Module+9+Managing+Stress-Part+1

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Managing Stress: Coping Strategies Cognitive Restructuring Most people experience negative thought patterns from time to time, but sometimes these patterns become so entrenched that they interfere with relationships, achievements, and even well-being. Cognitive restructuring is a group of therapeutic techniques that help people notice and change their negative thinking patterns. When thought patterns become destructive and self-defeating, it’s a good idea to explore ways to interrupt and redirect them. That’s what cognitive restructuring can do. How does cognitive restructuring work? Cognitive restructuring is at the heart of cognitive behavioral therapy , a well-studied talk therapy approach that can be effective at treating many mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety disorders . In cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a patient and therapist work together to identify faulty thought patterns that are contributing to a problem and practice techniques to help reshape negative thought patterns. It can be tricky to recognize inaccuracies in your own thought patterns. For that reason, most professionals recommend that you work with a therapist when you begin cognitive restructuring. As the name suggests, cognitive restructuring techniques deconstruct unhelpful thoughts and rebuild them in a more balanced and accurate way. People sometimes experience cognitive distortions — thought patterns that create a distorted, unhealthy view of reality. Cognitive distortions often lead to depression, anxiety, relationship problems, and self-defeating behaviors. Some examples of cognitive distortions include:  black-and-white thinking  catastrophizing  overgeneralizing  personalizing Cognitive restructuring offers an opportunity to notice these maladaptive thoughts as they’re occurring. You can then practice reframing these thoughts in more accurate and helpful ways. The theory is that if you can change how you look at certain events or circumstances, you may be able to change the feelings you have and the actions you take. So how exactly do you restructure a negative thought? Cognitive restructuring techniques Although anyone can use cognitive restructuring techniques to improve their thinking habits, many people find it helpful to collaborate with a therapist. A therapist can help you learn which cognitive distortions are affecting you. They can also explain how and why a thought is irrational or inaccurate. A therapist can also help you learn how to “question” faulty thought patterns and redesign them so they’re more positive .

Here’s a brief guide to some of the strategies involved in cognitive restructuring: Self-monitoring To change an unproductive thought pattern, you have to be able to identify the error you’re making. Cognitive restructuring depends on your ability to notice the thoughts that spark negative feelings and states of mind. It’s also useful to notice when and where the thoughts come up. It may be that you’re more vulnerable to cognitive distortions in certain situations. Knowing what those situations are may help you prepare in advance. For example, if you’re a student who has trouble with anxiety, you might notice a pattern of catastrophizing in testing environments. Maybe your pattern goes something like this: I am absolutely going to fail this test, and fail the course, and not be able to graduate with everybody else. Everyone is going to know I’ve failed. Knowing that vulnerability exists can help you catch your negative thought and change it before it gets the better of you. Some people find it helpful to journal as part of the process. Even if you aren’t sure at first what’s caused your anxiety or sadness, writing down your thoughts may help you recognize a cognitive distortion or pattern. As you practice self-monitoring, you’ll likely start noticing distorted thought patterns more quickly. Questioning your assumptions Another essential part of cognitive restructuring is learning how to question your thoughts and assumptions, especially those that seem to get in the way of living a productive life. A therapist can teach you how to use a Socratic questioning method to find out where and how your automatic thoughts are biased or illogical. Some questions you might ask include:  Is this thought based on emotion or facts?  What evidence is there that this thought is accurate?  What evidence is there that this thought isn’t accurate?  How could I test this belief?  What’s the worst that could happen? How could I respond if the worst happens?  What other ways could this information be interpreted?  Is this really a black-and-white situation or are there shades of grey here? If you’re experiencing the cognitive distortion called catastrophizing , for example, you might tend to assume the worst possible outcome in a stressful situation. In questioning this thought pattern, you could ask yourself to list all possible outcomes. You could ask yourself how likely each possible outcome is. Questioning allows you to consider new possibilities that aren’t as drastic as the catastrophic ones you may fear. Gathering evidence A key element of cognitive restructuring is gathering evidence.

