PROACTIVE STRESS MANAGEMENT

Transforming Stress into a Tool for Success

Program overview:

This workshop shows staff, step by step, how to recognize, minimize, control and constructively rechannel the stress forces which can adversely affect daily living. With clear insight into both the psychology and physiology of stress, staff members develop the skills that turn stress into a productive ally in both their professional and private lives.

The goal of this workshop is not merely stress reduction. This program helps people to assess their own reactions to stress and then move toward the level of stress that seems appropriate for them. Each participant is encouraged to discover their own optimal stress level at which they can best perform.

Specific stress management techniques and strategies will be introduced to assist participants in adopting a new response and developing flexibility and resilience in an ever changing and challenging work environment.

The program is individualized through the Personal Stress Profile (PSP). The PSP is a confidential and anonymous self-assessment questionnaire that provides information regarding an individual’s habitual ways of responding to stress, level of vulnerability to stress and coping reserves. Emphasis is placed on measuring how well you are handling stress, rather than how much stress you are experiencing. Prior to the workshop, each participant completes the PSP and returns the questionnaire to the office of the program director. The data is then compiled and analyzed to create a report for each participant and customize the learning activities for the workshop based on the spread of profiles.

Learning Objectives:

Through self-discovery and increased awareness, participants will be able to:

• Identify, monitor and deal with recurring stress symptoms in oneself and others

• Increase awareness of the relationship between thoughts, emotions and physiology

• Develop skills that will help lessen the degree of negative self-talk and irrational beliefs that may affect stress levels

• Apply effective stress management techniques to maintain a sense of calmness and balance under pressure

• Replace chronically high alertness levels or apathy with flexible readiness

• Reduce excessive reactivity to the minor challenges and irritants of daily living

Training methodology: A multimodal approach combining didactic and experiential exercises

Number of sessions:  The program is divided into two separate half-day sessions, separated by one week

Time frame options:  Option A:  8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.     Option B:  13:30 p.m. – 17:30 p.m.

Number of participants:  15 – 20 people

Program cost:  CHF 2000.-

Includes: Personalized Stress Resiliency Assessment report, workshop training manual and “Power Break” CD audio recording for all participants registered in the program.