Unit 6: Stress & Anger
Management
I. Concepts of Stress
II. Situational Factors Affecting Stress
III. Personal Factors Affecting Stress
IV. Mediational Model of Stress
V. Implications for Stress Interventions
VI. Relaxation as a Multidimensional Response
VII. Somatic Relaxation
VIII. Cognitive Relaxation
Unit 6: Stress & Anger
Management
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
Thought and Emotion
Cognitive Distortions
A-B-C Theory of Emotion
Cognitive Restructuring
Self-Instructional Training
Integrated Coping Response
Rehearsal of Coping Responses
Understanding Burnout
Coping with Burnout
Definitions of Stress
• Stress as a Stimulus (stressors)
• Stress as a Response (feeling stressed)
• Stress as a Person-Situation Transaction
A Transactional Definition of Stress
Stress is a particular relationship or
transaction between a person and the
environment that is appraised by the
person as taxing or exceeding his/her
resources and/or endangering his/her
well being, (Lazarus and Folkman)
Three Types of Appraisals
• Primary
– What is the nature of the stressor?
• Secondary
– What kinds of resources do I posses to cope
with this stressor?
• Reappraisal
– Reassessment of situational given additional
information and/or secondary appraisal
Situational Factors Affecting Stress
• Predictability
– Event Uncertainty
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Ambiguity
Novelty
Imminence
Controllability
Personal Factors Affecting
Stress
• Motives, Goals, & Values
• Beliefs
– Personal Control Beliefs
– Existential Beliefs
• Personality Factors: Hardiness
• Coping Skills
The Three Cs of Hardiness
• Challenge
• Commitment
• Control
Coping Defined
Coping is a process of constantly
changing cognitive and behavioral efforts
to manage specific internal or external
demands that are appraised as taxing or
exceeding a person’s resources.
Stages of Coping
• Anticipatory
• Impact
• Post Impact
Types of Coping
• Problem-Focused Coping
• Emotion-Focused Coping
• Seeking Social Support
Possible Coping Resources
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Physical Resources
Beliefs
Problem -Solving Skills
Social Support
Social Skills
Material Resources
Characteristics of Effective Coping
• People with effective coping skills have
– complex repertoires (good variety) that are
– flexibly applied and
– readily generalizable to different situations.
The Yerkes-Dodson Law
(a.k.a. the Inverted-U Hypothesis)
The Yerkes-Dodson Law
(a.k.a. the Inverted-U Hypothesis)
The Yerkes-Dodson Law
(a.k.a. the Inverted-U Hypothesis)
Benson’s Relaxation Response
• Repetition of a word, phrase, mantra,
prayer, or muscular activity
• Passive disregard towards thoughts that
will arise
• Helpful to do in a quiet place and in a
comfortable position
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Conditions Impacted by
Invoking the Relaxation
Response
Angina pectoris
Cardiac arrhythmias
Anxiety
Depression
Bronchial asthma
Herpes simplex
Diabetes
Hypertension
Infertility
• Postoperative
swelling
• PMS
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Cancer side effects
• AIDS side effects
• Insomnia
• Duodenal ulcer
• Pain (numerous
types)
Other Useful Relaxation
Techniques
• Smile when you feel tense
• Have fun and enjoy pressure-filled and
adverse situations
• Intentionally set up stressful situations
• Slow down and take your time
• Stay focused on the present
• Create and stick to a plan
Cognitive Distortions
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All-or-Nothing Thinking
Overgeneralization
Mental Filter
Disqualifying the Positive
Jumping to Conclusions
– Mind Reading
– Fortune Teller Error
Cognitive Distortions (Continued)
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Magnification & Minimization
Emotional Reasoning
Should Statements
Labeling & Mislabeling
Personalization
Depressogenic Attribution Pattern
Negative Cognitive Triad
The A-B-Cs (or A-C-Bs) of Emotion
• A – Activating Event
• C – Emotional Consequences
• Emotional reaction, presumably caused by
irrational thinking
• B – Beliefs
• Usually irrational if dealing with negative emotions
Ellis’ Core Irrational Belief
• It is awful, terrible, and catastrophic when
things are not the way that I demand that
they be.
