PSYCHOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES IN STRESS MANAGEMENT

Abstract

Life in general, and especially life in business, is filled with plenty of stresses which, if occurring continuously, could trigger serious consequences initially on the “arbiters” themselves as well as to their surrounding subsequently. Human’s working cycle typically undergoes through numerous moments of crisis filled with tension, anxiety and discontent. The underlying reasons vary in nature: personal, social and interpersonal. The functional approach of copping and management of stress understands use of psychological techniques for the prevention of negative consequences. This paper elaborates the two main groups of psychological techniques: general psychological techniques and procedures and specific psychological techniques and procedures. Both groups of techniques employ the psychological mechanisms of distancing, mastering, adjustment, tolerance and ignoring.
Many people, despite the strong desire to be successful, experience hardship and pain when pressed to face the truth about their real qualities and possibilities on one hand, while not being able to recognize the need of self-adjustment towards attainable wants and goals on the other. Quitting undesirable and harmful reactions as a phase of successful stress management takes place gradually through a series of tensions and movements. The application of psychological techniques should preferably start as early as in the process of personal formation of the individual, through the forms of education and socialization. This in turn increases the chances of accepting the behavioral corrections necessary later on. Psychological procedures of stress management require active involvement of conscious learning of how to establish controlled behavior in different situations and how to achieve balance between the wants of stability and proving oneself. By application of psychological techniques one could establish consciousness of his/her own behavior through double focusing of their attention: silencing of the known (personal history of the individual) and acceptance of the unknown (the present of the individual). In the words of our distinguished colleague Mr Scott Peck, to deal with stress one must be sufficiently aware of his/hers preconceived ideas and characteristic emotional distortions to bracket them long enough to unable the consciousness to accept the new and the unknown (Scott Peck 1980). Psychological techniques enable a process of learning of self-acknowledgement and establishment of self-control of behavior towards problem solving and problem releasing.