KAPLAN UNIVERSITY
HW410 Stress: Critical Issues in Management and
Prevention
Stress Management and
Prevention Program
Resource Guide
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KAPLAN UNIVERSITY
Stress Management and Prevention
Program Resource Guide
By
Barbara Engel
Kaplan University
HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention
04/24/2013
Table of Contents
UNI T
1
THE
NATURE
OF
STRESS
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
UNI T
2
THE
BODY
AS
B ATTLEFI ELD
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
UNI T
3
FEAST
OR
FAMI NI NE
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
UNI T
4
ONE
PLANET
UN DER
STRESS
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNI T
5
UNDER
STRESS:
WHAT
NOW?
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNI T
6
AGELESS
WI SDO M
OF
MEDITATI ON
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNI T
7
SI GHT,
SOUND,
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
AND
BODY
WORK
UNI T
8
THE
WELLNESS
MANDALA
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNI T
9
APPLYI NG
PREVENTI ON
TO
STRE SS:
YOUR
CRI TICAL
P ROFESSI ONAL
MANA GEMENT
AND
LI FE
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNI T
10
APPLYI NG
PREVENTI ON
TO
STR ESS:
YOUR
CRI TICAL
P ROFESSI ONAL
MANAGE MENT
LI FE
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
ADDI TI ONAL
I NFORMATI ON
(End of the Guide)
AND
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Unit
Unit 1: The Nature of Stress
Information to Remember:

Stress is defined as the absence of inner peace or the inability to cope with problems. Stress has
affects on our mental, physical and spiritual aspects in our life. Stressors are categorized into three
groups: bioecological influences, psychointrapersonal influences, and social influences.

There are three different types of stress. Eustress is our good stress, this type of stress is healthy for
us; neustress is our neural perception of an unimportant event/situation and distress is the negative or
bad stress. Distress is where we need to learn stress management techniques to avoid having chronic
stress, which has profound impact on our bodies.

Our body goes through a physiological arousal to survive a threat, otherwise referred to as the fight or
flight response (Seaward, 2009). We go through three stages (Alarm reaction, stage of resistance,
stage of exhaustion) of the General Adaptation Syndrome, which is our bodies way of adapting to
stress.
Resources: Exercises:

The Wellness Paradigm Revisited (1.6). In order to achieve holistic wellness, all aspects/or
components of your life have to be in balance and in harmony. This balance sets the bar for how in
tune you are with your body. An emotional connection is on a much more deeper and personal level
than a physical connection. We must come to appreciate the true integration, balance, and harmony
of mind, body, spirit, and emotions.
Tools: Journal Writing:

A Good Night's Sleep (1.4). Experts recommend that we get 8 hours of sleep per night. Our quality
of sleep, affects our hours we are awake. If sleep deprived for too long, this will start affecting all
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aspects of our health. If left sleep deprived our memory and motor coordination fade quickly, and our
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Unit
performance is greatly compromised.
Unit 2: The Body as Battlefield
Information to Remember:

The endocrine systems plays a big part in our stress response. The glands that are closely involved
with the stress response are the pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal glands. The adrenal gland is known as
“the stress gland” (Seaward, 2009).

The hypothalamus:called the “seat of the emotions,” is involved with emotional processing. When
there is a perceived threat, the hypothalamus secretes a substance called corticotrophin-releasing
factor (CRF) to the pituitary gland to activate the fight-or-flight response.

Studies on the topic of Alzheimer’s support the theory that the brain needs stimulation to promote
mental acuity. Stress research validates the need for quiet time for the brain though (Seaward, 2009).
When the brain is constantly stimulated (and overstimulated) these neurological impulses rewire the
brain for perpetual stress.
Resources: Exercises:

Immediate, Intermediate, and Prolonged Stress Effects (2.2). Our stress response has different effects on us at
different intervals. Our immediate reaction to stress happens in seconds, our intermediate happens
within minutes to hours and our prolonged effects happen over a course of multiple days. Some
reactions from stress include, sweating, rapid heart rate, blushing, migraines, acne and possible flare ups
of cold sores.
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Tools: Journal Writing:
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Unit