Other Common Irrational Thoughts
• It’s a dire necessity for an adult to be loved by
everyone for everything he or she does.
• One should be thoroughly competent,
successful, and achieving in all possible
respects.
• Certain people are wicked and villainous when
they do not behave as I demand they should,
and for this, they should be punished.
• If something is threatening, I should be terribly
upset about it.
• Musts and Shoulds
Possible Stress Reducing
Thoughts
• I may not like this situation, but I can certainly
stand it.
• Unfortunately, people don’t always behave the
way I want them to. That’s the way it goes - no
use getting upset.
• I don’t have to be perfect. I can make mistakes
too. I don’t have to please everybody.
• Life is too short to let things like this make me
miserable.
Analyzing Thoughts and
Feelings
(see Smith pages 68-69)
• Activating Event
– What happened? Describe the event.
• Emotional Consequences
– How did you feel when the event occurred?
– What was your emotional response?
• Beliefs
– What were you thinking? What were you telling
yourself? Was any of this irrational?
• Dispute
– Counter what you told yourself. What is a more
productive thing to think?
Self-Instructional Training:
Anticipatory Stage
• This will be frustrating. Just plan on how
you can keep your cool and deal with it
without blowing up.
• No negative self-statements. Just think
and plan rationally
Self-Instructional Training: Impact
Stage
• One step at a time. You can handle this.
Just relax and think clearly.
• Keep your cool. No need to loose your
tempter. Relax.
Self-Instructional Training:
Post-Impact Stage
• Those damn ideas. They’re the problem.
When you control them, you control your
anger.
• Go back over what you did. What worked
and what can be done better next time?
• Way to go! It’s getting better every time.
You’re controlling the anger instead of it
controlling you.
Burnout Defined
• The psychological, emotional, and
sometimes physical withdrawal from an
activity in response to excessive stress or
dissatisfaction.
Symptoms of Burnout
• Low motivation or
energy
• Concentration
problems
• Lack of caring
• Disturbed sleep
• Physical and/or
mental exhaustion
• Lowered selfesteem
• Negative affect
• Mood
changes/swings
• Substance abuse
• Changes in values
• Emotional isolation
• Increased Anxiety
• Impaired
performance
Situational Factors Contributing to
Burnout
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High or conflicting demands
Low social support
Low autonomy
Low rewards
Low demands
Personal Factors Contributing to
Burnout
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Extreme dedication to work or profession
High trait anxiety
Perfectionistic or unrealistic goals
Type A personality
Too flexible or rigid in coping skills
Non-discriminating locus of control
Feeling isolated and lonely
Coping with Burnout: The Process
• Awareness of the Problem
• Taking Responsibility for Changing the
situation and/or Yourself
• Discriminating the Changeable from the
Unchangeable
• Developing New Strategies and Coping
Skills
Coping With Burnout:
Specific Recommendations
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Examining Coping Patterns
Goal-Setting and Clarifying Priorities
Acknowledging Vulnerabilities
Compartmentalizing Work and Non-work
Decompression Time/Time Off
Maintaining Physical Fitness
Building Social Support
Coping With Burnout:
Specific Recommendations
• Challenging/Changing Maladaptive
Attitudes and Beliefs
• Using Burnout to Promote Personal
Growth
• Learn Mental Coping Skills
• Choose to Have Fun
Unit 7:
Attention Control
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Introduction
Effective Attention
Attention Control Principles
Things that Disrupt Attention
Suggestions for Improving Attention
Attention & Pain Tolerance
Effective Attention
• Voluntary focus on relevant cues
• Maintaining focus over time
• Shifting the focus of attention when
necessary
• Screening out irrelevant stimuli
Effective Attention:
Information Processing
• Attending to relevant cues
• Integrating cues within memory
• Responding appropriately
Attention Control Principles
• Attention has dimensions
• Effective attention involves shifting it
• Arousal influences attention and
performance
Internal
Broad-Internal
Narrow-Internal
Broad
Narrow
Broad-External
Narrow External
External
Choking Defined
• Because of excessive arousal, an
individual’s performance progressively
deteriorates and the the person can’t
regain control of it
– High arousal
– Attention shifts towards the person’s dominant
attentional style
– Attention goes internal and narrow (towards
