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The Mission of the Antares Foundation

“…to improve the quality of your assistance and overseas development through advice,

training and support.”

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Activities of the Antares Foundation

• Training and Support of Staff • Organizational Consultancies and

Evaluations• Conferences, Research and

Publications• Development of Consensus-Based

Guidelines• Advocacy and Lobbying

The Antares Model of Stress Management

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Workshop Objectives

Discussion Point:What would you like to take away from

this training?

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Ways of Working Together

Setting ground rules

• Interactive• Mutual learning process• Not easy to share personal thoughts or feelings with

work colleagues, so…– You are welcome to share your personal

experiences, and the information will benefit others – You don’t have to share if you don’t want to– Respect privacy of persons in the group by not

sharing sensitive information outside of this room– Any feedback to the agency will be general and

anonymous• Other ground rules?

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Module 1:

Stress in your work

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• What are the stresses you experience in your daily work?

• What are the stresses you see for other staff in their daily work?

• What are the stresses you see for other staff in emergency situations and disasters?

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What’s so stressful about your work?

1.The work environment • Working conditions• Team and agency factors

2.Your role3.Personal factors

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Sources of Stress 1:The context of your work

• Insecurity• Threats to well-being and health• Challenges to values, ideals and beliefs

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Sources of Stress 2: The Work Environment: Working Conditions• Heavy workload (or inactivity); lack of rest

• Relationships and Communication – Cultural differences– Personality conflicts– Unclear lines of communication

• Team and Agency Issues – Intra team conflict– Poor leadership or management practices

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Sources of Stress:The Work Environment:

• Unclear or conflicting priorities• Unclear job descriptions• Lack of feedback on performance• Perceived lack of support by management• Overly heavy workload; lack of control over

workload• Too many meetings• Job insecurity and/or career insecurity• Conflict within work group• Perceived harassment or favoritism

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Poor prioritization of tasks Confused lines of authority Failure to provide needed supplies or support services Poorly defined job descriptions Inconsistent (or bullying) supervision Intra team conflict or harassment or scapegoating

Note: The team can also be a major source of protection against external sources of stress.

Sources of Stress 2: The Work Environment: Team and Agency Factors

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Some personality factors that can worsen the effects of stress …• Need to maintain professional role and appearance of

emotional strength: – Fear of admitting vulnerability, of being seen as

weak, or identifying with beneficiaries• Repressing emotions in order to keep functioning:

– Useful in the short-term, but may lead to long-term problems with “hazardous emotional material”

• High expectations of self; need to be in control of self and environment– Risk of a sense of failure or loss if they don’t

succeed• Need to help others regardless of self; inability to say

“no”– Leads to failure to take care of self so as to be able

to maintain high level of functioning• Lack of tolerance for stress and ambiguity

Discussion point:

Think about the various sources of stress we have discussed. Are these experienced by staff in your organization?

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Module 2:

The Impact of Stress on your work, teams and the organization

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What is stress?

• Stress occurs when the perceived demands from the outside world or yourself are out of balance with your perceived ability to cope.

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Signs of Stress in Individuals

How do you recognize that you are “stressed out”?

What are your personal signs of stress?

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Signs of Stress in Individuals

Symptoms of stress appear at various levels of functioning and feeling:

• Physically (e.g., stomach pain, fatigue)• Mentally (e.g., difficulty concentrating,

making decisions)• Emotionally (e.g., sadness, anxiety)• Spiritually (e.g., feeling life is pointless,

anger at God)• Behaviorally (e.g., inefficiency, reckless

behaviors)• Interpersonally (e.g, withdrawal, irritability)

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Studies show that one-third or more of your work show clinically significant signs of emotional distress at the end of assignment. This includes:

• Post-traumatic stress syndromes• Vicarious (secondary) traumatization• Depression• Pathological grief• Anxiety• Psychosomatic complaints• Interpersonal (including marital or family)

conflict

Long Term Effects of Stress - I

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Chronic Stress and Burnout

Burnout is an emotional state due to long term stress, characterized by chronic emotional exhaustion, depleted energy, impaired enthusiasm and motivation to work, diminished work efficiency, a diminished sense of personal accomplishment, and pessimism and cynicism.

