Complete Stress Management Workbook, The - Softcover

Whiteman, Tom; Verghese, Samuel; Petersen, Randy; Verghese, C. Sam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0310201152 ISBN 13: 9780310201151

Publisher: Zondervan, 1996

Synopsis

Here you will find a step-by-step process for identifying sources of stress, developing a stress management program, and enjoying life more thoroughly without the discouragement stress brings.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Samuel Verghese is a corporate stress management consultant with over twenty years experience. He co-authored the book The Complete Stress Management Workbook with Dr. Thomas Whiteman;Randy Petersen is a freelance writer whose credits include, Love Gone Wrong, Becoming Your Own Best Friend and The Complete Stress Management Workbook.

From the Back Cover

STRESS. It's a subtle thief. It robs you of your joy and peace of mind. It affects all areas of your life, puts pressure on your family . . . and seems to increase when you can handle it the least. But you can learn to manage stress instead of letting it manage you. The Complete Stress Management Workbook shows you how. In this ground-breaking book, two authorities on stress show you how to identify stress and cope with it in appropriate, biblical ways. Drs. Thomas Whiteman and C. Samuel Verghese help you develop a personal stress-management program that will put you back in control of your life. The tools for defusing destructive stress are available to all of us. They include spiritual and practical lifestyle choices that can really make a difference, such as: - Sound communication skills . . . - Rest, exercise, and nutrition - Effective time management . . . - Prayer and the Word of God The Complete Stress Management Workbook includes a pre-test for identifying sources of stress in your life, productive strategies for dealing with stress, and guidance for making effective, biblically based stress management a part of your life.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction If you want to learn about stress, talk to a metallurgist. With metal, there is stress and there is strain. When metal is feeling stress, it is experiencing great pressure. Strain is when the metal begins to move, to buckle under that pressure. Metallurgists also talk about a yield point. Up to that point, there may be great pressure on a piece of metal, even to the point of slight bending but it s temporary bending; the metal retains its shape. Beyond the yield point, however, the metal is changed. It is bent or cracked. You re under stress. Because you ve picked up this book, we assume that you re feeling considerable stress. You ve decided you need help in handling it, and you ve come to the right place. The Complete Stress Management Workbook will not take all your stress away. That would be impossible. But we ll urge you toward specific techniques, attitudes, and habits that will help to manage your stress. If you apply them, these principles will turn your strain back into manageable stress and keep you well on the safe side of your personal yield point. This is not the sort of book you read at bedtime and yawn and say, That s nice. This is a book you do. There are surveys and suggestions and diets and exercises and journal entries and self-evaluations within each chapter. The more you put into this book, the more you ll get out of it. We suggest that you write stress management into your weekly (if not daily) schedule for the next six months or so. Set aside the time to read and do this book. We are Christians and we assume you are, too. There s a major spiritual component of stress anxiety. And there s a spiritual aspect of stress management trust. You ll find these themes interwoven throughout this workbook. But that s not the whole story. God has made us as complex spiritual-physical-intellectual-emotional beings. Stress affects every area of our being and is affected by every area. For that reason, we can t just throw Bible verses at you and say, Trust God more. You should trust God more, but you know that. Here are ways to practice that trust in your day-to-day activities. Stress is not a sin. Jesus himself faced so much stress in the Garden of Gethsemane that his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44). Mark records that Jesus was deeply distressed and troubled and told his disciples, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. He fervently begged God to remove the burden he had to face (Mark 14:33-36). Chances are, you will never face that level of stress, but you probably do become deeply distressed and troubled when you encounter difficult situations. Stress is something that comes upon us. The question is, What do we do with it? That s when we can make sinful choices worry, pursue unhealthy escapes such as alcohol or drugs, or lash out in anger. Or we can make righteous choices, managing our stress in healthy, God-honoring ways. So don t feel guilty for having stress in your life. Instead, be diligent about making good choices in dealing with that stress. This book is designed to help you make those choices. Three of us have written this book. Thomas Whiteman, a psychologist, has focused on those chapters involving changes in attitude and relationship. Samuel Verghese, a specialist in the medical aspects of stress, including nutrition, exercise, and brain activity, has prepared the chapters on those specific topics and has offered valuable input for the other chapters. Writer Randy Petersen has put it all together. We believe that personal examples are crucial to any book like this, so we have freely used material from our own lives and experiences. To protect the privacy of some of our clients and friends, we have changed their names and some details as we ve told their stories, but the essence of each anecdote is true. May God richly bless you, granting you peace and joy as you read and work through this book. May he grant you peace. Thomas Whiteman - Samuel Verghese - Randy Peterse

Edition details

• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0310201152
• ISBN 13: 9780310201151
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320