negative thoughts and feelings)
Things that Disrupt Attention:
Internal Distracters
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Thoughts about the past
Thoughts about the future
Pressure and choking under pressure
Over-Analyzing (Paralysis through analysis)
Fatigue
Lack of motivation
Things that Disrupt Attention:
External Distracters
• Visual distracters
• Auditory distracters
• Gamesmanship
Suggestions for Improving
Attention
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Use simulations
Use cue or trigger words
Employ non-judgmental thinking
Establish routines
Develop performance plans
Practice eye control
Use self-monitoring
Suggestions for Improving
Attention (Continued)
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Over-learn behaviors
Turn failure into success (in your mind)
Practice shifting attention
Park distracting thoughts
Increasing focusing and refocusing skills
Use technology (EEG, biofeedback, etc…)
Use mental skills (goals, imagery, etc…)
An Excellent Book on Attention
Beilock’s Recommendations for
Exams
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Reaffirm your worth
Remember you’re not just a student
Write your worries down on paper
Learn mediation
Change your thinking
Positively reinterpret your body
reactions
Beilock’s Recommendations for
Exams (Continued)
• Pause (take breaks)
• Learn about stereotype threat
• Think of people similar to you who’ve
succeeded
• Practice under pressure
• Outsource your cognitive load
• Meaningfully organize what you know
Beilock’s Recommendations for
Sports & Other Performances
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Distract yourself
Don’t slow down
Practice under pressure
Don’t dwell on past mistakes, reinterpret
them to your advantage
• Focus on the immediate outcome, not
body mechanics
• Use key or trigger words
• Focus on the positive
Pain Control Strategies
• Dissociative Strategies
– Direct attention away from painful stimuli
– Examples: counting backwards by 17s,
imagining you are somewhere else, watching
an engaging movie
• Associative Strategies
– Direct attention towards painful stimuli, but in
a detached, non-emotional way
Unit 8: Sleep
I. Sleep Basics
II. Circadian Rhythms
III. Sleep Debt
IV. The Opponent Process Theory of Sleep
V. Sleep as a Performance Enhancement
Skill?
What is Sleep?
“Sleep is a period of sensory isolation.”
-William Dement
• Sensory input from the environment is
blocked
• When you are asleep, you won’t notice a
bright light flashing even if your eyes are
taped open
Multiple Sleep Latency Test
(MSLT)
• Give people the opportunity to sleep every
2 hours (i.e., 9:30, 11:30, 1:30, 3:30 &
5:30)
• Have 20 minutes to fall asleep
• As soon as you fall asleep, or at 20 minute
mark, the test ends
Multiple Sleep Latency Test
• Well rested people: 15-20 minutes
• Sleep deprived: 10 minutes
• Serious sleep deprivation: 5 minutes or
less (associated with big sleep debt and/or
sleep disorders)
• Correlates very strongly with subjective
feelings of tiredness and fatigue
Starbucks Stores Since 1987
Sleep Debt
• Defined: All lost sleep less than the daily
average amount you need
• If you need an average of 10 hours per
night, and you sleep 7 hours, you just
added 3 hours to your sleep debt
Sleep Debt: The Cumulative Effect of
Lost Sleep
Baseline: 9 hours sleep/night; Study: 5 hours sleep /night
Sleep Debt
• Sleep debt is only reduced (or paid back)
by getting EXTRA sleep (sleeping MORE
than the daily average amount you need)
• If you’re tired today, it’s more likely a
function of your sleep debt than how much
sleep you got last night
Circadian Rhythms
• Defined: Rhythms that repeat about every
24 hours (often slightly more than 24
hours)
• Processes following circadian rhythms:
– Melatonin levels
– Body temperature
– Tooth enamel
– Alertness
Circadian Rhythms
• Important rhythm for our discussion:
“clock-dependent alerting”
• Experience a push of wakefulness two
times a day:
– In the morning when you wake (e.g. 8 AM)
– Again around 12 hours later (e.g. 8 PM)
• Second push is stronger because you’ve
acquired a day’s worth of sleep debt
Sleep & Motor Memory
• Motor Learning task: typing out numbers
on a keyboard (~ playing a piano)
• Wake First Group: Train (10 AM) Test (10
PM) SLEEP Retest (10 AM)
• Sleep First Group: Train (10 PM) SLEEP
Test (10 AM) Retest (10 PM)
Wake First Group
Sleep First Group
Basketball: Individual Sprint (282 ft)
Sleep extension begins after Session 6
Basketball: 3 Point Shots
(out of 15; sleep extension starts after day 18)
Unit 9: Communication
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III.
