KAPLAN UNIVERSITY

HW410 Stress: Critical Issues in

Management and Prevention

Stress
Management and
Prevention
1

Program Resource
Guide

KA P L A N U N I V E R S I T Y

Stress Management and Prevention

Program Resource Guide

By
Toni Lynn Price
Kaplan University
HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention
March 4, 2015

Table of Contents
U N I T 1 TH E NATU R E O F S T R E S S
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
U N I T 2 TH E BO D Y AS B ATT L E F I E L D
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
UNIT 3 PSYCOLOGY OF STESS
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
UNIT 4 PERSONALITY AND SELF-ESTEEM
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT 5 UNDER STRESS: WHAT NOW?
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing

U N I T 6 A G E L E S S W I S D O M O F M E D I T ATI O N
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT 7 SIGHT, SOUND, AND BODY WORK
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT 8 PHYSICAL EXERCISE AND ACTIVITY
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT 9 APPLYING STRESS: CRITICAL MANAGEMENT
AND PREVENTION TO YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT 10 APPLYING STRESS: CRITICAL MANAGEMENT
AND PREVENTION TO YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
A DD I T I O N A L I N FO R M ATI O N

(End of the Guide)

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1
Unit

Unit 1: The Nature of Stress

Information to Remember:

Foundation to what stress is; define the definition of stress and stressors and the effect they have on
your life.

Holistic Approach; the body as a whole, the importance of the body working as one. Learning how
your body can work together to face stress.

Learning Key points on stressors; how can the key points be broken down into stages and grouped
based on how severe the stress or stressor has on your life.

Resources: Exercises:

Exercise 1.1 Inventory: Are you Stressed? The reason why I chose this exercise for this chapter is
because it goes over the main issue of the chapter, are you stressed. This exercise helped me to
identify my stress level and the effects that stress does on my sleep and mind. The questions helped to
identify what is considered stress.

Tools: Journal Writing:

Exercise 1.9 Stimulation Overload: This was my favorite journal entry because you got to look at
stress and what is considered good stress and how to manage it correctly so that you have the highest
level of performance. You learn what burnout means and how it is associated with bad stress in
your life. It is a great awareness exercise to help you look into your own thoughts and stress.

Unit 2: The Body as Battlefield

2
Unit

Information to Remember:

Chronic stress and the effects on the body. How chronic stress can cause complications with your
health.

The effects of Long term stress on the body verse short term stress. How your body is affected by
stress, what is good stress, what is bad stress, and what our body is designed to handle.

The effects of stress on the body over a period of time. The wear and tear of stress on the body and the
spiral effect it can have down the road on our health and well-being. How important it is to address
stress and have breaks from stress.

Resources: Exercises:

Exercise 2.3 The Environmental Disconnect: This exercise teaches you to understand your
connection to the Environment around you. Just how connected you are to what is going on in the
world. This exercise really helps to tone you into what you think you know.

Tools: Journal Writing:

Exercise 2.5 The Hidden Cost of Convenience: The reason for picking this exercise to use as a
journal entry was because the exercise brought you to reality on how technology makes life
convenient yet can affect our stress levels and alter our social life styles. You learn the hidden effects
that technology plays on our lives.

Unit 3: Psychology of Stress

3
Unit

Information to Remember:

Effects of our Ego on our stress: The defense Mechanisms of the Ego, how our ego is affected by the
environment and threats. How our ego helps us to address and handle stress. Our spiritual and
emotional makeup that helps to define our personalities and ego. The great debate of mind and brain
being the same or different.

The Understanding of Fear: The Anatomy of fear and what our minds perceive as fear. What is
considered basic human fears? Ways to face and overcome our fears. The healthy feelings verses
unhealthy feelings. The impact of our fears on our body and how to change our fears to improve our
health and coping skills.

How to handle stressors: The kinds of anger that is common worldwide. How stressors can affect
each of us differently depending on our ego and anger strategies. The understanding of mismanaged
anger styles and strategies to correct them.

