Stress is a natural response to the demands of everyday life that we all experience. While some stress is beneficial, too much can have an adverse effect on mental and physical health.
Signs
Everyone feels stressed sometimes, and a little stress can help you get things done. It may be time to reach out when it stays with you and starts to affect your sleep, health, work or relationships.
How counselling helps
Early on
With your counsellor, you look at what adds to your stress and how it shows up in your body, your thoughts and your days.
As you go
You practise tools that fit your life, such as mindfulness, slower breathing and noticing where you hold tension, so you can settle when pressure builds.
Over time
You plan small changes, like setting limits at work or making time to rest, and build habits that help you handle what comes next.
Approaches
Where
About
Stress is a natural response to the demands of everyday life that we all experience. While some stress is beneficial, too much can have an adverse effect on mental and physical health. Left unchecked, stress can be a risk factor for many health problems such as heart disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and psychological disorders. The key to alleviating stress is to recognize its symptoms. This can be difficult since most of us are so accustomed to feeling stress that we don’t realize the severity of it until it’s too late. Everyone at some point has struggled with managing stress – if you are finding it difficult to handle, it may be time to get support.
Approaches such as Mindfulness Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can help individuals develop greater awareness of stress patterns, regulate emotions, and respond to daily pressures in a more balanced way.
Not all stress is negative – in fact, it is a necessary part of our lives. Feelings of stress for short periods of time can be beneficial. Stress can be a motivator to accomplish tasks and keep us focused. In times of extreme danger, stress primes our bodies to react in the “fight” or “flight” reaction to keep us from harm, and it is necessary to ensure our survival. Short-lived periods of stress are our bodies’ way to help us through difficult situations. However, exposure to overwhelming and habitual stress can become harmful. Chronic stress can lead to detrimental effects on our physical, emotional, and mental health.
Evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Somatic-based approaches can help individuals identify unhelpful thought patterns, reduce physical tension, and build healthier responses to stress.
Recognizing symptoms and signs of stress is the first step to help manage it. Stress can manifest as physical symptoms and affect your thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Chronic psychological stress has been shown to lead to anxiety and depression, and is attributed to serious physical and mental health conditions. Signs of not coping with stress can include: excessive anxiety, irritability, fatigue, inability to concentrate, changes in sleep or eating patterns, and feeling physically unwell (muscle tension or pain, stomach upset, and frequent sickness). Many people do not seek help to help with managing stress, instead accepting it as an inescapable part of today’s fast-paced world.
How can Counselling Help?
Therapy can help clients find coping strategies to better manage stress. Stress doesn’t have to adversely affect you if you learn tools to manage it. A therapist can work with you to find the most suitable interventions to manage stress that best meet your needs. Learning to handle stress can lead to improved mood, a positive mindset, and a better sense of health and well-being that impact many facets of life.
References
Can, Y. S., Iles-Smith, H., Chalabianloo, N., Ekiz, D., Fernández-Álvarez, J., Repetto, C., Riva, G., & Ersoy, C. (2020). How to Relax in Stressful Situations: A Smart Stress Reduction System. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 8(2), 100. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8020100
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FAQs
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You do not need to wait until stress feels too much to talk with someone. Counselling may help if stress has lasted for weeks, keeps you from sleeping or relaxing, or is starting to affect your health, work or relationships. Some people reach out after a big change, like a new job, a move or caring for a family member. You can share as much or as little as you like.
Not quite, though the two often overlap. Stress is usually a response to pressure you can point to, such as a deadline, money worries or a busy home. Anxiety can be worry that stays even after the pressure has passed, or that is hard to name. Your counsellor can help you sort out what you are feeling, without putting a label on you.
Our counsellors use several approaches and choose them with you. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) helps you notice stressful thoughts and try more helpful ones. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) helps you make room for hard feelings while you act on what matters to you. Mindfulness and somatic therapies, which focus on the body, help you ease the tension stress leaves behind.
Yes, you can meet with a counsellor online from anywhere in BC, or in person in Vancouver, Burnaby or Surrey. Online sessions can make it easier to fit counselling into a busy week. Our intake team suggests counsellors who fit what you need, your language, your budget and where you want to meet.
It may be, depending on your plan. Many extended health plans cover Registered Clinical Counsellors and Canadian Certified Counsellors (RCC/CCC), so check your own plan for details. We also offer sliding scale rates for eligible people, and our fees and funding page explains your options.
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