You may decide to keep track of the events that trigger a response, including who you were with and what you were doing. You may want to record how strong each response is and what memories came up as a result. You might also gather evidence for or against your thoughts, assumptions, and beliefs. Cognitive distortions are biased and inaccurate, but they can also be deeply embedded. Dislodging and replacing them requires evidence about how rational they are. You may need to list facts that show a belief is accurate, and compare the list to facts that show the belief is distorted or just plain incorrect. For example, if you personalize other people’s actions, you may often blame yourself for things that aren’t your fault. You might benefit from looking at evidence that indicates an action has nothing to do with you at all. Performing a cost-benefit analysis Using this strategy, you would consider the advantages and disadvantages of maintaining a certain cognitive distortion. You could ask yourself:  What do you get out of calling yourself a complete idiot, for example?  What does this thought pattern cost you emotionally and practically speaking?  What are the long-term effects?  How does this thought pattern affect the people around you?  How does it advance or limit your job performance? Seeing the pros and cons side by side can help you decide whether it’s worth changing the pattern. Here’s a recent celebrity example of how a cost-benefit analysis works: In her show “Nanette,” comedian Hannah Gadsby talked about how she built a career on self-deprecating humor. But at a certain point, the harm she was doing to her sense of self outweighed the benefits to her career. So she decided to stop tearing herself down as a means of making jokes. “Nanette” was wildly successful, in part because so many people recognize the harmful trade-offs they make every day. Generating alternatives Cognitive restructuring helps people find new ways of looking at the things that happen to them. Part of the practice involves coming up with alternative explanations that are rational and positive to replace the distortions that have been adopted over time. For example, if you didn’t score as well on a test, instead of generalizing that you’re terrible at math, you might explore ways you could change your study habits. Or, you could explore some relaxation techniques you could try before your next test. Here’s another example: If a group of colleagues stop talking when you walk into a room, instead of jumping to the conclusion that they were talking about you, you might want to consider other explanations for their actions. By doing so, you may realize that the situation had nothing to do with you, or that you misinterpreted what was going on. Generating alternatives can also include creating positive affirmations to replace inaccurate or unhelpful thought patterns. You might want to repeat to yourself that you make valuable, positive contributions at work, and that your colleagues always include you in what’s going on. You can base these affirmations on a list of contributions you’ve actually made, and the positive relationships you’ve built.

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Behavior Modification What Is Behavior Modification? Do you remember being punished as a child? Why do you think your parents did that? Despite what we thought back then, it wasn't because they hated us and enjoyed watching us suffer through a week without television. They merely disapproved of our actions and were hoping to prevent us from repeating them in the future. This is an excellent example of behavior modification. Behavior modification refers to the techniques used to try and decrease or increase a particular type of behavior or reaction. This might sound very technical, but it's used very frequently by all of us. Parents use this to teach their children right from wrong. Therapists use it to promote healthy behaviors in their patients. Animal trainers use it to develop obedience between a pet and its owner. We even use it in our relationships with friends and significant others. Our responses to them teach them what we like and what we don't. Origin of the Theory Behavior modification relies on the concept of conditioning. Conditioning is a form of learning. There are two major types of conditioning; classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning relies on a particular stimulus or signal. An example of this would be if a family member came to the kitchen every time you baked cookies because of the delicious smell. The second type is known as operant conditioning , which involves using a system of rewards and/or punishments. Dog trainers use this technique all the time when they reward a dog with a special treat after they obey a command. Behavior modification was developed from these theories because they supported the idea that just as behaviors can be learned, they also can be unlearned. As a result, many different techniques were developed to either assist in eliciting a behavior or stopping it. This is how behavior modification was formed. Techniques  Positive reinforcement - Just like it sounds, positive reinforcement is rewarding good behavior with some kind of motivator. This might take the form of verbal praise, extending a privilege, or offering some kind of remuneration. Examples include a student who receives a dollar for each A or B on her report card, or a salesperson earning a weekend getaway for reaching a sales goal.  Negative reinforcement - Two types of negative reinforcement are positive punishment , where adding a consequence is supposed to deter future repetition of bad behavior, and negative punishment , which involves taking something away. Examples of positive punishment are adding another two days to your workout schedule next week for lazing through a day at the gym this week and making a child vacuum the whole house after dumping his snack on the living room floor. Negative punishments might be taking recess away from a child who forgot his homework, or not allowing a teen to go to the mall with friends after she was caught by her mom sneaking in after curfew last weekend.  Extinction - When the reinforcements for curbing or encouraging behavior are decreased or discontinued altogether, this is known as extinction. This is most often used in terms of a parent giving attention to a child who has an attention-

