Outline and Evaluate 1 or More Psychological Methods of Stress Management

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Outline and evaluate 1 or more psychological methods of stress management (12) The psychological approach to dealing with stress is one of the most common used through CBT which means that behaviour is believed to be determined by the way somebody thinks about a situation. Therefore cognitive therapy attempts to change thoughts in order for an individual to change their behaviour. One of these methods, SIT, was created by Meichenbaum (1985), who believed that although we cannot change the causes of stress, we can change the way that somebody perceives stressors in order to inoculate them from disorders like anxiety and OCD, etc. To do so, he developed three phases: 1. Conceptualisation phase, where the therapist and client establish a relationship before the client is educated about stress and its impacts. The client is then told to view stressful situations as challenges rather than threats. 2. Skills acquisition phase (and rehearsal), in which certain coping skills (depending on the client’s situation) are practised in the clinic, and then adapted to real life situations. For example, relaxation/social support/time management and more are common methods used. 3. Application phase (and follow-through), where clients can apply these new coping skills in increasingly stressful real life situations, through techniques such as imagery, role-playing and modelling. SIT has been proved to be incredibly reliable and valid by Meichenbaum, as in 1977 he used patients with snake phobias and compared SIT with another coping method (systematic desensitisation). Although both therapy forms reduced the phobia, SIT also inoculated patients from future phobias/stressors, proving it to be the more effective method by dealing with current and long-term future stressors. Additionally, Sheehy and Horan (2004) backed up SIT too by studying the effect of it on first

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