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Introduction 7

Systematic Stress Management Program

Step 7: Communication & Stress Section

Introduction

What is Your Ear-Q?

Ten Blocks to Effective Listening

Listening Blocks in My Life

Skills for Active Listening

Improving Your Ear-Q

Assertiveness

Assertiveness Inventory

Assertiveness with Other People

The Benefits of Assertiveness

Assertiveness Training – The L.A.D.D.E.R. Technique

My Practice L.A.D.D.E.R.

Listening and being assertive are two communication skills that help manage stress. Both are needed in personal, social and professional interactions.

When someone is misunderstood due to a listening error, stress can be the outcome. If someone cannot communicate their views in an assertive way, stress and frustration result. Effective listening and being assertive can be learned. The positive outcome will be improved communication and stress reduction.

Listening is more than just hearing the actual words of another person. Hearing just means that your ears have sensed or received sound waves. It’s only the first step. What follows is interpretation, evaluation and responding to what is heard. Blocks to listening disrupt communication. You’ll learn to recognize them and see how they can be avoided.

Being assertive is also a stress reducer. Assertiveness will help you communicate your views without creating stress for yourself or for others. You’ll also learn how to distinguish between assertive, passive and aggressive behavior and you’ll learn the consequences of each.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

Step 1: Understanding Stress

Step 3: Type A & B Behavior Patterns

Step 5: Thinking Differently

Step 7: Communication & Stress

Step 2: Stress Management at Work

Step 4: Biofeedback Training & Relaxation

Step 6: Time Management

Steps to Systematic Stress Management™

RELATED ARTICLES

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine – All Rights Reserved.Disclaimer|www.HealthyLife.com

January 23, 2026
Introduction 6

Systematic Stress Management Program

Step 6: Time Management Section

Introduction

Does Time Get the Best of You?

Defining Your Life Goals

Activity Worksheet

Activity Log

Time Management Techniques

Action Plan for Improving Time Usage

Procrastination Quiz

How Do I Procrastinate?

One Dozen Ways to Overcome Procrastination

Should You Delegate?

Delegation Caddy

Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, yet some people get so much more out of them than others. Good time management is the reason.

Each day, people make big and small decisions that shape their lives. Some decisions are satisfying and produce good results. Others create frustration and stress. Using time effectively involves making choices that produce positive results, increase good feelings, and reduce the potential for stress. In other words, when people manage time well, they can also improve their management of stress.

It’s easy to recognize poor use of time. People rush, feel overwhelmed, miss deadlines, and have difficulty making choices. They neglect personal time needed for rest and relaxation. They confuse “keeping busy” with truly being productive and getting results.

To improve how time is used, goals must be set, priorities arranged, and time wasters eliminated. All this requires a plan of action. The exercises in this unit provide the guidance needed to get the most out of 24 hours.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

Step 1: Understanding Stress

Step 3: Type A & B Behavior Patterns

Step 5: Thinking Differently

Step 7: Communication & Stress

Step 2: Stress Management at Work

Step 4: Biofeedback Training & Relaxation

Step 6: Time Management

Steps to Systematic Stress Management™

RELATED ARTICLES

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine – All Rights Reserved.Disclaimer|www.HealthyLife.com

January 23, 2026
Introduction 5

Systematic Stress Management Program

Step 5: Thinking Differently Section

Introduction

Match the Self-Talk to the Theory

Catch Questionable Comparisons

Thought Habits Become Language Patterns

How to Dispute a Belief

Thought Control Techniques

The Power of Creative Imagination

Steps for Developing the Most Effective Creative Imagery

General Stress Management Guidelines

Most people, places, and things are neutral. It is our thoughts about them that create negative or positive feelings. In other words, being stuck in traffic can be very stressful for one person and only a mild bother for another.

This unit looks at managing self-talk or thought habits that are self-defeating or result in unwanted distress. It will explain how you can distract yourself from having thoughts that are more stressful than you prefer.

