Understanding and Managing Stress

Understanding and Managing Stress can be easier if you have the right tools and also if you are aware of the different types of stress one can experience. Guidelight is pleased to be supporting National Psychology Week.  As long established members of the Australian Psychological Society ( APS ) we are proud of the ( APS ) series of tips and video resources on stress, well-being and healthier lifestyles that we have selected as resources for people to easily peruse via a link on our website.

Below is a copy, for your reference, of a Stress Tip Sheet, provided by the Australian Psychological Society.  It details the different types of stress, symptoms and how to manage everyday stress.

Understanding & Managing Stress

Tips for Managing Stress

Stress and how we manage it is one of the most common problems we face in our lives today.  Feeling overloaded, overwhelmed, tense and worried can impact our lifestyle and affect our well-being. Guidelight is pleased to be supporting National Psychology Week.  As long established members of the Australian Psychological Society ( APS ) we are proud of the ( APS ) series of tips and video resources on stress, well-being and healthier lifestyles. 

Tips for Managing Stress

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKY6YrKamqM

The APS has provided Tips on Managing Stress which include:-

• Identifying warning signs
• Identifying triggers
• Establishing routines
• Looking after your health
• Noticing 'self-talk'
• Spending time with people who care
• Relaxation

For more detailed information on these tips go to  Australian Psychological Society Tips for Managing Stress

Guidelight also provides Interactive Stress Management Workshops

If you are experiencing stress and finding it difficult to manage, contact Guidelight to arrange a confidential appointment with one of our caring psychologists.  07 5527 0123

Mental Health Week

Mental Health Week is 4th October to 10 October.

At Guidelight Psychology  we are pleased to promote the awareness of Mental Health Week and endorse the range of easy to implement suggestions for your consideration in this website http://mhw.waamh.org.au/get-involved/workplace

It is our view of course that "Creating Healthier Workplaces" is a continuous process week in week out, underpinned by skilling people to utilise regular rituals to ensure the new positive behaviours become automatic habits.

Lunchbox Workshop Series

Even if your workplace is not yet ready to engage an integrated program with us, consider the power of commencing with our lunchbox workshop series as a powerful initial beginning.  In just a series of four, one hour, once per week lunchtime seminars with a small group of staff, significant skills development will occur in the areas of positive mental health strategies and advanced stress management techniques.

For more information contact us on 07 5527 0123.

Is Your Attention Under Siege?

In their recently released book One Moment Please; It’s Time to Pay Attention, authors Martina Sheehan & Susan Pearse wisely remind us to step back from the all consuming, task driven  busyness, of our working lives and instead remember that deep happiness is found in moments of clear and open attention. May I invite you to stop for a moment, please read their selected comments in the three paragraphs below and consider whether you might like some focussed professional guidance to get back on track too – like so many of our valued, but initially frazzled clients?

“We became concerned that attention has become one of the most threatened resources on the planet. More information, more access, more choice, more change, more uncertainty, more expectation, more noise, more distraction, more, more, more…Attention is fragile and limited, and when you’re surrounded by an endless selection of things just itching to steal a piece, it becomes overwhelming, almost sickening. In fact it is making us sick.

Stress, anxiety, loneliness, guilt, confusion and disappointment are the symptoms, and an empty life is the result. It’s ironic that living in a world with so much to offer has left us feeling like we have less, rather than more. But it’s clear that the things we are adding to life are just pushing out those things that make life worth living.

We live in a world of contradictions. We care about happiness, but spend time dwelling on worries and frustrations. We care about our loved ones, but allow our to-do list to come before spending time with them. We care about our friends, but only half listen when they tell us what’s going on in their lives. We care about living a life of meaning, but fill the space for deep reflection with busy activity.

Reducing Stress & Enjoying Your Life More

Currently one in every six people in the Australian workforce spend more than 59 hours per week on work related duties. A pattern such as this, unchecked over a prolonged period of time is a concerning recipe for potential burnout, crisis, illness and fatigue. Over the course of a 12 month period we undertook a study to identify the major reasons people (who held any level of paid employment ) had chosen to make an initial appointment to consult with a Guidelight Psychologist.

In a previous blog article, I commented that as an overall average, 53% of clients initially seeking our professional guidance and assistance indicated the primary reason they were no longer thinking & feeling at their best, was because of problems they were encountering in their relationships with other selected people in their lives.

Another 23% of clients ( in that particular year of our study ) indicated the primary reason they were no longer thinking & feeling at their best, was because of problems they were encountering in managing the elevated levels of stress in their lives.

