Stress Management

Stress management can be defined as the set of methods and strategies individuals and families use to cope with painful emotions such as anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, worry, fear, burnout, and the like. Positive stress management strategies can be proactive and wellness oriented, or they can be reactive and healing oriented. Negative strategies leave the individual and family weak in the face of stressors, and may cause further damage when implemented following a stressful event. Healthy stress management strategies help both individuals and the families become more resilient, while unhealthy choices can cause harm to the individual, the family, or others. The family’s response to stress establishes future responses to stress.

In this entry, stress management is discussed within the broader constructs of wellness and resilience. The ...