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Striving
to increase clinical effectiveness and home practice, clinicians
are turning to the most advanced therapeutic tapes available.
The Stress Management Training Program was designed to facilitate
comprehensive education and training in relaxation and stress
management. The series begins with a number of exercises to develop
an individual's abilities to control muscle tension and to induce
relaxation. Once profound relaxation is achieved, the individual
is trained in skills for reducing autonomic arousal and cognitive
anxiety. Finally, applied stress management and systematic desensitization
are taught to insure that the individual can competently apply
these new skills in everyday stressful situations.
Development of the program was begun in 1972, and research continues
into the 1990's. The program's completeness and clarity has led
to remarkably successful application with and without biofeedback
equipment.
This relaxation program has been tested in both clinical and research
settings. The effectiveness of the program has been demonstrated
with thousands of individuals in U.S. hospitals and clinics. It
has been found useful for individuals suffering from a long list
of stress related disorders including tension and migraine headaches,
ulcers, hypertension, alcoholism, drug dependence, and many others.
Selected parts of the present program have been used independently
to treat vasoconstrictive disorders, insomnia and chronic pain.
The material is introduced and presented on seven audio cassettes.
The tapes range in length from 29 to 37 minutes per side. An introductory
didactic cassette is followed by six relaxation cassettes. Each
of the first five relaxation cassettes presents a different technique
and the sixth presents the techniques in combination for home
practice. All the relaxation cassettes offer the listener a choice
of hearing the programmed material in a male or a female voice.
The vocalists are professional voice instructors with training
in relaxation and meditation techniques. They were selected by
a group of twelve psychotherapists in a scientific study. The
selection was based on tonal quality, therapeutic warmth, and
the ability to induce a state of profound relaxation. All six
training cassettes, following the introduction, feature carefully
selected musical and environmental backgrounds to facilitate relaxation.
The program consists of six sequential cassettes, two home practice
cassette plus a manual, Stress Management: A
Conceptual and Procedural Guide.
The tapes are recorded in both male and female
voices. The seven tapes for the Stress Management Training
Program are:
 Introduction
to Stress Management/Background Music for Relaxation
Progressive Relaxation (Male Voice/Female Voice)
Deep Muscle Relaxation (Male Voice/Female Voice)
Autogenic
Training (Male Voice/Female Voice)
Island
Journey-Visual Imagery Training (Male Voice/Female Voice)
Stress
Management (Automated Systematic Desensitization) (Male Voice/Female
Voice)
Home
Relaxation Practice
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Introduction
Side one introduces the individual to the nature and treatment
of stress, tension, and anxiety reactions. Discussion includes
material from a wide variety of topics such as "the age of anxiety"
and "fight or flight" reactions to the pitfalls of abusing tranquilizers,
narcotic drugs, and alcohol. The program then experientially introduces
the basic techniques provided in the rest of the stress management
program. Concurrently, the tape presents cogent reasons for the
proven effectiveness of each technique. A general orientation
of participatory learning and openness to potentially new experiences
is then explained and encouraged.
Side two of this tape offers a light music background to facilitate
independent practice of relaxation techniques presented in the
other tapes. It can easily be used to learn what has been called
"cue-controlled" relaxation. This technique has been found effective
in helping people generalize relaxation skills to their daily
living situations. |
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Progressive Relaxation
Progressive relaxation techniques were developed by Dr. Edmund
Jacobson in 1929. The techniques have been extensively studied
and shown to be very successful in reducing muscular tension.
Progressive relaxation is induced by instructions to tense and
relax the major muscle groups of the body. By following these
instructions, a person can learn in an experiential way exactly
where muscles are located. In addition the feelings of muscular
tension and relaxation can be more fully differentiated and studied.
Gradually and with practice, the individual learns to make this
differentiation rapidly and to induce his or her own relaxation
easily. If a muscle is tensed, it will relax more deeply when
released. Relaxation is the simple absence of tension. The initial
tension-relaxation exercises appear to be one of the best starting
places for stress management because the exercises not only teach
a concrete way of reducing tension and inducing relaxation, but
they also "tune" a person in to their own body. |
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Deep Muscle Relaxation
It is not always practical to tense and relax various muscles.
The next cassette in the series is designed to help a person gain
greater control over the same major muscle groups through mental
awareness and suggestions. These techniques are used to help the
individual systematically progress through skeletal muscles a
minimum of two times in each session.
