Presentation Transcript

1. Professional Development WorkshopStress Management: A Holistic Approach Facilitator – Dr. Michael Ryan Centre For Education and Developing Human Potential LIT -Tipperary

2. Workshop Themes & Methodology Themes Methodology Information & Insights Activities Good Humour Questions/Discussion Some Quiet Time Respect for Difference Collective Wisdom • Human Needs • Understanding Stress : Sources and Symptoms • Managing Stress: Techniques and Tools

3. The noisy world we live in... “When Mozart was composing at the end of the eighteenth century, the city of Vienna was so quiet that fire alarms could be given verbally, by a shouting watchman mounted on top of St. Stefan's Cathedral.  In twentieth-century society, the noise level is such that it keeps knocking our bodies out of tune and out of their natural rhythms.  This ever-increasing assault of sound upon our ears, minds, and bodies adds to the stress load of civilized beings trying to live in a highly complex environment.”  Steven Halpern

4. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZUKA1gK4b4

5. What is stress? • Stress is a negative state, which involves, to varying degrees, anxiety, fear and agitation. (Health & Safety Authority 2012)

6. Human Needs – Emotional • Security — safe territory and environment • Attention (to give and receive it) — a form of nutrition • Control and autonomy — having volition to make choices • Community — feeling part of a wider community • Intimacy and friendship — knowing at least one person accepts us totally for who we are, “warts 'n' all” • Competence and achievement — feeling you are achieving and are competent in at least one area of your life • Privacy — opportunity to reflect and consolidate experience • Status — within social groupings • Meaning and purpose • — being stretched - a sense of competence and achievement. • — being needed • — religion/spiritual belief

7. Resilience & The Four Cs of Humanitybased on work of Adler • We need to Connect • We need to Count • We need to feel Capable • We need Courage

8. What occupations suffer most from stress? Top of the stress list in Britain are: • prison warders • police • social workers • teachers • ambulance drivers • nurses and doctors.

9. Setting The Context • Stress is inevitable : Maturity is achieved when a person accepts life as full of tension (Joshua Liebman) • One in four people experience significant stress at some stage in their professional life • There are no magical solutions…but there are conscious (professional) strategies that really help us to cope much better • How we cope with stress does depend somewhat on: - personality type - our capacity to recognise the symptoms and respond - overall physical and psychological resilience - availability of & access to support networks - stage of life

10. Personality Disposition Type A • Competitive/ ambitious • Chronic sense of urgency • High expectations • Anxious & Serious • Doesn’t delegate • Busy/workaholic • Impatient • Hostility Type B • Non-competitive • Responsive/calm • Realistic expectations • Playful • Co-operative • Leisurely • Patient & tolerant

11. Extroversion/Introversion Extroverts Introverts Tendency to look inward and blame oneself in stressful situations • Tendency to look outside oneself & blame others in stressful situations

12. Life Domains

13. Categories of Stress that can also enter our lives as teachers • Daily Hassles • accumulation of small, irritating, daily stressful events • Major Life Events – (Holmes and Rahe) marriage, house move, birth of child, separation, loss experience • Chronic Stressors • physical health stressors (e.g. medical conditions),financial pressures, problems at work, relationship/family tensions

14. Specific Stressors in Education? • Working with young adults • Different levels of motivation & ability among students • Relational dimension • External environment that impacts on teaching but over which there isn’t always control (societal change & home factors) • Mental challenges of adjusting quickly across different subjects and across different age groups in a given day (30 periods a week) • Isolation in one’s own classroom • Perceived pettiness associated with rules & procedures • The Assessment focus • Class size and logistics • Schools as ‘unique’ organisations and the ‘collective impact’ if school culture is not consistently positive • Lack of professional development opportunities? • Time and intensity of the school year • Slow burning tiredness – psychological wearing down from cumulative minor events • Necessity of being highly organised all the time • Lack of positive feedback & Acknowledgement /Valuing • Poor Communication • Inadequate skill set for challenges experienced

15. “Fight or Flight” Response Sympathetic branch of the Autonomic Nervous System Adrenal Medulla (Endocrine gland) Threatening event Energy is mobilised, prepares for vigorous muscle activity, elicits potential for extraordinary strength Adrenaline Noradrenaline (Stress hormones)  Heart Rate  Blood Flow  Respiration  Muscle Strength

16. Recognising Our Symptoms Loss of sense of humour Negative self concept Indecision & self doubt Hypochondria Reduced performance Increased absenteeism Smoking & drinking Diet Constant irritability Lack of sleep Constant fatigue Below standard personal appearance Headache/Backache Feelings of despair Suppressed anger Rapid, unpredictable mood swings Anxiety and/ or depression

17. Managing Stress

18. The Complexity of Private Logic It’s not what happens us in life that upsets us and causes grief but rather how we interpret what happens (Albert Ellis –Psychotherapist) Rational? Healthy/Unhealthy? Safety/Avoidant ?

