Description of My Stress & Resiliency Lens
The issues of stress and resiliency are continuing to grow in importance. Today, stress is playing an ever more prominent role in our lives. Continuing research shows how stress impacts our health and quality of life. I remain concerned that just approaching stress from the stress management perspective will fall short of meeting our needs to flourish, and for achieving optimal health and well-being. We need to do more than just manage our stress. This lens will look at the issues of stress and resiliency in greater detail. My intent is to use this lens to bring you the latest research and programming approaches (through a workplace focus) on stress and how to live a more stress resilient life.
A New Stress Management Blog for You to Check Out
Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D. has created a new stress management blog.
I am honored to be one of Dr. Seaward's Certified Holistic Stress Management Trainers. Dr. Seaward is an internationally renowned expert in the fields of stress management, mind-body spirit healing and stress and human spiritually. Dr. Seaward is now publishing a blog on stress management called Stressfully Speaking. I have read all his posts (which are quite comprehensive) and think the blog is great. I would strongly encourage you to check it out. You can link to the blog at: http://stressfullyspeaking.blogspot.com
I am honored to be one of Dr. Seaward's Certified Holistic Stress Management Trainers. Dr. Seaward is an internationally renowned expert in the fields of stress management, mind-body spirit healing and stress and human spiritually. Dr. Seaward is now publishing a blog on stress management called Stressfully Speaking. I have read all his posts (which are quite comprehensive) and think the blog is great. I would strongly encourage you to check it out. You can link to the blog at: http://stressfullyspeaking.blogspot.com
Certified Holistic Stress Management Instructor
I have been notified by the Paramount Wellness Institute that I have completed the necessary requirements to become a Certified Holistic Stress Management Instructor. The Paramount Wellness Institute is lead by Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D. Luke is a recognized author, teacher and leader in the field of holistic stress management and I am honored to have received my instructor certification under his instruction and guidance.
As I wrote in the description of this Lens, stress today plays both a major and significant role in our lives. If you are interested in bringing stress management training and education into your organization, contact me to learn how I might be of help or service to you.
As I wrote in the description of this Lens, stress today plays both a major and significant role in our lives. If you are interested in bringing stress management training and education into your organization, contact me to learn how I might be of help or service to you.
Current News and Events
Latest Post
I will use this module to share with you some of the latest news or research I learn about. The postings will be short and may include a link to where you might go for further information.
A New Stress Management Resource
April 3, 2009
In these uncertain times, it is not surprising to read and hear about higher and increasing levels and rates of stress, anxiety, depression, compulsive behaviors and substance use. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has just released a new online guide that provides practical advice on addressing emotional and behavioral health issues in today's environment.
The guide, "Getting Through Tough Economic Times," offers practical advice on identifying health concerns, developing coping skills and locating helpful resources. The link to the guide is: http://www.samhsa.gov/economy/
Just four pages in length, the guide is a quick and easy tool to use and easy to distribute as well.
For past news and events, see modules below.
A New Stress Management Resource
April 3, 2009
In these uncertain times, it is not surprising to read and hear about higher and increasing levels and rates of stress, anxiety, depression, compulsive behaviors and substance use. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has just released a new online guide that provides practical advice on addressing emotional and behavioral health issues in today's environment.
The guide, "Getting Through Tough Economic Times," offers practical advice on identifying health concerns, developing coping skills and locating helpful resources. The link to the guide is: http://www.samhsa.gov/economy/
Just four pages in length, the guide is a quick and easy tool to use and easy to distribute as well.
For past news and events, see modules below.
What is Resilience?
In today's fast paced, constantly changing world, just managing stress is not enough. What is needed is resilience to inoculate us against the impacts of stress such as disease, depression and anxiety. Boosting resilience will also boost self-confidence, achievement and productivity. Resilience has also been referred to as hardiness.
