Stress Management and Stress Relief Hypnosis Program

 

Stress Management, Stress Relief - A Comprehensive Program

 

An Epidemic of Stress

Stress management is becoming more and more important in our increasingly fast-paced world. When not cared for, chronic stress can result in health, emotional, and social problems.

Studies suggest that as juch as 75 percent of doctor visits are primarily stress-related. In fact, stress poses a more serious mortality risk factor than tobacco.

Did you know that 8 out of 10 of the most frequently prescribed medications treat stress-related problems like depression, anxiety, insomnia, hearburn, ulcers, and high-blood pressure? In short, there's an epidemic of stress-related problems.

Stress and Chronic Stress

The Mayo Clinic notes that we experience stress when we perceive a demand upon or threat to ourselves. It's the body's natural response. Typically after the threat passes, the body relaxes, and we are no longer stressed.

Chronic stress results from numerous episodes of stress, one after the other, or when stress is sustsained over time like unemployment. Prolonged stress can mistakenly teach the body to not relax. That's when we especially need relief from stress. That's when we can benefit from learning stress management skills.

The causes of stress are many. Some of us are by environmental causes such as weather, pollen, noise, traffic, and pollution. Others are stressed by social concerns like deadlines, financial problems, job interviews, presentations, disagreements, loss of loved ones, and demands for time and attention from colleagues and loved ones.

Of course physical problems such as illness, aging, injuries, lack of exercise, inadequate sleep, and poor nutrition can cause upset. And emotions as well as thoughts which keep us hyperalert, never-resting are stressful.

Whether we are experiencing a brief and unusually stressful period or chronic stress, we can benefit from knowing how to relax our mind and body with stress reducing skills.

My Comprehensive Portland Stress Management / Stress Relief Program

My program is modeled after the stress management protocol described in The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook by Davis, Eshelman, & Mckay (2000). My stress relief program teaches you the following thirteen skills:

Body Awareness - Learn how to recognize your body's signals that you are tense and stressed. If you don't know you're stressed, you can't reduce stress.

Breathing - Learn how to breathe to control your body's stress response and induce relaxation. Other than medication, deep breathing is the only known way to voluntarily induce the parasympathetic nervous system to relax and calm you.

Progressive Relaxation - Learn also how to deepen your ability to relax, because relaxation is an essential skill for stress management. . (Enhanced with hypnosis (For my hypnosis discussion see: Portland Hypnotherapy.))

Meditation - Learn how to relax through meditation. Meditation is a well-researched method to reduce stress. (For my meditation instruction discussion see: Portland Meditation Training.)

Visualization - Learn how to relax using pleasant visualizations - such as resting on a beautiful Hawaiian beach. Visualizations can foster calm, ease, and reduce stress. (Enhanced with hypnosis.)

Self-Hypnosis - Learn how to use self-hypnosis not only to promote relaxation, but also to control habits of thought and feeling that result in stress. Self-hypnosis is an important stress management tool that can be used anywhere.

Control Thought / Worry - Our thoughts and worries often plague us, and keep us awake at night. Effective stress management teaches you how to manage your thinking and feeling so that you don't get stressed . (Enhanced with hypnosis)

Coping Skills - Learn how reduce stress by your coping and responding to stressful events in a relaxed and constructive manner.

Goal Setting & Time Management - Our lifestyles are packed with to dos and overwhelmed with busy-ness. Learn how to reduce stress by better managing your life, your goals, and your time so that you achieve what you must in an unhurried manner.

Assertiveness Training - Stress management is helped by your learning how to say no to unreasonable demands and how to say yes on behalf of your own needs.

Job Stress Management - Learn on the job skills that help you negotiate the daily stresses of the workplace.

Nutrition - Learn the essentials of nutritional well-being; a healthy body begets a better ability to cope with stress. Nutritional changes can sometimes be the easiest and quickest ways to reduce stress.

Exercise - Stress management benefits from your exercising regularly so that your body may be its best, supporting you when you are stressed.

When working with you to relieve stress, we can work together on any assortment of the above skills.

How My Portland Counseling and Hypnosis Can Help Stress Relief

Of the above 13 stress anagement skills that can help you lead a healthy, a more relaxed lifestyle, hypnosis can explicitly teach you eight of those skills. With hypnosis, you can learn these important stress management skills: body awareness, breathing, progressive relaxation, meditation, visualization, self-hypnosis, learning to control thinking and worry, and coping skills.

In fact, hypnosis is such a relaxing experience that many times, new clients, who have experienced hypnosis for the very first time, emerge from trance with comments like, "This is the most relaxed I have ever been in my entire life." That's not hype. I've heard that and similar comments quite a number of times.

And so, to reduce stress some clients will schedule a once-a-month "relaxer" hypnosis session just to restore and refresh themselves. This isn't necessary though, for I give my clients recordings of our relaxation work on CD, so that they can take home the work to relax deeply whenever they wish.

I might also add that in addition to my work as a certified hypnotherapist, I also other work as a counselor. My experience as a counselor brings a depth to my hypnotherapy work that few other hypnotherapists possess. My educational background includes a batchelor and masters degree in psychology, and I have been trained additionally in a variety of counseling modalities. These skills bring an added depth to my work with stress management clients. I also teach assertiveness training and meditation classes.

Why choose my program? Feel Welcome to Compare...

I have made every effort to create for the most effective stress reduction / stress relief program. I provide you here a link to the Oregon Hypnotherapy Association for you to compare programs. I believe you will agree there isn't a superior program offered in the Oregon / Southwest Washington area.

When comparing, consider also that my hypnotherapy practice is distinguished from the majority of my fellow hypnotists in several important respects: 1) my expertise in hypnosis has been recogized by NGH as qualifying me to teach and train hypnotists for certification; 2) unlike most other hypnotists, I have an extensive educational background which includes not only a bachelor degree and a masters degree in psychology, but also trainings in additional counseling modalities including training in Neuro-Linguistic Programming by the founder of NLP.

Consider a complimentary consultation

Counseling is a transformative relationship shared by two persons. So, it is important that you take the time to check out counselor with whom you might work. Is the chemistry right for you? Does the therapist's background and abilities meet your needs? Would a referral be appropriate? Because I believe that it is important that you explore such questions at no cost to you before beginning work, I offer prospective clients the opportunity to meet with me for a free 50-minute consultation.

Consider a free consultation

I believe that it is important that you have the opportunity to explore your interest in stress management at no cost to you. Therefore I offer prospective clients the opportunity to meet with me for a 50-minute complimentary consultation.

The easiest way to arrange a consultation or stress relief session is to use this "Online Appointment Booking" link. There you can book your appointment at a day and time of your convenience. Of course this can be done by phone (503.226.2771) or email, but given my busy practice, I may not reply to you in a timely manner.

Directions and maps to my near-downtown office may be found using this "Portland office location" link.