressful situations

Life Domains

Categories of Stress that can also enter our lives as teachers

• Daily Hassles– accumulation of small, irritating, daily stressful

events• Major Life Events – (Holmes and Rahe) marriage,

house move, birth of child, separation, loss experience

• Chronic Stressors– physical health stressors (e.g. medical

conditions),financial pressures, problems at work, relationship/family tensions

Specific Stressors in Education?• Working with young adults• Different levels of motivation &

ability among students• Relational dimension• External environment that

impacts on teaching but over which there isn’t always control (societal change & home factors)

• Mental challenges of adjusting quickly across different subjects and across different age groups in a given day (30 periods a week)

• Isolation in one’s own classroom

• Perceived pettiness associated with rules & procedures

• The Assessment focus • Class size and logistics• Schools as ‘unique’ organisations

and the ‘collective impact’ if school culture is not consistently positive

• Lack of professional development opportunities?

• Time and intensity of the school year

• Slow burning tiredness – psychological wearing down from cumulative minor events

• Necessity of being highly organised all the time

• Lack of positive feedback & Acknowledgement /Valuing

• Poor Communication• Inadequate skill set for

challenges experienced

“Fight or Flight” Response

Threatening event

Sympathetic branch of the Autonomic Nervous System

Adrenal Medulla (Endocrine gland)

Adrenaline

Noradrenaline

(Stress hormones)

Heart Rate

Blood Flow

Respiration

Muscle Strength

Energy is mobilised, prepares for vigorous muscle activity, elicits potential for extraordinary strength

Recognising Our Symptoms

Loss of sense of humourNegative self conceptIndecision & self doubtHypochondria

Lack of sleepConstant fatigueBelow standard personal appearanceHeadache/Backache

Feelings of despairSuppressed angerRapid, unpredictable mood swingsAnxiety and/ or depression

Reduced performanceIncreased absenteeismSmoking & drinkingDiet Constant irritability

MANAGING STRESS

The Complexity of Private Logic

It’s not what happens us in life that upsets us and causes grief but rather how we interpret what happens (Albert Ellis –Psychotherapist)

Rational?

Healthy/Unhealthy?

Safety/Avoidant ?

Stress & Emotional Hijacks

Activating event

Amygdala Hijack(stress box)

Consequence

Centre for Education and Developing Human Potential

Emotional Hijack • Most events which we respond to in life involve a journey from sensation

to action (responding to a given stimuli).These responses are typically routed in our brain through the Thalamus (like an air traffic controller), which redirects them to the Visual cortex (thinking brain) for logical processing. The cortex thinks about the impulse and makes sense of it. The cortex then sends a message to the Amygdala, where peptides & hormones are released to create emotion and action.

• Sometimes however the thalamus quickly reacts to a perceived threat and bypasses the cortex. The signal goes directly to the amygdala (which can only respond based on previously stored patterns). The response can be positive e.g. we run if we perceive danger but typically the response is negative, i.e we say something or do something that is irrational and we lose control over the emotion. For a few seconds – our brain is flooded with electro chemicals –and our perception is distorted.

Centre for Education and Developing Human Potential

Stress Management Techniques

Short – medium term stress busters

• Breathing• Progressive Muscle

Relaxation • Visualisation/Music• Meditation• Physical exercise/hobby• Time Management• Massage• Assertive communication• Anger management• Social Support• Humour/Laughter

Prevention Strategies for longer term

AAAbc(Alter/Avoid/Accept)

CESSP(Cognitive/Emotional/Social/Spiritual/Physical)

Moonlighting notebook

Some useful video clips (first two - practice; last two - music for meditation

•www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOpZU320v5E•www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnpQrMqDoqE•www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpT5MrD44wM•www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6iA_EF06yU

The Relaxation Response

• Herbert Benson concluded from his research that meditation acts as an antidote to stress

• The effects of meditation are essentially the opposite of the fight or flight response:– Decreases the heart rate – Decreases the respiratory rate – Decreases blood pressure in people who

have normal or mildly elevated blood pressure – Decreases oxygen consumption

A Coping Strategy - AAAbc

• When we’re stressed we have 3 ways of coping– Alter it– Avoid it– Accept it by:

–building our resistance–changing our perceptions

• The trick is knowing when to choose the best approach for the situation you’re in.

AAAbc• ALTER – Can I change/improve the situation? (problem

solving/direct communication/ time management/ organising/ planning)

• AVOID – Can I remove myself from the situation or figure out how not to get there in the first place?

• ACCEPT – Can I equip myself physically and mentally for the stress by:

– building resistance physically (diet, exercise, relaxation), mentally (positive affirmations), socially (support) and spiritually (faith)

– changing the way I perceive the situation or changing myself (self-esteem/assertiveness training/ what I tell myself)The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. (William James)

Accessing 5 Coping Resources (CESSP)

Thinking & Positive Self Appraisal

Friends & Support Network

Awareness & Expression of Feelings

Values: belief system, prayer, meditation, reading, music -

Exercise, Hobbies & Health Promoting Behaviours

My Response

Useful Philosophies?• There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know

many of them. (Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar)

• The time to relax is when you don't have time for it. (Jim Goodwin and Sydney J. Harris)

• Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. (Ovid)

• The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. (William James)

• Each day should have a clearly marked emergency exit sign. (Dr. SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com)

• A life spent in constant labor is a life wasted, save a man be such a fool as to regard a fulsome obituary notice as ample reward. (George Jean Nathan)

The Moonlighting notebook

• Cure for stress induced insomnia –Keep a notebook/diary beside your bed...

• Write in thoughts/plans ….& feel the mind relax….externalising/parking/emptying

The workplace Climate• Identifying Psychosocial Hazards (predictable

areas of pressure related to the specific work that we do) e.g. assessment, administration, meetings, student issues…

• How might these be reduced? (policies, practice, peer support, encouragement of collegial problem solving, adaptability & resilience)

• Humour – we’re good at it in Ireland • Need for positive projects during the year• Acknowledgement & Celebration Rituals

Seven pockets of wonderful things that sustain teachers? (Ryan 2010)

mryan 2010 31

Inner calling, role models & collegial support

Vocational vision & making a difference

Passion for one’s subject domain

Survival stories from novice years

Extra – curricular and the relational domain

Harnessing renewal through professional development

Offerings of vocational craft wisdom to NQTs

References/Resources

Barry, H. (2010) Flagging Stress –Dublin: Liberties PressBrosan, L. & Todd, G. (2007) Overcoming Stress. London: Robinson.•http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=1241•www.hsa.ie•HSA -2012 - Handout