19. Stress & Emotional Hijacks Centre for Education and Developing Human Potential

20. Emotional Hijack Most events which we respond to in life involve a journey from sensation to action (responding to a given stimuli).These responses are typically routed in our brain through the Thalamus (like an air traffic controller), which redirects them to the Visual cortex (thinking brain) for logical processing. The cortex thinks about the impulse and makes sense of it. The cortex then sends a message to the Amygdala, where peptides & hormones are released to create emotion and action. Sometimes however the thalamus quickly reacts to a perceived threat and bypasses the cortex. The signal goes directly to the amygdala (which can only respond based on previously stored patterns). The response can be positive e.g. we run if we perceive danger but typically the response is negative, i.e we say something or do something that is irrational and we lose control over the emotion. For a few seconds – our brain is flooded with electro chemicals –and our perception is distorted. Centre for Education and Developing Human Potential

21. Stress Management Techniques Short – medium term stress busters • Breathing • Progressive Muscle Relaxation • Visualisation/Music • Meditation • Physical exercise/hobby • Time Management • Massage • Assertive communication • Anger management • Social Support • Humour/Laughter Prevention Strategies for longer term • AAAbc (Alter/Avoid/Accept) • CESSP (Cognitive/Emotional/Social/Spiritual/Physical) • Moonlighting notebook

22. Some useful video clips (first two - practice; last two - music for meditation • www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOpZU320v5E • www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnpQrMqDoqE • www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpT5MrD44wM • www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6iA_EF06yU

23. The Relaxation Response • Herbert Benson concluded from his research that meditation acts as an antidote to stress • The effects of meditation are essentially the opposite of the fight or flight response: • Decreases the heart rate • Decreases the respiratory rate • Decreases blood pressure in people who have normal or mildly elevated blood pressure • Decreases oxygen consumption

24. A Coping Strategy - AAAbc • When we’re stressed we have 3 ways of coping • Alter it • Avoid it • Accept it by: • building our resistance • changing our perceptions • The trick is knowing when to choose the best approach for the situation you’re in.

25. AAAbc • ALTER – Can I change/improve the situation? (problem solving/direct communication/ time management/ organising/ planning) • AVOID – Can I remove myself from the situation or figure out how not to get there in the first place? • ACCEPT – Can I equip myself physically and mentally for the stress by: • building resistance physically (diet, exercise, relaxation), mentally (positive affirmations), socially (support) and spiritually (faith) • changing the way I perceive the situation or changing myself (self-esteem/assertiveness training/ what I tell myself) The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.  (William James)

26. Accessing 5 Coping Resources (CESSP) Thinking & Positive Self Appraisal Exercise, Hobbies & Health Promoting Behaviours Friends & Support Network My Response Values: belief system, prayer, meditation, reading, music - Awareness & Expression of Feelings

27. Useful Philosophies? • There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them.  (Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar) • The time to relax is when you don't have time for it.  (Jim Goodwin and Sydney J. Harris) • Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.  (Ovid) • The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.  (William James) • Each day should have a clearly marked emergency exit sign.  (Dr. SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com) • A life spent in constant labor is a life wasted, save a man be such a fool as to regard a fulsome obituary notice as ample reward.  (George Jean Nathan)

28. The Moonlighting notebook • Cure for stress induced insomnia –Keep a notebook/diary beside your bed... • Write in thoughts/plans ….& feel the mind relax….externalising/parking/emptying

29. The workplace Climate • Identifying Psychosocial Hazards (predictable areas of pressure related to the specific work that we do) e.g. assessment, administration, meetings, student issues… • How might these be reduced? (policies, practice, peer support, encouragement of collegial problem solving, adaptability & resilience) • Humour – we’re good at it in Ireland • Need for positive projects during the year • Acknowledgement & Celebration Rituals

30. Seven pockets of wonderful things that sustain teachers? (Ryan 2010) Offerings of vocational craft wisdom to NQTs Inner calling, role models & collegial support Vocational vision & making a difference Harnessing renewal through professional development Passion for one’s subject domain Extra – curricular and the relational domain Survival stories from novice years mryan 2010

31. References/Resources Barry, H. (2010) Flagging Stress –Dublin: Liberties Press Brosan, L. & Todd, G. (2007) Overcoming Stress. London: Robinson. • http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=1241 • www.hsa.ie • HSA -2012 - Handout