Information
Please try to read each session booklet before you attend that session (so, e.g. read ‘Controlling your body’ before Session 2). You’ll find you get a lot more out of the sessions if you can do this.
In the booklets, you will find homework tasks. Do make sure you set aside time to practice these tasks as it is the hard work between sessions that will make all the difference.
Find out more by clicking the links below:
What is stress?
Will look at what stress is and how (and why) it affects us. We will look at the vicious circle of stress that explains what keeps stress going. And how, by building the positive circle, you can get stress under control.
You will learn your first major skills in this session:
‘Stress Control in nine
words’
"What is stress? "
Provides all the information you need to prepare for Session One
Controlling Panicky Feelings
Busy session. Part 1 looks at panicky feelings. We’ll see how important breathing (and breathing control) is in coping with panic. We’ll use all the skills learned so far to help control these horrible feelings. And, we’ll turn to ways to prevent these problems developing.
Get the booklet"Controlling Panicky Feelings"
Provides all the information you need to prepare for Session Five A
Controlling Your Body
We will look at how stress affects our bodies (and vice-versa). Fight / flight (faint and freeze) will make more sense of anxiety and we’ll look at how depression can get a grip and keep a grip. We learn three main skills in this session: caffeine, exercise, belly breathing and progressive relaxation.
Get the booklet"Controlling Your Body"
Provides all the information you need to prepare for Session Two
Getting A Good Nights Sleep
Poor sleep is often caused by stress but if you are not recharging your batteries night after night, your stress will get much worse. We’ll look at the ‘sleep cycle’ and look at the importance of deep sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Two main skills in this session: Sleeping tips and, for those with big sleeping problems, Retraining your sleep – hard to do but well worth it.
Get the booklet"Getting A Good Nights Sleep"
Provides all the information you need to prepare for Session Five B
Controlling Your Thoughts
We now turn to how thoughts are fed by, and feed, your stress. You will learn about vigilance, threat, grasshoppers, radars, blinkers (and meerkats!). Three main skills in this session – Building the Foundation, the Big 5 Challenges and Breaking Stress Up.
Get the booklet"Controlling Your Thoughts"
Provides all the information you need to prepare for Session Three
Controlling Your Future
We’ll finish off the class by tying it all together then, a new aspect to the course, look at the importance of values in controlling stress. We’ll then use all we have learned to make us more resilient and better able to cope with whatever life throws at us.
Get the booklet"Controlling Your Future"
Provides all the information you need to prepare for Session Six B
Controlling Your Actions
We follow the same format of previous sessions – we’ll see how actions are affected by, and affect, stress. We’ll look at avoidance and behaviour. For many people, this is the session they start to see the big picture emerging as we start to combine all the skills we have learned so far. This is a satisfying session with solid, useful skills that can be used in any situation: Face your fears, Step out your comfort zone and Problem Solving.
Get the booklet"Controlling Your Actions"
Provides all the information you need to prepare for Session Four
Boosting Your Wellbeing
Stress Control hits stress from two angles: we learn ways to get stress under control and, at the same time, learn to boost your wellbeing. We will look at ‘Five a day’: be active, keep learning, connect, give and take notice. This last one is all about being mindful, so we’ll learn some great ways to do this. We’ll finish off this part by looking at compassion and gratitude.
Get the booklet"Boosting Your Wellbeing"
Provides all the information you need to prepare for Session Six A