seeking habit. If the parent reacts every time the child exhibits this particular habit, the child will most likely continue to perform the annoying habit, to continue receiving the attention - even though it is negative attention - from the parent. If, on the other hand, the parent begins to ignore the child when she does this obnoxious thing, the child will be to realize her actions will no longer produce the reaction - the positive reinforcement in the form of attention - from her parent. Eventually, knowing she'll no longer get the reaction she seeks, the obnoxious behavior will discontinue.  Shaping - The process of shaping reinforces behaviors that are similar to a new, more desirable behavior. This usually occurs in steps and is often applied in cases where the ultimate goal is to overcome irrational fears or manage anxiety disorders. An example of shaping might be for someone who is arachnophobic (afraid of spiders) to look at a picture of a spider, then work his or way up to holding a stuffed animal spider, to remove the fear's power and desensitize the phobic individual.  Fading - Also referred to as conditioning, fading is the process of gradually withdrawing the reinforcement until artificial motivation is no longer needed. After all, the ultimate goal is for the habit to become second-nature - you want your child to get As on every report card, eventually without having to give him money every time. Fading gradually removes the old stimulus , getting money in exchange for good grades when it is replaced with a new stimulus, pride in getting straight As and making the most of his education.  Chaining - Behavior chains link individual behaviors to form a larger behavior. By breaking down a task into its simplest and most basic steps, it minimizes the potentially overwhelming factor of seeing the larger behavior by itself. A behavior chain for forming a habit of going to the gym might include steps like sign up for gym membership, purchase or gather workout clothes, pack gym bag, fill water bottle, drive to the gym, check in, do 15 minutes of cardio, spend 15 minutes on free weights, stay for yoga class. Steps to Initiate Behavior Plan 1. Define the behavior based on specific observable behavior o A non-specific definition could be: “He has a bad attitude.” o An good definition could be:  Openly complains about other employees  Submits incomplete, inaccurate work  Makes derogatory remarks about other departments  Complains in meetings about operations 2. Set the objective to increase or decrease the behavior o Think small; a slight increase or decrease is a modification. Not all behaviors can or will be immediately stopped or started. o Make one change at a time. For example, begin with one of the four GOOD definitions (a – d) above. Don’t attempt to change all at once. 3. Award or reprimand to modify the behavior o Positive reinforcement — rewards for behavioral changes o Negative reinforcement — reprimand for not changing behaviors o Extinguish or ignore — no outcome Questions To Consider

o Why is the behavior allowed? Most reoccurring behaviors are reinforced. What is reinforcing the behavior? o How is it allowed? To understand what’s reinforcing the behavior, observe what happens before, during, and after the behavior. Is it ignored, allowed, given exception? o So, why doesn’t reprimand work? It may be split reinforcement, which is when a team member likes to “stir things up.” What might seem to be a punishment like a reprimand from a manager, or ridicule from the team, may actually reinforce the behavior because they relish reaction and attention. Consider using extinction (ignoring the behavior) to stop split reinforcement. o What consequences will not change the behavior? If your first reaction is creating fear, you might reconsider. I believe, in most cases, management through fear should be the last resort. Fear may cause an opposite negative effect, and the more it is used, the less effective it is. When fear is overused, it becomes a poor management non-leadership style. o When should positive behavior be rewarded? In my humble opinion, always and whenever possible, as soon as it occurs. Reinforcement can be social (ex: praise), tangible (ex: extra break or time off), or monetary (ex: a bonus). o What consequences may be used? Consequences must be legal, feasible, and followed through. 4. Implement the plan o Be consistent — Don’t praise one day and not the next or extinguish one time, then because of frustration, lash out the next day. Therefore, it’s important to consistently praise positive behavior. o Combine consequences — Below is an example of combined consequences for a team member that uses negativity to gain attention.  Tell the team and management to ignore negative comments.  Give a written reprimand to extremely negative, inappropriate behavior.  Reinforce all positive behavior immediately.  Reward progress and think small, such as, a tracked daily decrease in negative comments for a week earns a lunch. 5. Track the plan o Can this be tracked? We control what we track. o Can it be observed? To be tracked, it must be observable behavior. o How will it be tracked? o When will it be tracked? o Who will track it? o For how long will it be tracked? 6. Evaluate the plan before beginning, double check o Is it a specific observable behavior? o Does the plan keep adjustments small, concentrating on one change at a time? o Can the behavior be tracked? o Do you know what is reinforcing and controlling the behavior? o Are the consequences feasible to implement? o Will this plan be consistent? Humor Therapy What is humor therapy?