Being resilient means being able to recover or bounce back from adversity, difficulties or change with the ability to at least function as well as before. Resilience involves successful adaptation despite being exposed to challenging and adverse circumstances. Despite this exposure, good outcomes result. Resilient people effectively cope with and adapt to stress and challenging circumstances. Resilience means dealing with challenges that make us grow and make us stronger, better prepared to face the challenges ahead.
The original resilience research focused on children who thrived despite severe poverty, war or sexual abuse. Research has since expanded into the study of resilience across the life span. Research today is focusing on both the theory and practical application of resilience. Positive resilience theory focuses on factors that promote well-being in individuals and communities faced with adversity.
Resilience theory is based on the position that life's trials and tribulations are to be embraced. Coping with risks and recovering from adversity are actually good for us. While some individuals have a natural inclination to be resilient, resiliency can be learned. See my post regarding the seven learnable resiliency skills as identified by Dr. Karen Reivich.
Researchers Salvatore Maddi and Deborah Khoshaba have studied resilience at the workplace. They found that resilience helps individuals to cope, thrive and flourish when facing adversity at the workplace. Their research found that individuals with resilience shared three attitudes: commitment, control, and challenge. According to Maddi and Khoshaba, when adversity hit the resilient individual they stayed involved with others and the event (commitment), they continued to try and influence the outcomes (control) and they used the difficult times to try and grow (challenge). Dr. Maddi believes that highly resilient individuals enjoy change and difficulties. He believes they find themselves more engaged during difficult times and they view stress as a normal part of life.
The key to understanding resilience can be found in studying risk and protective factors. Risk and protective factors are characteristics of individuals, families and communities. Within each, protective factors increase resilience, while risk factors decrease resilience. Simply put, protective factors help to protect us from the negative effects of risk factors. Resilience is determined by the interaction of individual characteristics, with the characteristics of the family and the characteristics of the physical and social environments.
The promotion of resilience promotes better mental health. Resilience is a central tenet within the mental health framework. Part of being resilient is having good mental health.
Being resilient means being able to recover or bounce back from adversity, difficulties or change with the ability to at least function as well as before. Resilience involves successful adaptation despite being exposed to challenging and adverse circumstances. Despite this exposure, good outcomes result. Resilient people effectively cope with and adapt to stress and challenging circumstances. Resilience means dealing with challenges that make us grow and make us stronger, better prepared to face the challenges ahead.
The original resilience research focused on children who thrived despite severe poverty, war or sexual abuse. Research has since expanded into the study of resilience across the life span. Research today is focusing on both the theory and practical application of resilience. Positive resilience theory focuses on factors that promote well-being in individuals and communities faced with adversity.
Resilience theory is based on the position that life's trials and tribulations are to be embraced. Coping with risks and recovering from adversity are actually good for us. While some individuals have a natural inclination to be resilient, resiliency can be learned. See my post regarding the seven learnable resiliency skills as identified by Dr. Karen Reivich.
Researchers Salvatore Maddi and Deborah Khoshaba have studied resilience at the workplace. They found that resilience helps individuals to cope, thrive and flourish when facing adversity at the workplace. Their research found that individuals with resilience shared three attitudes: commitment, control, and challenge. According to Maddi and Khoshaba, when adversity hit the resilient individual they stayed involved with others and the event (commitment), they continued to try and influence the outcomes (control) and they used the difficult times to try and grow (challenge). Dr. Maddi believes that highly resilient individuals enjoy change and difficulties. He believes they find themselves more engaged during difficult times and they view stress as a normal part of life.
The key to understanding resilience can be found in studying risk and protective factors. Risk and protective factors are characteristics of individuals, families and communities. Within each, protective factors increase resilience, while risk factors decrease resilience. Simply put, protective factors help to protect us from the negative effects of risk factors. Resilience is determined by the interaction of individual characteristics, with the characteristics of the family and the characteristics of the physical and social environments.
The promotion of resilience promotes better mental health. Resilience is a central tenet within the mental health framework. Part of being resilient is having good mental health.