IV.
V.
Communication as a Life Skill
The Communication Process
Listening
Expressing
Nonverbal Communication
Real listening is based on the
intention to…
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Understand someone.
Enjoy someone.
Learn something.
Give help, solace, or support.
Twelve Blocks to Listening
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Comparing
Mind Reading
Rehearsing
Filtering
Judging
Daydreaming
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Identifying
Advising
Sparring
Being Right
Derailing
Placating
Four Steps to Effective
Listening
• Active Listening
– Paraphrasing
– Clarifying
– Feedback (immediate, honest, supportive,
clear, & concise)
• Listening with Empathy
• Listening with Openness
• Listening with Awareness
Six Rules for Effective Listening
• Maintain good eye contact
• Lean slightly forward
• Reinforce the speaker by nodding and
paraphrasing
• Clarify by asking questions
• Actively move away from distractions
• Be committed to understanding
Pseudo-Listening Intentions
• To listen in order to buy time to think of
what to say
• To listen for specific pieces of information,
ignoring the rest
• To listen because we think we “should”
(half-listening)
Kinds of Expression
• Observations (Facts)
• Thoughts (Conclusions drawn from the
facts)
• Feelings (Emotions)
• Needs (What would help or please you?)
Value Judgments
• Comparative appraisals that are based on
standards or norms
• They include judgments about
goodness/badness, positive/negative,
etc…
• Often related to moral or ethical
considerations
• Example: “It is wrong(or appropriate) to
assist homeless individuals.”
Theories
• A set of statements that specifies how
different factors are related to one another
• Usually created to explain the causes of
something
• Example: “Pam gets very nervous when
she drives her car at night. She must have
poor night vision.”
Beliefs
• Statements at a cognitive level that are
representative of psychological facts
• The statements are perceived as facts
themselves, but there is insufficient
foundation to form irrefutable knowledge
or truth
• Example: “Openness is essential to a
good marriage.”
Opinions
• Conclusions that are based primarily on
personal bias or intuition, rather than
substantive facts.
• Some overlap with value judgments
• Example: “Faculty meetings are a waste of
time.”
Guidelines for Sending Effective
Messages
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Be direct
Be immediate
Own your messages (“I” and “My”)
Be complete and accurate
Distinguish between observations and
thoughts
• Clearly state your feelings and needs
Whole Messages…
• include what you observe, think, feel, and need.
• are an important part of good relationships and effective
expression.
• To send whole messages, ask yourself, “Have I…
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expressed what I know to be the facts?”
expressed and clearly labeled my thoughts?”
expressed my feelings?”
shared my needs?”
Guidelines for Sending Effective
Messages
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Keep messages congruent
Focus on one thing at a time
Be straight (avoid hidden agendas)
Be supportive
Fit the receiver’s frame of reference
Be redundant
Obtain feedback
Hidden Agendas
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I’m good
I’m good (but you’re not)
You’re good (but I’m not)
I’m helpless, I suffer
I’m blameless
I’m fragile
I’m tough
I know it all
Tactics to Avoid When Being
Supportive
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Global labels
Sarcasm
Dragging up the past
Negative comparisons
Judgmental “you” messages
Threats
Areas of Verbal Message Impact
(Albert Mehrabian)
7% Verbal (actual words)
38% Paralanguage (pitch, volume, rhythm)
55% Body language (mostly facial
expressions)
Paralanguage
(the way in words are spoken)
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Pitch
Resonance
Articulation
Tempo
Volume
Rhythm
Body Language (Kinesics)
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Gestures
Posture
Touching behavior
Facial expressions
Eye behavior