Psychological stress management

• What is stress inoculation therapy?


  type of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) designed to  prepare individuals for stressors they may encounter in real life.
• How does stress inoculation therapy work?


  • aims to manage stress levels by teaching people about what stress is/involves and teaching them different coping strategies
  • Participants are exposed to different challenging situations in a controlled environment (eg during a therapy session) and practice their newly acquired coping strategies by ‘inoculating’ themselves against stressful situations.
  • The approach makes people more resilient to real life and the stress it can cause
• What are the three phases to stress inoculation therapy?


  1. Cognitive preparation
  2. Skills acquisition
  3. Application & follow through
• What is cognitive preparation?


  participant ‘relives’ stressful events with the support of a qualified therapist, identify the root cause of their stress.
• What is skill acquisition?


  participant is taught various coping strategies such as relaxation techniques.

  • Highly stressful exams = complete past papers

  Being prepared will help avoid/controlling feelings of stress about the ‘unknown’.
• What is application & follow through?


  after practise in a therapeutic setting, the participant is encouraged to apply the strategies they’ve learned to the outside world (also attend further support sessions phase to assess if the therapy is working in ‘real life’).
• Strengths of stress inoculation therapy


  Allows patients/clients some control in their treatment, so can be seen as ‘empowering’ & can help reduce/remove the ‘victim status’ label of patients/clients
• Weaknesses of stress inoculation therapy


  Can be expensive and time consuming, so many people who may benefit from it may not be able to afford it; or other responsibilities (employment, family etc..) may mean they don’t have the time to complete the treatments
• What is social support?

  a network of people known to the individual and offering them support when stressful situations
• How does social support work?

  Positive, caring and supportive relationships are ‘wrapped around’ the individual, usually by family members, peers & friends and co-workers/colleagues. The support can take different forms.
• What is instrumental support?


  usually concerned with practical support, for example a friend who offers a lift some, support with homework/exam revision etc..
• What is emotional support?

  involves actions such as listening, expressing concern about the causes of stress & providing reassurance when necessary.

  • Emotional support can be conducted face to face, via email, phone calls, social media posts/likes etc..
• What is esteem support?

  involves the involvement of people who can support the situation by boosting the stressed person’s self-esteem and their confidence in their ability to cope with whatever stressful situation they are dealing with.

  Similar to developing the ‘internal locus of control’ in the individual who is dealing with stressful  situations
• What is informational support?


  when knowledge and facts are provided about different stressors.

  For example, advice acquired from a medical professional such as a doctor, a leaflet or an internet site which provide strategies on how to cope with stressful situations.
• Strengths of social support


  • Research suggests that social support is effective in reducing many physiological responses to stress.
  • Uchino et al (1996) conducted a meta-analysis which claimed that social support can help reduce high blood pressure and rapid heart rate.
• Weaknesses of social support

  • Which type of social support is most effective in reducing physiological responses to stress is uncertain.
  • Individual responses cannot be accounted for, for example, women tend to rely more on social support than men; also different personality types may require more support that other personality types.