Employee Wellness Newsletter : Stress Management

The educational program should include approaches to stress awareness/reduction at the environmental level and at the individual level.

Social, physical, and employer stressors ought to be explained and methods to ease or elevate stressors ought to be presented. At the individual level how changes in attitudes and behaviors help one to cope with stressors; learning techniques to minimize stress response, such as meditation, relaxation response, and exercise.

Content of the program must offer the following:
• Identifying sources of stress
• Relationship of stress to health
• How the individual experiences stress, personal, family, work
• Solutions for coping and managing stress
• Techniques for lowering stress
• Value of stress, both negative and positive
• Practical steps of incorporating stress reduction into lifestyle

Personnel conducting stress management programs should have training in psychology, behavioral sciences, or related disciplines such as mental health professionals, counselors, health educators, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Training in a reputable program on how to teach the stress management course including group process skills is a must.