Long Term Effects of Stress – II

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Signs of Burnout in Individuals

Chronic fatigue, frequent physical complaints, sleep disturbances, weight gain or loss

Chronic anxiety Difficulty making decisions;

distractibility or difficulty concentrating

Depression/chronic sadness/ negative thinking, focusing on “failures”

Rigid, inflexible, or obsessive thinking; diminished tolerance for ambiguity

Increase in high risk behaviors (e.g., drinking, driving recklessly)

Distrust of others/ irritability/ suspiciousness/ blaming others

Reluctance to start projects or difficulty finishing projects

Low morale, disillusionment, often accompanied by absenteeism, tardiness, or decreased quality of work

Doubt in value system/religious beliefs; questioning of major life decisions; loss of spiritual zeal, feelings of hopelessness or alienation

Withdrawal; desire to be alone

Callousness or cynicism

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Signs of stress and burnout in teams

• Increased absenteeism and lateness• Clique formation or scapegoating or

frequent intra-team conflict • High job turnover• Lack of individual initiative• Difficulty making team decisions • Lowered work output• Decreased quality of service

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Signs of stress and burnout in organizationsStress and burnout adversely affect the

organization’s ability to carry out its mission:

• More accidents and illnesses– Increased absenteeism– Increased health care costs

• Increased turnover– Increased difficulty retaining and recruiting

skilled staff– Increased training costs

• Poor decision making– Increase in behaviors that place members

and recipients at risk• Lowered efficiency and effectiveness in

carrying out assigned tasks

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How stressed and burnt out are you?

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Is there a solution?

Myth:“If you go out in the rain, you should expect to

get wet.”Fact:

“If you go out in the rain, you should plan to take an umbrella.”

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Module 3:

Preventing, reducing, and managing stress

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Stress and Response

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Resilience? Vulnerability?

Stressor

Stress! Coping

Appraisal

Long term effects

© 2008, John Ehrenreich

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Points of Intervention

Resilience? Vulnerability?

Stressor

Stress! Coping

Appraisal

Long term effects

?

© 2008, John Ehrenreich

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Overview of Strategies for reducing stress

• Anticipate: Prevent or reduce the intensity, frequency, or duration of stressors

• Shift the balance: Reduce vulnerability and increase resilience; maintain “stress fitness”

• Monitor your own stress level• Cope more effectively• Take action to prevent long term

effects

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Strategies for reducing stress

• Prevent or reduce intensity, frequency, duration of stressor– Learn about assignment and potential

stressors– Think and plan ahead– Learn about stress, stress response, personal

signs of stress– Be proactive; plan and rehearse responses

(at least mentally)

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Strategies for reducing stress

• Reduce vulnerability and increase resilience: maintain “stress fitness”– Build social supports (close connections with

colleagues, family, friends)– Partialize: Focus on specific issues, not a broad

concern with “all of the problems”– Seek advice and assistance– Identify sources of deeper meaning– Take care of yourself

• Maintain proper nutrition, get enough exercise, get enough rest

• Take breaks from the job (take periodic breaks during the day; keep after-hours and weekends for yourself; make time for socializing; take vacations

• Don’t take your work home with you (literally or in your thoughts)

– Keep a sense of perspective: Consider the broader context and longer term view.

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Strategies for reducing stress…

• Improve monitoring of stress– Monitor yourself: Know your own signs of

stress– Monitor team members: Recognize the signs

of stress in others– Be aware that “problems” in the team may be

signs of stress in individuals

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Strategies for reducing stress…

• Improve coping– Monitor your arousal level and act to keep it under

control (e.g., use relaxation exercises, exercise, meditate)

– Respond effectively to the stressor (active coping): • Take a step back to problem solve before acting.,

then take action. Do not ignore, minimize, avoid, or wish circumstances were different.

• Break up big tasks into smaller ones and act on the smaller, more manageable tasks.

• Seek advice and help and support from others – Protect yourself (distract yourself, express your

feelings): • Take breaks from problem solving to relax (recover

energy)• Take care of yourself (maintain your strength).

– Take care of everyday tasks (so that they don’t turn into additional crises),

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A Basic Framework for Coping

Grant me the courage to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept the things I can’t change, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Reinhold Neibuhr

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• Earlier, we asked: “What are the stressors you experience in your daily work?”

• Go back to those stressors. Working in pairs, discuss a strategy that would (or would have) helped you deal better with this stressor.