Where Are You on the Stress Continuum?
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The Stress Continuum - Where Are You Right Now?
All stress is not the same. And we do not all experience stress the same way. Fortunately, though, there's a stress road map.
Learn how to read that map, The Stress Continuum, and you will know how to help yourself and others to navigate it.
The 7 Cs of the Stress First Aid Model
Use the sections below to refresh your knowledge and guide others to appropriate care.
Check & Coordinate
Assess current level of distress and functioning, Assess immediate risks, Assess need for additional SFA interventions or higher levels of care, Reassess progress.
Decide who else should be informed of the situation, Refer for further evaluation or higher levels of care, if indicated, Facilitate access to other needed care
Learn More About Check & Coordinate
Cover
Ensure immediate physical safety of stress-affected person and others. Foster a psychological sense of safety. Protect the person from additional stress.
Learn More About Cover
Calm
Reduce physiologic arousal (slow heart rate and breathing, relax), Reduce intensity of negative emotions such as fear or anger. Listen empathically to the person talk about his or her experiences, Give information that calms.
Learn More About Calm
Connect
Be a support, or encourage a connection to supportive others, Help the person problem-solve to remove obstacles to social support, Foster positive social activities and practical support
Learn More About Connect
Competence
Help mentor the person back to full functioning, Facilitate rewarding work roles and retraining, if necessary, Help the person problem-solve ways to deal with their own stress reactions, Encourage gradual re-exposure to potentially stressful situations.
Learn More About Competence
Confidence
Mentor the person back to full confidence in self, leadership, and/or core values, Discuss any obstacles to confidence, such as the person’s sense of guilt or anger, and if possible, shift them to a lessons learned perspective, Find out how the person makes meaning, regarding their experiences, or connect them with someone who can.
Learn More About Confidence
Stress First Aid Booster Sessions
Easy-to-learn, easy-to-teach, and easy-to-practice tools for managing your own stress response - and helping others do the same. Sign up to get access to refreshers and updates.
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