Stress Management - In the Workplace and Life

Stress is a requirement for being human; we need it to survive. Humans developed stress hormones as a way of surviving with the sabre-toothed tigers! Stress allows us very quickly to flood our bodies with hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol and make those snap decisions - 'Fight' / 'Flight' / 'Freeze' / 'Fright' or 'Faint' responses.

Stress is what gives us that 'edge'; the creativeness; the urge to do things better.

Unfortunately, our bodies have not developed as quickly as the modern world and they still continue to flood those hormones into our systems at the drop of a hat and that is a major cause of 'stress related' illnesses such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes.

This workshop helps you understand the body's stress responses and provides you with the tools to help become less stressed, both in the workplace and at home.

Understand why and how the body reacts to stress

Learn to spot the signs and signals of becoming overly stressed in yourself and others

Strategies for coping with stress

On completion of this course, delegates will be able to:

" Define the reasons the body reacts in situations
" List the ways in which stress can affect people
" Identify when a stressful situation is becoming unhelpful
" Act in a positive manner when in stressful situations
" Spot the signs of stress in work colleagues
" Offer advice and support to colleagues who may be suffering from stress

• What is Stress
  • Understanding exactly what we mean by stress
  • How the body reacts to stress and why it does it
  • Understanding the Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fright or Faint responses
• Why we need stress to function
  • Some stress is good; embracing stress
  • Understanding that being stressed is OK - for short periods
• What the animal kingdom can tell us about stress
  • Understanding how animals deal with stress and why
  • How baboons cope with stress
  • How we can learn from the animal kingdom in coping with stress
• Spotting the signs of stress early
  • Benchmarking yourself for stress
  • Spotting the signs in yourself
  • Understanding that we are all different and cope with stress differently both mentally and physiologically
• Acting to defuse stressful situations
  • How to calm the situation down
• Coping with stressful situations
  • How to calm yourself down
• Supporting colleagues who may be stressed
  • Being tactful and supportive

This workshop will be a highly experiential and participative workshop. Participants will be expected to take part in various role plays and exercises that have been specifically designed to enhance the learning experience.

This course is intended for anyone who may work in a stressful environment or line managers who need to be able to spot the signs of stress in others in order to offer the appropriate support.