Stress Management Coaching is a two-tiered approach to long term stress management. This program combines the principles of co-active coaching with mindfulness-based meditation and conscious breathing. Over 6-12 weeks* the client learns to recognize the body/mind’s reactions to pressures and demands, and learns to respond with awareness, equanimity and control.
The program rests on the premise that stress consists of physical, emotional and psychological reactions to the pressures and demands we face each day. That’s right: Stress is our own internal reaction to external “stressors.” This means that we have a choice in how we respond to pressures and demands, even when we have no control over when, or even whether, those demands occur.
Through mindfulness-based meditation (that is, daily meditation that focuses on the breath) we become adept at “being in the moment.” Rather than reacting to crises great and small with anxiety, tightened muscles, and an increased heart rate, we learn to slow down, regain awareness of our bodies, thoughts and feelings, and proceed with calmness, acceptance and attention.
Mindfulness also brings us face to face with our personal stress inducers, as well as our patterned reactions – the cause and effect of chronic stress. These are different for everyone. This is where co-active coaching, the second tier of the program, comes in.
Co-active coaching is a collaborative process of discovery and action. It empowers the client to find their own solutions to problems, and to overcome obstacles to wellness and personal growth. The model is based on the assumption that the client is a creative individual with the life-experience and insight to visualize, establish and achieve her or his goals. In the coaching session, the coach encourages and supports the client in exploring strategies for managing stressors and, ultimately, holds the client accountable to pursuing their goals.
In the Stress Management Coaching program, the client comes to:
Understand the difference between acute and chronic stress.
Identify the pressures, demands, and behaviors that contribute to chronic stress in daily life.
Recognize the physical, emotional and psychological reactions that contribute to chronic stress.
Learn the effects of chronic stress on muscle tension, blood pressure, immune strength, digestion, and sleep.
Develop a daily mindfulness practice to transform stress reactions into healthy responses that minimize accumulated tension and anxiety.
Accept and strengthen one’s creative capacity for addressing stressors and recovering balance of mind when stressors arise.
The program is offered as a one-on-one course in which client and therapist meet for six one-hour sessions over the course of 6-12 weeks. Each one-hour session includes co-active coaching to establish goals and the actions toward achieving them, and mindfulness exercises geared toward developing a succesful, on-going mindfulness practice.
The cost for the initial 6 one-hour sessions is $350. Subsequent 1-hour sessions available at $70/hour.
To learn more about stress, please visit my Wellness blog.