Resources: Exercises:

Exercise 6.1 Anger Recognition Checklist: I picked this exercise because you learn how your
emotions can affect your body and how quickly anger can surface. This exercise makes you aware of
how many times per day you experience anger. Just a great way of making yourself aware of your
stressors, your coping skills, and how things affect you truly.

Tools: Journal Writing:

Exercise 6.4 Anger: The Fight Response: With this exercise of journal writing you get to find your
style of anger and why you fall under this certain area, or are you a combination of different ones and
how does this affect your day, and your life.

Unit 4: Personality and Self-esteem

4
Unit

Information to Remember:

Time Management: How to use your time wisely without overwhelming yourself and increasing your
stress. The best methods of preforming a task. The effects of proper time management on the body.

Self-esteem and how it plays a role in our personality: Learn different types of behaviors and how
they affect our self-esteem and our personalities. Great ways to boost our self-esteem to improve our
life. The Spiritual connection and how we (hunger for it) apply it to our lives. Love is the opposite of
fear was also explained as well as the Heros Journey.

The resistance to certain stressors: Resistance has limitations and the limits set thresholds for
tolerance. The different kinds of stressors (environmental factors, or activities caused by humans).
How each of us can handle stress differently.

Resources: Exercises:

Exercise 8.1 Stress and Human Spirituality: This exercise allows you to identify your stressors, the
relationship that they hold to you, such as values and purpose for them. Helps you to identify the
things that affect you as a person and to understand why you are affected by these things.

Tools: Journal Writing:

Exercise 8.6 Your Meaningful Purpose in Life: This exercise was a teaching exercise. With this
exercise you are learning what you value now and what you want to value in the future or what you
did value in the past. By completing this exercise a sense of purpose is placed upon our life and
allows us to have an understanding of what matters to us, where our time goes, what is considered
important and what we focus on.

Unit 5: Under Stress: What Now?

5
Unit

Information to Remember:

Importance of Financial Freedom: How to reduce stress and discover financial freedom by adapting
better techniques of money management. The connection between financial freedom and stress and
personality styles. The Procrastinator and the effects of putting off doing something such as paying
bills and how that can cause stress that is unneeded.

Reframing the mind: What being Positive can do for your mind frame when dealing with a stressful
event. Coping techniques that are affective so that you can identify and correct the issue. How Toxic
thoughts are a form of negative self-destruction.

Humor and the effect on stress and immune system: The effects of humor on stress and how adding
humor to your daily life can help relieve stress and build your immune system. The learning key of
the three factors that must occur for humor to register in the mind. The unit focuses on the positive
effects of humor on our stress and body regardless of the time it last.

Resources: Exercises:

Exercise 9.1 Reframing: Seeing a Bigger, Clearer Perspective: This exercise was selected because
it allows you to take a situation that is negative and reframe it to find the positives. When we do
exercises like this, we teach ourselves to start looking for the positives in all situations therefore
reducing the amount of stress our mind puts on our body from the situation.

Tools: Journal Writing:

Exercise 13.1 In Search of the Proverbial Funny Bone: The reason for picking this exercise was
that when completing it, you learn a lot about your sense of humor and why you find certain things
funny. You learn how your body uses your sense of humor to as a coping mechanism for handling

stress. You are able to identify your happy thoughts that can still bring a smile to your face when you
are stressed.

6
Unit

Unit 6: Ageless Wisdom of

Meditation
Information to Remember:

Diaphragmatic Breathing: The cycle of breathing and the impact it can have on our bodies when
under stress or relaxing from stress. This chapter goes over the mystery of breathing and how
incorporating it into your lifestyle can help manage stress as well as clear the mind.

Visual Mediation and Guided Mediation: The Unit goes over Visual mediation, which is the act of
what we create mental in our minds for the purpose of self-improvement. Guided meditation, which
is an exercise where one is guided by a series of suggestions to help enhance relaxation and
restoration in our selves.

Relaxation Techniques: The unit goes over ways to help you relax from the stressors of your
surroundings and life. How to effectively apply these techniques so that they work in your everyday
lifestyle is explained.

Resources: Exercises:

Exercise 18.1 Dolphin Breath Mediation: The reason for selecting this exercise is the effect that it
has to connect you to your breathing. The exercise allows you to create a dolphin spout to release
your breaths. You then learn how to breathe differently using the technique and can feel the effects of
the breathing on your body.

Tools: Journal Writing:

7
Unit

Exercise 21.1 I Have a Vision: The Art of Visualization: The reason for selecting this exercise was
the way you learned how to create mini-vacations in your mind and go to them when you feel over
stressed to help with coping skills. This is a great way to experience what visualization is as we can
create our own get away to the imagery making in our own unique place to go. This exercise helps
to sharpen your imagination and creativity as well as teaching you how to relax in any situation.

Unit 7: Sight, Sound and Body Work

Information to Remember:

Stress and Eating: The effects of what we do to our body when we over eat or under eat due to stress.

Domino Effect: The four main effects that stress has on the body and the stags that we go through in
each one when it comes to nutrition.

Stress and the effect on the body: The unit discusses how stress can cause us to eat foods that do not
replenish our system. We learn the importance of eating healthy to keep up our energy and to help the
body maintain the proper supplies for optimal function and health. The unit discusses the effects that
our body takes when we are under stress and do not eat correctly or eat the wrong foods.

Resources: Exercises:

Exercise 28.5 Stress-Related Eating Behaviors: The reason for selecting this exercise is because it
is hands one and you can relate to the questions asked which in return gives you a clear understanding
of what kind of stress-related eating behaviors you have that you may not have been aware of. This
exercise helps you see if the way you are eating compromises your immune system.

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Tools: Journal Writing:

8
Unit

Exercise 28.7 The Rainbow Diet: This was an interesting exercise that was picked because it helps
you to see the connection between the foods color and purpose for the body. You learn about the
spectrum of light and you can find your favorite foods to eat then see what they do for you. You also
learn why certain foods are used for certain health problems as well.

Unit 8: Physical Exercise and

Activity
Information to Remember:

Physical Exercise and Activity: The importance of physical exercise and activity for the body. The
unit goes over what part physical exercise and activity play on helping the body to stay healthy.

Types of Exercise: Anaerobic exercise is the muscle strength and toning while Aerobic exercise is the
breathing and target heart rate exercise that is lasting longer than 20 minutes.

Components of Fitness: The unit goes over the different components that make up fitness; cardioendurance, muscle strength, flexibility, agility, power, and balance. Learning the importance of each
one when it comes to a proper fitness program.

Resources: Exercises:

Exercise 28.8 Food, Glorious Food!: The reason for picking this exercise is that you can take a look
into your own eating habits. You learn what you need to improve on and also what you are doing

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correctly. This exercise is great to do to become more aware of the art of eating. Many of times we
just grab and go or pay no attention to what we put into our bodies. This exercise allows us to think

9
Unit

about our daily choices, and what we can change to meet requirements that will help us health wise.

Tools: Journal Writing:

Exercise 20.1 Hatha Yoga Revisited: This exercise was picked because of being a great mind-body
exercise that goes along with the chapter of the importance of exercise. With this exercise you can
learn the importance of balance with the body. When doing this exercise you learn how the mind,
body and spirit can work together to give you a relaxed state of mind. You also learn the meaning
behind the exercise. Yoga exercises can help to relax the body in a gentle way giving for a great
workout without all the fast movements.

Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical

Management to your Professional
Life
Information to Remember:

Techniques Used for Stress Management Professionals: Learning about the importance of stress
management techniques that are preferred by professionals, such as Tai Chi. The art of preforming
this relaxation technique and the benefits on the body.

