Time ‘B’ and time ‘D’ are particularly stressful for John. At time ‘B’ things are not going well at home and at time ‘D’ John is having a tough time at work. The dotted line (‘stress tolerance’) shows the level of stress that John can cope with without becoming ill. At time ‘A’ John has an argument with his teenage son. John was upset and would rate the argument about 5 out of 10 on a stress scale. Because at the time John was feeling quite relaxed he coped well with the argument. Though unpleasant it didn’t exceed his capacity to deal with it. At time ‘B’ John has, an argument (‘Y’) with his boss. John would have rated this at about 5 out of 10 on a stress scale too, except this time John’s ambient stress level was high. John hadn’t been sleeping and was working too hard. The result of this stress addition was that John took time off work – the extra stress was more than he was able to deal with. The second dotted line, ‘improved stress tolerance’ shows how John can deal with mores stressful events without becoming ill. Increasing resilience – 5 ways to wellbeing ‘Resilience’ means our ability to ‘bounce back’ after dealing with problems and challenges. It means ‘rolling with the punches’. Without fail, life will challenge us with unexpected problems. Being able to deal with them and to ‘bounce back’ is an essential skill. In some ways, life is like a house of cards. At some point, our ‘card house’ will collapse. There are skills relating to protecting our ‘house of cards’ and there are ‘rebuilding’ skills. ‘Rebuilding’ skills are vitally important, because no matter how hard we work to stop our ‘house’ falling down, it is bound to fall down eventually.
3 I exercise regularly 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 4 I take regular holidays and breaks 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 5 I make time for hobbies and for learning something new each week 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 6 I look my health 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 7 I praise myself for a ‘job well done’ 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 8 I feel in control of my life 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 9 I eat regularly and healthily 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 10 I make time to connect regularly with my friends 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 Session 2 Contents Mood meter review and recap on previous session Reducing vulnerability - please master Emotions and action impulses ‘Acting opposite’ Mindfulness
Semi-smiling and serenity As our moods and emotions alter our bodily responses, so changing what we do influences our emotions … Semi-smiling practice Accept reality with your body Relax (by letting go or by just tensing and then letting go) your face, neck, and shoulder muscles and half-smile Relax your jaw and facial muscles Try to adopt a serene facial expression - because your body communicates with your mind Half-smile while contemplating the person you despise the most Sit quietly. Breathe and a half-smile. Imagine the image of the person who has caused you the most suffering. Regard the features you hate or despise the most or find the most repulsive. Try to examine what makes this person happy and what causes suffering in his or her daily life. Imagine the person's perceptions; try to see what patterns of thought and reason this person follows. Examine what motivates this person's hopes and actions
My Goals Having considered the programme, what goals do you have for the future? Goal How important is the goal? When I will have achieved it by? How confident am I that I can achieve it? 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 If your ‘confidence’ scores are very low, perhaps the goal is too ambitious? How could you break it down further to help you feel more confident that you can achieve it? Closing Exercise • What have you learned about anger management? • Think about the skills you have learned. How can you best use them?