Seven Learnable Resiliency Skills
Dr. Karen Reivich, author of the Resilience Factor, identifies seven resiliency learnable skills:
1. Emotional Awareness and Regulation - Highly resilient people have the ability to identify their feelings and where necessary, have the ability to control their feelings.
2. Impulse Control - Highly resilient people tolerate ambiguity well so they do not rush to judgment or make snap decisions. They step back and think about things before acting.
3. Optimism - Highly resilient people have a realistic, optimistic view of the world. This optimism is, however, based in reality.
4. Causal Analysis - Highly resilient people have the ability to look at problems and challenges from a comprehensive perspective. Problems and challenges are viewed from many different perspectives, with many factors given consideration.
5. Empathy - Highly resilient people are highly empathetic. They not only identify and understand their own emotions, they can identify and understand the emotions of others. This allows the highly resilient individual to both build social relationships and to give out social support.
6. Self-efficacy - Highly resilient people have confidence in their ability to successfully solve problems. They have a recognition of their strengths and weaknesses and use their strengths to help them cope with adversity.
7. Reaching Out - Highly resilient people are prepared to take appropriate risks. They are willing to try new things and view failure as a routine part of life.
1. Emotional Awareness and Regulation - Highly resilient people have the ability to identify their feelings and where necessary, have the ability to control their feelings.
2. Impulse Control - Highly resilient people tolerate ambiguity well so they do not rush to judgment or make snap decisions. They step back and think about things before acting.
3. Optimism - Highly resilient people have a realistic, optimistic view of the world. This optimism is, however, based in reality.
4. Causal Analysis - Highly resilient people have the ability to look at problems and challenges from a comprehensive perspective. Problems and challenges are viewed from many different perspectives, with many factors given consideration.
5. Empathy - Highly resilient people are highly empathetic. They not only identify and understand their own emotions, they can identify and understand the emotions of others. This allows the highly resilient individual to both build social relationships and to give out social support.
6. Self-efficacy - Highly resilient people have confidence in their ability to successfully solve problems. They have a recognition of their strengths and weaknesses and use their strengths to help them cope with adversity.
7. Reaching Out - Highly resilient people are prepared to take appropriate risks. They are willing to try new things and view failure as a routine part of life.
Organizational Resilience
While there is no current international standard for organizational resilience, a number of individual standards are in place and can be used to evaluate organizational resilience.
In the U.S., a law (PL 110-53) was signed by the President on August 3, 2007 requiring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide for the development of a private sector led voluntary certification program for an all hazards approach to business emergency preparedness.
The National Fire Protection Association offers NFPA 1600, Standard for Disaster/ Emergency Management and Business Continuity. This standard provides for disaster and emergency management and business continuity programs. It can be found at: http://www.nfpa.org.
In the U.S., a voluntary standard exists for the assessment and accreditation of state, territorial, regional, tribal and local government emergency management programs. Known as the Emergency Management Accreditation Standard: A Framework for Assessing Regional Preparedness. This standard can be found at: http://www.emaponline.org.
ASIS, an industrial security organization, has been leading the effort to develop an ISO (International Standards Organization) standard for incident preparedness and business continuity. The ISO/TC 223 committee recently produced a best practices document known as ISO/PAS 22399:2007 Societal Security - Guideline for Incident Preparedness and Operational Continuity Management.
The British Standards Institute has issued a Business Continuity Management Lifecycle System standard known as BS 25999 Parts 1 and 2. These good practice guidelines can be found at http://www.bs25999.com.
Singapore was the first country to adopt a standard and certification program for business continuity and disaster recovery. The Singapore standard is known as SS507-ISO/IEC 27031.
A number of individual standards also exist specifically addressing the issue of information security.
In the U.S., a law (PL 110-53) was signed by the President on August 3, 2007 requiring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide for the development of a private sector led voluntary certification program for an all hazards approach to business emergency preparedness.
