Stress Management

The challenges of modern life are diverse and substantial.

Professional responsibilities, familial obligations, the maintenance of personal health and friendships, and meeting day-to-day demands of the home and family are chronic sources of stress that most of us find a way to manage, and do so, without incident. Influenced by a cultural landscape that espouses the values of never missing an opportunity, working hard, juggling obligations, and doing whatever it takes, we forge ahead.

However, cultural expectations, combined with our own particular family legacy and moral/religious traditions, may dilute the importance of self-care, boundaries, and limit-setting. As this occurs, the “daily grind” gradually takes its toll, and the addition of one other unexpected problem, issue, or time demand may finally break the camel’s back. This is often the point at which people begin psychotherapy for stress-related problems.

Once stress overwhelms an individual, scientific research indicates that there is often a ripple effect; a cascade of other related chronic concerns, previously denied or concealed, may push to the surface and can no longer be avoided.

Psychotherapy for these issues usually begins with an appraisal of the nature of stress in the patient’s life and a determination of his or her particular coping preferences. Patients tend to favor certain coping strategies over others, using them in a biased and often unproductive way. For example, while emotion– and problem-focused coping strategies are both useful, they tend to be more effective in specific circumstances and, hence, are frequently misapplied. Advancing the patient’s capacity to discern how to most effectively utilize one’s coping resources to address whatever stressor may arise is an important goal early in treatment.

As psychotherapy proceeds, the patient’s coping repertoire is further understood from additional perspectives. For example, stress-related problems are often the result of self-punitive and rigid belief systems, moral assumptions, and even unconscious imperatives regarding how one should live and what one should value. These beliefs may orient the patient toward masochistic tendencies that lead to the unconscious pursuit of overwhelming stress; the stress is punishing for the patient, and somehow this is what the patient thinks he or she deserves.

It is this comprehensive therapeutic approach, one that addresses the multilayered quality of stress management, that promotes long-lasting relief for the patient. Ongoing positive adjustments in lifestyle choices based on newly refined values and priorities resulting from treatment have the added benefit of improving one’s overall physical and mental health, as well as enhancing the capacity to address routine demands of time and energy.

Visit Dr. Tobin's Office

15615 Alton Parkway
Suite 450
Irvine, CA 92618

Hours
Monday: 8am - 8pm
Tuesday: 8am - 8pm
Wednesday: 8am - 8pm
Thursday: 8am - 8pm
Friday: 8am - 8pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed