Counselling for Stress Problems

This text aims to provide a comprehensive view of stress counselling and stress management from a multimodal perspective. Guidelines show practitioners how they can give their clients the most effective help for their individual stress problems using a technically eclectic and systematic approach. The authors discuss the symptoms and causes of stress, going on to outline a broad framework in which stress problems can be understood and assessed. They emphasize the importance of assessment in providing a useful guide to the selection of multimodal interventions, and of tailoring the counselling approach to the problems of each client. Chapters discuss the range of interventions that can be used - cognitive, imagery, behavioural, sensory, interpersonal and health/lifestyle - and the most useful techniques that can be employed within these models, such as disputing irrational beliefs, coping imagery, psychodrama, relaxation training and assertion training. Case examples from the authors’ own practices illustrate commonly-used techniques in action. This text takes a pragmatic and empirical approach to stress counselling and should provide a useful guide for psychotherapists, counselling and health psychologists, and practising and trainee counsellors from all backgrounds.