The motto in the “Thinking Differently” chapter is “I CHOOSE TO BE IN CONTROL.” In other words, I choose my thoughts and how much time I spend with my thoughts. It is as easy as changing one’s mind.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

Step 1: Understanding Stress

Step 3: Type A & B Behavior Patterns

Step 5: Thinking Differently

Step 7: Communication & Stress

Step 2: Stress Management at Work

Step 4: Biofeedback Training & Relaxation

Step 6: Time Management

Steps to Systematic Stress Management™

RELATED ARTICLES

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine – All Rights Reserved.Disclaimer|www.HealthyLife.com

January 23, 2026
Introduction 4

Systematic Stress Management Program

Step 4: Biofeedback/Relaxation Section

Introduction

The Mind/Body Bridge

Biofeedback Training Record

Breathing Exercises

The Relaxation Response

The Relaxation Reflex

Mental Imagery

Personal Mental Imagery

Auto-Suggestion

Stretching the Stress Triangle

This section presents a multiple treatment approach to relaxation training. It begins with an explanation of how each individual can systematically learn how to bridge the mind and body through their own efforts. Then the section will offer a variety of relaxation techniques and concepts. Some techniques may be better suited for you than others. You will choose to put into your schedule those techniques that you are good at and enjoy the most.

Like any new behavior, learning to relax in a healthy manner takes practice. It is not enough to only read about relaxation techniques. They must be practiced. Commit to using relaxation tools throughout your day.

Relaxation Techniques

* Help the body to relax when under stress. This minimizes the physical wear and tear from stress.

* Help the mind to relax. Where the mind goes, the body follows.

* Help people learn to recognize body tension and work to reduce it. The more these techniques are practiced, the easier they become.

* Help people to become more stress resistant. The more practice, the more relaxed your natural state will become.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

Step 1: Understanding Stress

Step 3: Type A & B Behavior Patterns

Step 5: Thinking Differently

Step 7: Communication & Stress

Step 2: Stress Management at Work

Step 4: Biofeedback Training & Relaxation

Step 6: Time Management

Steps to Systematic Stress Management™

RELATED ARTICLES

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine – All Rights Reserved.Disclaimer|www.HealthyLife.com

January 23, 2026
Introduction 3

Systematic Stress Management Program

Step 3: Type A & B Behavior Section

Introduction

Are You a Type A?

Self Inventory of Type A Behaviors

Are You a Type B?

Take Steps to Become Type B

12 Ways to Develop a Trusting Heart

Reducing Time Urgency

Type A Behavior Worksheet

You’d recognize them as people who are generally more competitive, restless, and quick to anger. Their counterparts show behaviors that are low key, calmer, and less rushed by the day’s events. These two distinct personality types have been labeled Type A and Type B and considerable research has been focused on them over the past several decades.

Why so much attention to these two kinds of behaviors? Dr. Ray Rosenman and Dr. Meyer Friedman, two cardiologists, many years ago established a link between personality and coronary heart disease. They analyzed data from thousands of people between the ages of 31 and 59 years and placed them into one of two categories, either Type A or Type B. They then observed which people became coronary heart disease patients and which were heart attack free. The biggest difference between the two groups was that the Type A person was 70% more likely to suffer from coronary heart disease, even if they had no prior history of the disease.

They suggested that the roots of Type A behaviors are insecurity and low self-esteem. In a society that is basically competitive, insecurity takes root easily. Goals may be unrealistic and expectations overwhelming. The outcome can be low self-esteem.

To increase achievements, a person might try to work harder and faster. They may become more time urgent, aggressive, or hostile. These are some of the characteristics which typify Type A behavior. The outcome may be a sense of free-floating anxiety because of the inability to meet all these expectations.

These potentially hazardous behavior patterns can be altered by learning to think and plan differently. The goal of this chapter is to teach skills that can modify stressful Type A patterns and convert them into relaxed Type B patterns.

More recent research conducted at Duke University in 1989 has suggested that not all Type A behaviors are unhealthy. Their studies have isolated the following four personality characteristics as being the ones most closely associated with heart disease:

* Hostility

* Cynical mistrust of people’s motives

* Frequent anger

* Open expression of anger

Concentrate on minimizing these aspects of your behavior for the sake of a healthier heart. Other aspects of Type A behavior, such as impatience or time urgency, should be neutralized to reduce the uncomfortable stress caused by these behaviors, but not necessarily to prevent a heart attack.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

Step 1: Understanding Stress

Step 3: Type A & B Behavior Patterns

Step 5: Thinking Differently

Step 7: Communication & Stress

Step 2: Stress Management at Work

Step 4: Biofeedback Training & Relaxation

Step 6: Time Management

Steps to Systematic Stress Management™

RELATED ARTICLES

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine – All Rights Reserved.Disclaimer|www.HealthyLife.com

January 23, 2026
Introduction 2

Systematic Stress Management Program

Step 2: Stress Management at Work

Introduction

Work Stress Factors

Burnout Self Inventory

Identify Your Burnout Traits

Work Stressor Questionnaire

Ten Tips for Preventing Burnout

Stress and strain have long been associated with the work people do. It’s not just the idea of physical labor, but also the wear and tear of work on people’s mental health. Stress on the job, in fact, is something that almost every working person experiences.