While it is concerning to see that in total more than three quarters ( 76% ) of people who we assisted were aware that work related stress and/or relationship issues were diminishing their quality of life, the good news is that it is very reassuring to recognise that you are not alone  ( nor inadequate ) should you presently find yourself with diminished enjoyment of life because of elevated stress levels.

An even better piece of news is how effective the range of tools, strategies and techniques that we show clients how to expand upon, from within our field of positive psychology expertise, can rapidly renew and inspire a person to begin enjoying the best of their life again.

We look forward to talking with you in confidence soon, should you wish to learn more together.

Contact us for a confidential consultation on 07 5527 0123

Interactive Stress Management Workshops are Good For People & Essential for Business

Guidelight introduces Interactive Stress Management Workshops

 

Worksafe Queensland is a government department that is championing the need to focus on mental health as a key priority for every employer.

It is the case that a healthy worker ( mentally and physically ) is up to five (5) times more productive than an unhealthy worker.

Mental well-being and resilience for people in the workplace is enhanced through targeted staff learning and development programs.

As experts in the field of mental health and well-being in the workplace Guidelight Psychology delivers a range of interactive Stress Management Workshops in half day and full day staff group formats.

These programs are embedded with powerful tools and strategies drawn from our specialist knowledge of Advanced Positive Psychology.

Even if your workplace is not yet ready to contact us to engage our full workshop approach, please enjoy reading about some simple but powerful strategies each person can adopt right now, on the Worksafe website:

https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/injury-prevention-safety/mental-health-at-work

The Wages of Work Pressure & Chronic Stress Can Be Serious & Deadly

A recent newsfeed from Every Day Health Matters, Why Workplace Suicide is on the Rise, succinctly highlights some statistics relevant to people who risk suffering serious mental health deterioration from work pressures. Dr. Tiesman is a US based authority on the health of people at work, who thinks that some of us are literally dying from our jobs (suicide) because of the increasingly blurred lines between personal and work life.

At Guidelight Psychology we agree with Dr. Tiesman.

Our experience with a diverse range of clients who attend our Psychology practice for individual assistance, is that an overloaded work-life balance, coupled with increasingly unstable long term economic job security within many industries, can generate extreme mental health deterioration quite rapidly.

Seeking to engage a professional consultation sooner, rather than later, is frequently a very wise (and life revitalizing) move.  It is a sign of wisdom and inner strength (not weakness), to seek out appropriate psychological tools and strategies, if you workplace mental health is under siege.

Why are small business owners stressed?

It was eye catching to read a current report that we have published in part below, from the ABC online news service that so accurately describes an increasing pattern we are seeing in our professional work as mental & physical health consultants. On typically a fortnightly basis over the last few years we get to work ‘one on one’ with a diverse range of business owners in confidential one hour consultations to provide solutions to these challenging issues.  ( See www.guidelight.com.au  – Individuals and Families page )

Furthermore these increasing stresses being faced by business owners, are some of the reasons that  led us to create a specific ½ day professional development forum ( see www.creatinghealthierworkplaces.com.au – Leadership Forums ) and also a rejuvenating Wellness in the Wilderness day long program ( see www.creatinghealthierworkplaces.com.au- Home page ).

Interested new clients are warmly encouraged to contact us for tools, strategies and techniques that will work for them in this critical area of stress management and regaining peace of mind.”

Why are small business owners stressed?

Associate Professor Angela Martin from the Tasmanian School of Business and Economics University of Tasmania has undertaken research into mental health in small business owners.

Martin says there are a number of unique risk factors for mental illness faced by small business owners.

These include:

• financial stress due to unpredictable income
• high levels of uncertainty where you don’t know where the next job is coming from
• high job demands and multiple responsibilities in the workplace
• isolation and lack of social support
• high level responsibility to others including employees and family
• presenteeism where you continue to work even if you aren’t well, because if you are away the business doesn’t happen
• long hours which may be even a bigger problem than in the corporate world
• blurring of boundaries between home and work, finding it difficult to separate yourself from your work and not taking time out for yourself
• business failure, which also carries a suicide risk.These types of factors can result in job stress or strain, which pose a high risk factor for the development of depression.And depression hits small business owners further, especially if they’re unable to work and lose their source of income.

If you are stressed and can’t find a way out, we can help.

Call our office 07 5527 0123 and make an appointment at either our Brisbane or Gold Coast offices.