The National Fire Protection Association offers NFPA 1600, Standard for Disaster/ Emergency Management and Business Continuity. This standard provides for disaster and emergency management and business continuity programs. It can be found at: http://www.nfpa.org.
In the U.S., a voluntary standard exists for the assessment and accreditation of state, territorial, regional, tribal and local government emergency management programs. Known as the Emergency Management Accreditation Standard: A Framework for Assessing Regional Preparedness. This standard can be found at: http://www.emaponline.org.
ASIS, an industrial security organization, has been leading the effort to develop an ISO (International Standards Organization) standard for incident preparedness and business continuity. The ISO/TC 223 committee recently produced a best practices document known as ISO/PAS 22399:2007 Societal Security - Guideline for Incident Preparedness and Operational Continuity Management.
The British Standards Institute has issued a Business Continuity Management Lifecycle System standard known as BS 25999 Parts 1 and 2. These good practice guidelines can be found at http://www.bs25999.com.
Singapore was the first country to adopt a standard and certification program for business continuity and disaster recovery. The Singapore standard is known as SS507-ISO/IEC 27031.
A number of individual standards also exist specifically addressing the issue of information security.
Past News and Events - 4
July 30, 2008
Employees Report a Significant Level of Stress
Data from two recent on-line surveys from CareerBuilder.com and Harris Interactive have been combined and analyzed to reveal:
* 78% of the respondents reported feeling burned out at work
* 46% of the surveyed workers reported experiencing increased workloads within the past six months
* 45% of the respondents reported their current workload as being heavy or very heavy
* 23% reported being dissatisfied with their current work/life balance
* 54% reported that their organization offered one or more flexible work arrangement strategy
* 66% indicated that they personally utilized one or more of their organization's work/life balance programs
Utilization of the work/life benefits was reported as:
> 72% participated in alternative scheduling
> 24% utilized compressed work weeks
> 15% telecommute
> 14% utilized summer hours
> 6% participated in job sharing
The combined data represented 16,743 employed Americans who were surveyed between February 11 and June 13, 2008.
Employees Report a Significant Level of Stress
Data from two recent on-line surveys from CareerBuilder.com and Harris Interactive have been combined and analyzed to reveal:
* 78% of the respondents reported feeling burned out at work
* 46% of the surveyed workers reported experiencing increased workloads within the past six months
* 45% of the respondents reported their current workload as being heavy or very heavy
* 23% reported being dissatisfied with their current work/life balance
* 54% reported that their organization offered one or more flexible work arrangement strategy
* 66% indicated that they personally utilized one or more of their organization's work/life balance programs
Utilization of the work/life benefits was reported as:
> 72% participated in alternative scheduling
> 24% utilized compressed work weeks
> 15% telecommute
> 14% utilized summer hours
> 6% participated in job sharing
The combined data represented 16,743 employed Americans who were surveyed between February 11 and June 13, 2008.
Past News and Events - 3
January 7, 2008 - Stress Institute's 2007 Awards
With the recognition of the impact that stress has on our health, a plethora of stress management tools have hit the market. To separate the good, bad and ugly, the American Institute of Stress, (https://www.stress.org) has identified the following tools as recipients of their 2007 Award for Distinction and Innovation.
Personal Stress Reliever
www.emWave.com
Biofeedback device
www.StressEraser.com
Assorted tress management tools
www.StressStop.com
Peak Achievement Trainer
www.peakachievement.com
Relaxation supplement
www.relaxity.net
Medical device stress control system
www.alpha-stim.com
With the recognition of the impact that stress has on our health, a plethora of stress management tools have hit the market. To separate the good, bad and ugly, the American Institute of Stress, (https://www.stress.org) has identified the following tools as recipients of their 2007 Award for Distinction and Innovation.