Deep breathing exercises are practiced to insure that respiration
is regular and calm. Additionally, techniques of differential
relaxation are introduced so that some muscles can be relaxed
even when a task requires others to be in full use. Visual imagery
exercises are practiced to aid still further in the development
and maintenance of deep muscle relaxation. Finally, key words
and phrases are utilized to help a person recall and reinstate
the feelings of relaxation experienced through progressive relaxation.
When deep muscle relaxation is mastered, the person can quickly
recall the feelings of muscular relaxation at any time because
the key words are strongly associate with relaxation. Advice on
the use of deep muscle relaxation techniques in daily life is
provided. |
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Autogenic Training
Autogenic" refers to self-generation. The autogenic relaxation
technique was originally developed by Drs. J. Schultz and W. Luthe
in the 1930's. These exercises are designed to promote and give
support to the self-regulating systems of the body. These are
the systems which automatically regulate heart beat, blood circulation
and many other important biological functions. These systems respond
to cues of potential danger by increasing visceral arousal to
help man prepare for "fight or flight." This was, and is adaptive
when the threat experienced is one requiring such action However,
for modern man most threats are psychological or philosophical,
and many of the resulting responses are maladaptive.
Autogenic training helps control systems to be more relaxed when
not faced with a real danger. The introduction of autogenic training
follows in a natural progression after one has learned to control
tension in major muscle groups. This is because the automatic
system responses are generally more subtle than the voluntary
system responses. Autogenic training is done by "passively" concentrating
on different phrases suggesting autonomic relaxation. This training
may be conceptualized as helping to program the subconscious mind
to create a state of internal calm. In this way, one hopes to
replace most "fight or flight" responses with recently been called
"stay and play" responses. |
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Island
Journey - Visual Imagery Training
After successfully and progressively learning to relax those parts
of the body that are under conscious control (gross musculature),
and those systems of the body that are usually regulated automatically
(heart rate, blood flow, etc.), this program teaches the individual
a special technique to reduce and control mental anxiety and rumination.
The visual imagery cassette teaches the individual to produce
relaxing images and thoughts. This imagery training also prepares
an individual to use the systematic desensitization techniques
in the last phase of the stress management training program. |
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Stress
Management (Automated Systematic Desensitization)
Many people find it helpful to selectively work on exceptionally
difficult life stresses. In the 1950's, Dr. Joseph Wolpe developed
a scientifically viable technique for this aspect of anxiety management.
Theoretically, relaxation is incompatible with anxiety. For this
reason, the individual is helped to imagine stressful scenes while
in a profound state of relaxation. By progressively imagining
more and more stressful scenes while relaxed, the individual learns
to face these situations without incapacitating anxiety. Cognitive
rehearsal of relaxed and effective coping skills is also fostered
on this cassette.
It is possible for a person to construct a hierarchy of more and
more stressful events on his own, but professional assistance
is recommended, if available. The tape is designed to maximize
the use of a four step hierarchy. At every level of the hierarchy,
effective methods of inducing relaxation are used to reduce and
inhibit the anxiety which has been associated with the stressful
situation. Finally, the tape encourages the progressive development
and practice of both stress control and new coping skills in "real
life" situations. |
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Home
Relaxation Practice
This cassette is designed to help the individual to efficiently
practice stress management through a combination of progressive
relaxation, deep muscle relaxation, autogenic training, visual
imagery, and other techniques. These Home Relaxation techniques
are very similar to those practiced in the earlier cassettes.
This tape facilitates independent and brief relaxation at home
or in the office. In addition, the homework tape can be returned
to at any time after the stress management program has been
completed to revitalize the skills which were learned. Given
the length and cost of the entire Stress Management Training
Program, this home relaxation cassette makes continued practice
by individuals efficient and affordable.
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Stress
Management: A Conceptual and Procedural Guide
This is a comprehensive, step-by-step book detailing the most
advanced stress mangement techniques and patient aids.
The
book is divided into 2 parts:
- STRESS:
THEORY, RESEARCH AND TREATMENT
- Stress:
Its psychological and physiological effects
- The
Stress Management Training Program
- Recorded
versus therapist presentation of stress management techniques
- Major
clinical applications and contraindications
- Patient
characteristics and the therapeutic relationship
- Clinical
procedures
- Physical
settings: office and home
- INTAKE
FORM AND PATIENT AIDS
Stress Mangement:
A Conceptual and Procedural Guide can be ordered
alone or with the complete Stress Mangement Training Program.
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