Work stress is the relationship between stressors on the job and how the worker physically and emotionally reacts. Is it the boss who breathes down your neck, the overtime hours, the noise levels, or meeting deadlines? It’s all that and more! Stress at work can also involve job security, unstimulating work, salary, and many other issues.

When work stress is prolonged and severe, the risk of experiencing burnout increases. Burnout is the condition where unrelieved stress creates a psychologically crippling state for the worker. This dangerous condition can be overcome if its stages are recognized and addressed early.

In this unit, you’ll discover more about the nature of stress on the job and how you can deal with it more effectively.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

Step 1: Understanding Stress

Step 3: Type A & B Behavior Patterns

Step 5: Thinking Differently

Step 7: Communication & Stress

Step 2: Stress Management at Work

Step 4: Biofeedback Training & Relaxation

Step 6: Time Management

Steps to Systematic Stress Management™

RELATED ARTICLES

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine – All Rights Reserved.Disclaimer|www.HealthyLife.com

January 23, 2026
Introduction

Systematic Stress Management Program

Step 1: Understanding Stress Section

Introduction

Common Symptoms of Distress

Life Events Questionnaire

Types of Stressors

Daily Hassles and Uplifts

Identification of Stressors

Systematic Stress Management is a structured program designed to prevent and minimize the damaging effects of stress. The techniques presented are easy to learn and can be included in normal day to day activities. The system to Systematic Stress Management is made up of five simple steps:

* Capture an increased understanding of stress theory as we know it today. This knowledge is key to making the remaining steps worthwhile.

* Remember to pay attention to distress signals and symptoms.

* Identify personal stressors. This takes a high level of awareness plus honesty, and leads to the responsible and effective management of stress.

* Seek out tools and skills that work to prevent, eliminate, and recover from distress.

* Practice all of the above steps regularly in order to become and remain stress-fit.

Stress Definition and Theory

The definition of stress management comes to us from the work of Hans Selye, M.D. He is considered a pioneer in medicine and stress research. Stress, according to Selye is, “the non-specific response of the body to any demand.” It does not matter whether or not it is caused by pleasant or unpleasant things. It does not matter whether or not it results in good or bad things. Stress is the automatic state that results when the body is told to make changes in order to adapt to any demand. This response is driven by hormones flowing throughout the human body. These hormones act like a conductor in an orchestra and tell the different systems of the body what to do. This is like the conductor telling what each group of instruments should do as they play the same song all together. So far, stress looks to be a very nice gift from Mother Nature.

Stress can be very positive as seen in Diagram A. The Stress and Productivity Curve demonstrates a theory that there is a direct link between stress and human productivity. As shown in the diagram, without stress, our productivity is low. With high levels of stress, again productivity is low. The key to optimal productivity seems to be moderate levels of stress. You might agree that your personal productivity leads to your satisfaction in life. This makes stress vital to us.

So what is the concern we all have about stress? Selye tells us, “The statement of, he is under stress, is just as meaningless as the expression, he is running a temperature.” What we actually mean by such phrases is an excess of stress or of body temperature. The stress of concern is the stress of excess.

There are two major categories of stress:

* Eustress = Pleasant or curative stress

* Distress = Unpleasant or disease-producing stress

The Stress Quotient and Deviation

In addition to the total amount of stress in the body being too much, one must also be aware of the amount of stress being experienced by part or parts of the body, in comparison to the total body. Selye names this concept The Stress Quotient:

Local Stress in Any One Part = Greater = You Need Diversion

Total Stress in The Body = Greater = You Must Rest

The message to receive from The Stress Quotient is this. When a particular body part has more stress put upon it than the whole body, Selye suggests what is called diversion. Diversion is like taking a detour or making a distraction for the mind, or the body part, that is experiencing too much stress at the moment. Or, you might increase the total general stress response for the whole body to balance the quotient.