Ways to Pray: The chapter goes over the types of prayer, the reason for prayer and the proper ways
that you can pray. How our prayers give us faith and help us face our stress.

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10
Unit

Dream Therapy: The understanding of what the purposes for our dreams are and how trying to
understand our dreams can help us in our everyday life.

Resources: Exercises:

Exercise 24.1 The Yin and Yang of Life: The reason for picking this exercise is that you can see
what the meaning of how two opposites can come together to create one. In this exercise you learn to
find the opposite of one side of life to balance out the other side of life, such as sun and moon. This
exercise is a great way of seeing for yourself how everything has an opposite match in life and how
you need both to be one.

Tools: Journal Writing:

Exercise IV. B Relaxation Survival Kit: The exercise picked for this section is a survival kit that is
perfect to have on hand in those important moments of stress relief. You can take this with you and
share it with others as well. The object of this exercise is to give you something that can be affectedly
used for when you are facing stress. It is an easy exercise with only two items each of touch, taste,
sound, and sight. Using these will help to connect your being and promote inner peace.

Unit 10: Applying Stress: Critical

Management to your Personal Life
Information to Remember:

Key learning point from the unit about Applying Stress: Critical Management
to Your Personal Life <insert your text>

Key learning point from the unit about Applying Stress: Critical Management
to Your Personal Life <insert your text>

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Key learning point from the unit about Applying Stress: Critical Management
to Your Personal Life <insert your text>

Resources: Exercises:

List the title (s) of Exercise (s) selected to include in the resource guide
<insert your text>

Tools: Journal Writing:

List the title (s)of Journal Writing (s)selected to include in the resource guide
<insert your text>

Additional Information
Book Selection

Linden, W. (2005), Stress management: From basic science to better practice

Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications, Inc. /secondary
Article Selection
Dunn, J. (2014). Stressproof your body. Health.Retrieved from
http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20859964,00.html/ Premier
Web Sites of Interest

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American Institute of Stress. (1978-2015). Retrieved from http://www.stress.org/ /primary

Mind Tools Ltd. (1996-2015). Retrieved from
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_TCS.htm/ primary
Video on Stress
Brainsmart BBC. (2010, July 14).Managing stress. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnpQrMqDoqE/secondary
Alphabetically (References)
American Institute of Stress. (1978-2015). Retrieved from http://www.stress.org/ /primary
Brainsmart BBC. (2010, July 14).Managing stress. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnpQrMqDoqE Secondary
Dunn, J. (2014). Stressproof your body. Health.Retrieved from
http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20859964,00.html/ Premier
Linden, W. (2005), Stress management: From basic science to better practice
Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications, Inc. /secondary
Mind Tools Ltd. (1996-2015). Retrieved from
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_TCS.htm/ primary

Reasons for picking the selected resources:

This book is focused on Health and Fitness/ Diseases and the effects of stress on the body.
I picked this book because it is easy to follow, takes you from basic to better understanding of what
the body goes through when stressed.
This article comes with charts and studies that show the effects of stress on our body. There
are strategies for helping to fight the effects of stressors. The book covers all of the basics of what
causes stress, the effects that stress has on the human body, how to fight back when it comes to stress,
reasons for stress and how each of us handles different stressors. The material in this book covers a lot
of what we went over in class.

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The website American Institute on Stress was picked because you can join and receive up-todate information on stress; you can also join the website and get a certification in understanding
stress. There are different topics on this site for specific interest. Mind Tools was picked out because it
holds tools to help with Stress Management in your career.
The video on stress was picked because it is a funny, simple, easy video to follow on the
effects of stress today verse what our body is designed to handle as stress. The video gives helpful
tips on how to manage stress.
The reason for the power point slide on stress management show was because he is a certified
doctor who studied stress and the effects on the body. His power point presentation is easy to follow,
great tips, advice, and right to the point on stress and cause and how to address it.

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