Personal Stress Reliever
www.emWave.com
Biofeedback device
www.StressEraser.com
Assorted tress management tools
www.StressStop.com
Peak Achievement Trainer
www.peakachievement.com
Relaxation supplement
www.relaxity.net
Medical device stress control system
www.alpha-stim.com
Past News and Events - 2
November 13, 2007 - Canadian Public Employees Affected by Stress As Well
As a public employee, when I scan the news, headlines about public employees tend to get my attention. A November 5th article in the Ottawa Citizen was one such article. According to the article, the incidence of disability claims by Canadian federal employees is at a 37 year high, based on figures provided by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), a large Canadian employee union.
In the article, James Infantino, a PSAC Pensions and Disability Insurance Officer, singled out job stress levels and problems with work - life balance as key reasons for the escalating claims. Infantino describes the Canadian federal government as being "a cesspool right now. The stress levels are inconceivable, actually." The article also pointed out that this past July, the Treasury Board of Canada released a report indicating there was also a high rate of depression in the public service workforce.
Mr. Infantino noted that women make-up 54% of the Canadian federal workforce and 2/3 of the disability claim filers were women. Mr. Infantino stated: "For every three claims, two are filed by women." By comparison, in 1991, women constituted approximately 45% of the federal workforce and women filed 51.4% of the disability claims.
In 1991, 23.7% of the approved disability claims were for depression and/or anxiety. In 2006, that number had increased to 45.1%. A total of 2908 workers filed disability claims in 2006, a claim incident rate of 13.54 claims per 1,000 federal employees. According to Mr. Infantino, today almost 50% of the claims filed cite depression or anxiety as the primary disability. Certified medical evidence is required before a disability claim is approved.
Mr. Infantino attributed the job stress due to overwork being a major contributing factor. In the late 1990's, the Canadian federal government underwent a major downsizing. According to Mr. Infantino, while employees were eliminated, the workload was not. In the article, he also related that the remaining employees are also concerned about their future as concern amongst the employees mounts that the federal government workforce might be subject to another round of downsizing.
As a public employee, when I scan the news, headlines about public employees tend to get my attention. A November 5th article in the Ottawa Citizen was one such article. According to the article, the incidence of disability claims by Canadian federal employees is at a 37 year high, based on figures provided by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), a large Canadian employee union.
In the article, James Infantino, a PSAC Pensions and Disability Insurance Officer, singled out job stress levels and problems with work - life balance as key reasons for the escalating claims. Infantino describes the Canadian federal government as being "a cesspool right now. The stress levels are inconceivable, actually." The article also pointed out that this past July, the Treasury Board of Canada released a report indicating there was also a high rate of depression in the public service workforce.
Mr. Infantino noted that women make-up 54% of the Canadian federal workforce and 2/3 of the disability claim filers were women. Mr. Infantino stated: "For every three claims, two are filed by women." By comparison, in 1991, women constituted approximately 45% of the federal workforce and women filed 51.4% of the disability claims.
In 1991, 23.7% of the approved disability claims were for depression and/or anxiety. In 2006, that number had increased to 45.1%. A total of 2908 workers filed disability claims in 2006, a claim incident rate of 13.54 claims per 1,000 federal employees. According to Mr. Infantino, today almost 50% of the claims filed cite depression or anxiety as the primary disability. Certified medical evidence is required before a disability claim is approved.
Mr. Infantino attributed the job stress due to overwork being a major contributing factor. In the late 1990's, the Canadian federal government underwent a major downsizing. According to Mr. Infantino, while employees were eliminated, the workload was not. In the article, he also related that the remaining employees are also concerned about their future as concern amongst the employees mounts that the federal government workforce might be subject to another round of downsizing.
Past News and Events - 1
October, 2007 - I recently returned from a business/pleasure trip to Colorado. The business portion of the trip was to attend an instructor training program in holistic stress management. The training was led by Brian Luke Seward, Ph.D. through his organizations Inspiration Unlimited and Paramount Wellness Institute (http://brianlukeseward.net). Dr. Seaward is a nationally recognized leader in the area of holistic stress management. I have been following his work for a while now, so I am grateful I finally got to attend his Instructor Certification Program.
by williammcpeck
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