Physical Symptoms Questionnaire (3.1). Our physical symptoms tell us a lot about what our body is
experiencing or going through. Evaluation of our symptoms; including frequency, how severe and
how long they last, can help come to a solution of why we are having these symptoms.
Unit 3: Feast or Famine
Information to Remember:

Building blocks of psychological stressors; outlets for frustration, this concept focuses on the idea
that we handle stress better when we know we have a distraction from that stressor (Sapolsky, 2004),
having a social support decreases the level of stress resulting in a more positive aspect, the
predictability of a situation and our perception, thinking to yourself that this isn't so bad, the situation
can be a lot worse can lessen the effects of stress.

Tips to managing anger, the creative approach! Know your anger style, learn to monitor your anger,
learn to deescalate your anger, learn to out-think your anger, develop realistic expectations. The best
suggestion is forgiveness, make past anger pass, this step is an important part in anger management.

Fear...how to survive through it! Methods for overcoming fears include psychoanalytical approach
and behavioral therapy (Seaward, 2009). Some individuals can work on improving self esteem, self
worth, step out of your comfort zone; by doing these things the doors will open to be able to handle
fear effectively.
Resources: Exercises:

Emotional Well-Being (5.9). Our emotional intelligence and well being is described as the ability to
feel and express the multiple human emotions, and to control them without being controlled by them.
By maintaining this balance you are providing a healthier state of mind
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Tools: Journal Writing:
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Unit

The Psychology of Stress (4.1). Reflecting on behavior, attitude and perception during stressful times
can help in the future of how one should act and better handle a situation. Our first instinct is to
become defensive when a problem comes up. This defensive behavior would hinder a learning
experience because an attitude would not allow the information to be reconciled and thoroughly
thought through for improvement.
Unit 4: One Planet Under Stress
Information to Remember:



The stress prone personalities are called to be the type A people. This type A personality is said
to be a rushed or hurried style. Type A personalities are at high risk for developing stress
related disease, such as coronary artery disease. Other character traits of this personality include
time urgency, multi-tasking, ultra-competitiveness, have rapid speech patterns, us manipulative
control, have low self-esteem and are hyperaggressive (Seaward, 2009).
The stress-resistant personalities are the people are people who show many characteristics of
commitment, control, and challenge. This person has a sense of purpose because they have made
themselves devoted to oneself (values, morals, beliefs), their work and their family. They know they
are important and matter without constant praise.
Each and everyone of us have our own set of beliefs, values, and morals. No one path answers all the
questions to the mystery of the human spirit. It is in that journey that we find inner peace and the path
we were meant to follow. There are four processes that together nurture the growth of the human
spirit include centering, emptying, grounding, and connecting.
Resources: Exercises:

Distractions of the Human Path (7.8). Distractions are mental/physical ideals and/or objects that
takes us off our planned route in life. Examples of everyday distractions include social networking,
alcohol, television, cell phones, and the internet. There is no way to totally take distractions out of
our life, but to simply lessen them if possible and redirect when getting off track.
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Tools: Journal Writing:
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Unit

Under the Gun: Stress and Personaity (6.1). We all have our own ways of dealing with stress,
finding our inner resources to get through those times is imporant. Some inner resources include,
motivation, strength, faith, and love. A philosophy good to live by is if God brings you to it, he will
bring you through it!
Unit 5: Under Stress: What Now?
Information to Remember:

Effective coping strategies = Increased awareness + Information processing + Modified behavior +
Peaceful resolution (Seaward, 2009).

Cognitive restructuring is a coping technique, the purpose is to widen one’s conscious perspective
and thus allow room for a change in perception.