However, when the total body is experiencing too much stress or distress, the message is total rest. It becomes important that we each learn how to pay attention to the stress experienced by individual body parts and to the body in general. This can be done by learning distress signals and symptoms.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

Step 1: Understanding Stress

Step 3: Type A & B Behavior Patterns

Step 5: Thinking Differently

Step 7: Communication & Stress

Step 2: Stress Management at Work

Step 4: Biofeedback Training & Relaxation

Step 6: Time Management

Steps to Systematic Stress Management™

RELATED ARTICLES

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine – All Rights Reserved.Disclaimer|www.HealthyLife.com

January 23, 2026
What To Know About Rainbow Fentanyl

WELL-BEING

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid, 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Doctors prescribe pharmaceutical fentanyl to treat severe pain. However, illegal fentanyl is often mixed with other illicit drugs, such as heroin and cocaine.

Rainbow fentanyl is an illegally manufactured drug dyed in bright colors and shaped to mimic legitimate medication. It only takes a small amount of fentanyl to overdose.

* It’s impossible to know how much fentanyl may be present in a rainbow fentanyl pill.

* Fentanyl-laced drugs are among the most common drugs implicated in overdose deaths.

* The bright colors of rainbow fentanyl may increase the appeal among teens and young adults.

* Rainbow fentanyl is extremely dangerous. All it takes is one to be at risk for overdose.

* Signs of an overdose include pinpoint pupils, limp body, choking or gurgling sounds, loss of consciousness, and slow or weak breathing.

* Call 911 at the first sign of overdose.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
What Self-Care Means

SELF-CARE CORNER

Self-care at its most basic means taking time to do activities that improve your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

The goal of self-care is to invest in your well-being. While this can feel self-indulgent, good self-care habits help you enjoy life and care better for those around you. It’s a win-win for everyone.

How self-care evolved

The idea of self-care is not new. Throughout human history, people have always spent time caring for their physical needs. Finding food and shelter and preventing illness are fundamental forms of self-care.

However, more recently, self-care has expanded to include more than just physical health. The pressures of modern society and our expanding scientific understanding of how humans work demonstrate the need for self-care that provides for every aspect of being.

Investing time in your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health is true self-care.

Physical self-care

Physical self-care includes habits that keep you healthy and strong throughout your whole life. These include:

* Eat healthy, regular meals.

* Stay hydrated by drinking lots of water.

* Get at least 30 minutes of movement each day.

* Make 7-9 hours of sleep a priority.

* Get regular physicals and health screenings.

Mental self-care

Mental self-care means caring for your mental health by managing stress and improving resiliency. Examples are:

* Engage in relaxing activities.

* Listen to calming music or sounds.

* Take mental health/vacation days to unplug from work.

* Schedule time for yourself to do something you enjoy.

* Seek professional help to manage chronic stress.

Emotional self-care

Emotional self-care goes hand-in-hand with mental self-care but is focused on acknowledging and expressing how you feel. It can include:

* Acknowledge and express your feelings in healthy ways.

* Connect with supportive friends and family.

* Take a break from the news or social media.

* Keep a gratitude journal.

* Do a creative activity.

Spiritual self-care

Spiritual self-care means recognizing you are not the center of the universe and investing in connection with the world around you:

* Spend time in nature.

* Connect with a faith community.

* Pray or meditate.

* Volunteer for a cause you care about.

* Read inspirational literature.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Up Your Vo2 Max

BE FIT

VO2 max measures how much oxygen your body uses when working at a high level of exercise.

A high VO2 max indicates good cardiovascular fitness, while a low VO2 max means you should consider moving your body more. You don’t have to become an elite athlete. Even a small increase in fitness has significant health benefits. If your doctor clears you to do aerobic exercise, try these workouts to increase VO2 max.

Interval training:This involves alternating short periods of moderate to high-intensity aerobic exercise with short periods of low-intensity exercise. Alternate 3 minutes of moderate/high-intensity with 2 minutes of low-intensity for 30 minutes.

High-intensity training:This is a form of interval training that uses short, intense bouts of exercise at your max, followed by a longer rest period.

Steady-state training:This type of training is long bouts of cardio at a pace you can maintain for at least 30 minutes. Your heart rate should be elevated, but you should still be able to carry on a conversation.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026