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Humor therapy (sometimes called therapeutic humor) uses the power of smiles and laughter to aid healing. Humor therapy helps you find ways to make yourself (or others) smile and laugh more. When you think of humor therapy, picture clowns in the children's ward of a hospital cheering up sick children. Some hospitals now have humor carts that provide funny materials for people of any age. Many nurses have learned the value of providing a good laugh to those they care for. Scientists have been researching the relation between the mind and the body, especially in connection with the body's ability to heal (a field called psychoneuroimmunology). Laughter appears to change brain chemistry and may boost the immune system . Humor may allow a person to feel in control of a situation and make it seem more manageable. It allows people to release fears, anger, and stress , all of which can harm the body over time. Humor improves the quality of life. What is humor therapy used for? Anyone can use humor therapy, either preventively or as part of treatment for any disease. People commonly use it in the treatment of long-term (chronic) diseases, especially those that are made worse by stress (such as heart disease and asthma ). Chronic diseases have a negative effect on mood and attitude, which can make the disease worse. Humor therapy helps reduce the negative effects of feeling unhealthy, out of control, afraid, or helpless, which are common problems for those with cancer or chronic diseases. Humor therapy is also valuable as a preventive measure for the caregivers of people with chronic diseases. Caregivers are at high risk of becoming sick themselves, and humor therapy can help release the stress that comes from being a caregiver. Caregivers and those they care for can practice humor therapy together, and they both are likely to have better health as a result. Is humor therapy safe? Humor therapy is completely safe. Your doctor is likely to approve of any efforts you make to use humor therapy, even if he or she is not aware of specific medical benefits that may result. Because it is inexpensive, risk-free, and readily available, there is little reason not to try practicing humor therapy. Creative Problem Solving Creative problem solving isn’t just brainstorming, although that’s what many people may associate it with. It’s actually a well-defined process that can help you from problem definition to implementing solutions, according to Jeffrey Baumgartner. Creative ideas do not suddenly appear in people’s minds for no apparent reason. Rather, they are the result of trying to solve a specific problem or to achieve a particular goal. Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity were not sudden inspirations. Rather they were the result of a huge amount of mental problem solving trying to close a discrepancy between the laws of physics and the laws of electromagnetism as they were understood at the time.

Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison and other creative geniuses have always worked in the same way. They do not wait for creative ideas to strike them. Rather they focus on trying to solve a clearly stated, at least in their minds, problem. This approach has been formalized as Creative Problem Solving (CPS). CPS is a simple process that involves breaking down a problem to understand it, generating ideas to solve the problem and evaluating those ideas to find the most effective solutions. Highly creative people tend to follow this process in their heads, without thinking about it. Less naturally creative people simply have to learn to use this very simple process. CPS Steps 1. Clarify and identify the problem 2. Research the problem 3. Formulate creative challenges 4. Generate ideas 5. Combine and evaluate the ideas 6. Draw up an action plan 7. Do it! (implement the ideas) 1. Clarify and identify the problem Arguably the single most important step of CPS is identifying your real problem or goal. This may seem easy, but very often, what we believe to be the problem is not the real problem or goal. For instance, you may feel you need a new job. However, if you break down your problem and analyze what you are really looking for, it may transpire that the actual issue is that your income does not cover your costs of living. In this case, the solution may be a new job, but it might also be to re-arrange your expenses or to seek a pay rise from your existing employer. 2. Research the problem The next step in CPS is to research the problem in order to get a better understanding of it. Depending on the nature of the problem, you may need to do a great deal of research or very little. The best place to start these days is with your favourite search engine. But do not neglect good old fashioned sources of information and opinion. Libraries are fantastic for in-depth information that is easier to read than computer screens. Friends, colleagues and family can also provide thoughts on many issues. Fora on sites like LinkedIn and elsewhere are ideal for asking questions. There’s nothing an expert enjoys more than imparting her knowledge. Take advantage of that. But always try to get feedback from several people to ensure you get well-rounded information. 3. Formulate one or more creative challenges By now, you should be clear on the real issues behind your problems or goals. The next step is to turn these issues into creative challenges. A creative challenge is basically a simple question framed to encourage suggestions or ideas. In English, a challenge typically starts with “In what ways might I [or we]…?” or “How might I…?” or “How could I…?” Creative challenges should be simple, concise and focus on a single issue. For example: “How might I improve my Chinese language skills and find a job in Shanghai?” is two completely separate challenges. Trying to generate ideas that solve both challenges will be difficult and, as a result, will stifle idea generation. So separate these into two challenges: “How might I improve my Chinese language skills?” and “How might I find a