Implementing good time management techniques include prioritizing, scheduling, and execution.
Resources: Exercises:

An exercise that is helpful in evaluating our perspective is to think of a stressful event and how you
would handle it now. Then take the approach of the cognitive restructuring and come up with a
new/better way to handle the situation the next time the same situation occurs.
Tools: Journal Writing:

Reframing: Seeing a Bigger, Clearer Perspective (8.1). Emotions such as anger and fear can narrow
our focus and distort our perspective, the key to coping with stress is to change the threatening
perception to a nonthreatening perception. This is a great way of looking at situations from an
optimistic perspective.
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Unit 6: Ageless Wisdom of
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Unit
Meditation
Information to Remember:

Diaphragmatic breathing is a relaxation technique that involves use of the diaphragm rather than the
thoracic area. The reason this is effective is that the breathing from the diaphragm initiates a less
sympathetic neural activity, causing a greater relaxation effect (Seaward, 2009).

Meditation is a relaxation technique used to calm the mind and a way to bring inner peace and
harmony to our lives. Practicing this regularly will provide that sense of calmness. This technique is
used by many because of the benefits it provides and doesn't cost anything out of pocket.

Mental imagery and visualization are separated in their differences by the concious and unconsious
mind. Visualization is an initiated exercise, which involves the creating of images, scenarios, and
using our imaginations in which we use all of our senses. Our level of concentration will determine
how complex or how simple we make our mental imagery or visualization.
Resources: Exercises:

Bridging the hemispheres of thought (18.3). Left-brain thinking skills are associated with judgment,
analysis, mathematical also with time consciousness. Our right-brain is associated with imagination,
humor, holistic thinking and intuition.
Tools: Journal Writing:
Too Much Information (18.1). We take in information from all of our five senses. 80 percent of the
information is received through sight and sound. Our society today is on information overload because of
the advances in technology and how our society has evolved. Taking the time to separate ourselves from
the technology and take a vacation will help us reconnect with other aspects in our lives.
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Unit
Unit 7: Sight, Sound and Body Work
Information to Remember:

“Let food be your medicine, and let medicine be your food” (Seaward, 2009). Our immune system
depends on us to fuel it and fight against infections. We are to consume a good supply of
antioxidants, fiber, proteins, and drink plenty of water.

Our diet has the ability to minimize the effects of stress on our body. The proper nutrition, involving
eating a well-balanced diet, eating a good breakfast and spacing meals out throught the day, and
avoiding caffeine and sugar are some recommedations. Vitamins and antioxidants are also important.

Healthy Eating tips: thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetable prior to eating d/t the pesticides and
chemicals used on the produce. Organic produce is a cleaner alternative to the conventional way of
harvesting produce.
Resources: Exercises:

Stress-Related Eating Behaviors (27.1). Stress has an impact on how much and how often we eat.
Our eating habits can be evaluated by keeping a journal of the food we eat, our mood when we ate
that food, and how often we eat. This information can be useful when looking to see if there is a
connection of stress/depression to food.
Tools: Journal Writing:

Self-Assessment: Nutritional Eating Habits (27.2). It is imperative that we take a step back and evaluate our
current eating habits. Some questions to ask yourself would be, do you drink a lot of soft drinks, how
quickly do you eat, how frequent do you use table salt. Evaluation of your comfort foods is another
good way of staying in tune with your body, moods your in, etc because if you are in that vulnerable
state, the foods you know you will most crave, would be the ones to stay away from during that
period of time.
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Unit
Unit 8: The Wellness Mandala
Information to Remember:

There are six components of health and fitness; cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and
endurance, flexibility, agility, power, and balance. All these components give their individual benefit;
however, work together to provide the optimal health.

Our body goes through many changes and alterations when stress enters the body. In Seaward's
reading he stresses the importance of flushing out the stress hormones. One hormone they are
looking at linking obesity to is, cortisol. Cortisol, is a hormone released by the adrenal gland during
the stress response. They are connecting this hormone to the steady accumulation of body fat in ones
lifetime (Seaward, 2009).