job in Shanghai?” Then attack each challenge individually. Once you have ideas for both, you may find a logical approach to solving both problems in a coordinated way. Or you might find that there is not a coordinated way and each problem must be tackled separately. 4. Generate ideas Finally, we come to the part most people associate with brainstorming and creative problem solving: idea generation. And you probably know how this works. Take only one creative challenge. Give yourself some quiet time and try to generate at least 50 ideas that may or may not solve the challenge. You can do this alone or you can invite some friends or family members to help you. Irrespective of your idea generation approach, write your ideas on a document. You can simply write them down in linear fashion, write them down on a mind map, enter them onto a computer document (such as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice) or use a specialized software for idea generation. The method you use is not so important. What is important is that you follow these rules: Write down every idea that comes to mind. Even if the idea is ludicrous, stupid or fails to solve the challenge, write it down. Most people are their own worst critics and by squelching their own ideas, make themselves less creative. So write everything down. NO EXCEPTIONS! If other people are also involved, insure that no one criticizes anyone else’s ideas in any way. This is called squelching, because even the tiniest amount of criticism can discourage everyone in the group for sharing their more creative ideas. Even a sigh or the rolling of eyes can be critical. Squelching must be avoided! If you are working alone, don’t stop until you’ve reached your target of 50 (or more) ideas. If you are working with other people, set a time limit like 15 or 20 minutes. Once you have reached this time limit, compare ideas and make a grand list that includes them all. Then ask everyone if they have some new ideas. Most likely people will be inspired by others’ ideas and add more to the list. 5. Combine and evaluate ideas After you have written down all of your ideas, take a break. It might just be an hour. It might be a day or more. Then go through the ideas. Related ideas can be combined together to form big ideas (or idea clusters). Then, using the criteria you devised earlier, choose all of the ideas that broadly meet those criteria. This is important. If you focus only on the “best” ideas or your favorite ideas, the chances are you will choose the less creative ones! Nevertheless, feel free to include your favorite ideas in the initial list of ideas. Now get out that list of criteria you made earlier and go through each idea more carefully. Consider how well it meets each criterion and give it a rating of 0 to 5 points, with five indicating a perfect match. If an idea falls short of a criterion, think about why this is so. Is there a way that it can be improved in order to increase its score? If so, make a note. Once you are finished, all of the ideas will have an evaluation score. Those ideas with the highest score best meet your criteria. They may not be your best ideas or

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your favorite ideas, but they are most likely to best solve your problem or enable you to achieve your goal. Depending on the nature of the challenge and the winning ideas, you may be ready to jump right in and implement your ideas. In other cases, ideas may need to be developed further. With complex ideas, a simple evaluation may not be enough. You may need to do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis or discuss the idea with others who will be affected by it. If the idea is business related, you may need to do a business case, market research, build a prototype or a combination of all of these. Also, keep in mind that you do not need to limit yourself to one winning idea. Often you can implement several ideas in order to solve your challenge. 6. Draw up an action plan At this point, you have some great ideas. However, a lot of people have trouble motivating themselves to take the next step. Creative ideas may mean big changes or taking risks. Some of us love change and risk. Others are scared by it. Draw up an action plan with the simple steps you need to take in order to implement your ideas. Ideas that involve a lot work to implement can be particularly intimidating. Breaking their implementation down into a series of readily accomplished tasks makes these ideas easier to cope with and implement. 7. Do it! This is the simplest step of all. Take your action plan and implement your idea. And if the situation veers away from your action plan steps, don’t worry. Rewrite your action plan!