Initiate an exercise fitness program into daily routines. Start out slow and progress the intensity
moderately. Select a time of day and make a commitment to stick with that time every day for your
exercise workout. Another key component of an exercise program is to establish a support group.
This will play a big part in staying motivated with your fitness goals.
Resources: Exercises:

Your Circadian Rhythms (28.3). Our bodies have an internal clock system, or a circadian rhythm.
This is thought to based on the earth spinning on its axis around the sun. The research of circadian
rhythm, shows that if a regular schedule is kept that those individuals tend to be healthier than those
that do not keep a regular schedule. An exercise that puts this into prospective is to draw out a week
with time intervals and document the time you wake up in the mornings, time you go to bed, time you
exercise, time you eat meals during the course of a day, and see if there is a pattern.
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Tools: Journal Writing:
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Unit

My Body's Rhythms (28.4). Our internal clocks play a big part in our daily routines. If these rhythms are
thrown off too long certain organs will go into a state of dysfunction because they depend on the
regularity of the circadian rhythm.
Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical
Management to your Professional
Life
Information to Remember:

Information seeking involves the researching or collecting of information about a situation or why an
event was stressful. This information collection process is helpful in reducing stress because the fear of
the unknown is less if we know more about a situation (Seaward, 2009). Fear is conquered if we obtain
information about an event, in which is our self defense against stressors.

Hobbies are an important part of reducing the stress in our lives. By pursing a hobby that is of interest,
we tend to escape momentarily from the stressors and lets us focus on ourselves and the enjoyment of
life.

Forgiveness has an effect on reducing the levels of stress in our lives. By forgiving we increase our
happiness and health, have an optimistic approach to life, and promotes more positive behaviors. This
skill is challenging for many, because it shows a vulnerable side, but in doing this you show the respect
you have for that individual.
Resources: Exercises:

If forgiveness seems impossible to accomplish, here is a website to guide through the forgivenss process;
http://www.happiness-information.com/forgiveness-exercises.html.
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Unit
Tools: Journal Writing:

Keeping a daily journal is a great way to get your thoughts down on paper, recognize what the problem is
and either find a solution or simply keep in the journal as a tool to relieve frustration. Putting throughts
down on paper gives us a way to verbalize our feelings and thoughts and a way to keep those under
control, by not saying hurtful things when in an angry or upset state.
Unit 10: Applying Stress: Critical
Management to your Personal Life
Information to Remember:

Key learning point from the unit about Applying Stress: Critical Management to Your Personal Life
<insert your text>

Key learning point from the unit about Applying Stress: Critical Management to Your Personal Life
<insert your text>

Key learning point from the unit about Applying Stress: Critical Management to Your Personal Life
<insert your text>
Resources: Exercises:

List the title (s) of Exercise (s) selected to include in the resource guide <insert your text>
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Tools: Journal Writing:

List the title (s)of Journal Writing (s)selected to include in the resource guide <insert your text>
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Additional Information/Resources:
Blodgett-Salafia, Elizabeth; Lemer, Jessica (2012, February). Associations between multiple
types of stress and disordered eating among girls and boys in middle school. Journal of
Child & Family Studies (Vol. 21 issue 1, p148-157). Retrieved from Kaplan Library
Website: http://library.kaplan.edu {secondary source-I used this resource because
because it shows a link between stress and the effect it has on our younger generations}
Sapolky, R. M. (2004). Why zebras don't get ulcers. (3rd Ed.). Hold Paperbacks {secondary
source-I used this source because of the perspective it brought to my resource guide}
Seaward, B. (2009). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being, 6th Ed.
Sudbury, MA: Jones and Barlett Publishers. {this was used as my primary source, I used
this source because of the accurate and valuable information it provided to my resource
guide}
Pikiewicz, Kristi, PhD (2012, June 3). A meditation on meditation. Meaningful You. Psychology
Today. Retrieved from: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/meaningfulyou/201206/meditation-meditation {secondary source-I used this source to help better
clarify why meditation techniques are important in stress reduction}
WebMD (2009, October 14). Stress managememt-topic overview. Retrieved from
http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-management-topic-overview
{secondary source – I used this source as an additional reference/different perspective on
stress-management}
Video; Two Minute Relaxation Technique
http://video.about.com/altmedicine/2-Minute-Relaxation-Technique.htm
{secondary source-I used this source as a visual guide on how to do a relaxation technique}
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