Managing Stress With Behaviour Modification - Essay Sample

Introduction

This stress management plan entails changing my behavior patterns and adopting new patterns in hopes of managing my stressor. In the next week, I am going to follow the following behavior modifications:

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• Values-Practice core values such as being honest with everyone I meet and avoid telling lies at all costs, spread love and affection to all my friends and makes them feel appreciated and wanted, express my feelings in the best possible way keeping in mind the feelings of the ones I am expressing myself to and creativity among others.
• Attitude- have a positive attitude toward life in general, expect the best from others, and suppress negative expectations. Be positive that there will come a day that I will heal from my injury and be the person I once was before when things were looking up.
• Modeling -follow in the footsteps of the people I look up to and admire such as my parents and learn their ways of coping with life, their approaches to factors that cause stress and the methods that they have used in the past years to attain the position that they are at now.
• Assertiveness- be strong-willed and learn how to make my own decisions without being influenced by other people no matter the relations I have with them. Overcome negative peer pressure and make sound decisions that will help me achieve my dreams and goals.
• Operant Conditioning- analyze the consequences of my actions before doing them. Do things that will ultimately be appreciated and will not hurt anyone and avoid actions that will be condemned in the end.

Tracking Notes

Monday -I was kind to all my peers and did not in any way upset anyone either directly or indirectly. I also spent quality time with my parents and learned that there is a lot I could emulate from them and was positive that I had made progress on my treatment.

Tuesday- I woke up with a positive attitude and hoped to get the best out of my day, decided to stay at home after school and finish all my pending assignments and tried my best to be honest and straight with all my peers.

Wednesday- showed love and affection to my family members and friends and hoped that the treatment results would show progress and give me hope that I would soon be walking on my feet in a short while. I considered the results of my actions and used this to make decisions throughout the day

Thursday - discovered that an honesty streak is quite hard to maintain. At some point, I was not entirely truthful with my friends. I stayed positive and happy during the day and tried to let go of things that would bring me down.

Friday - I had excruciating pain on my foot. It was difficult to have a positive attitude and hope that all will be well.

Saturday - spent time with my family and shared my experiences throughout the week and also listened to others. I felt loved and appreciated

Sunday - was joyful throughout the day

Product

We set rules as a family, boundaries that will govern our day to day lives and each one of us agreed to observe them to the latter.

No using phones at the dinner table

Everyone should be at home by 8 pm

Do the best you can at school

Have a positive mindset

Always be considerate and polite

Stress Management Plan

Stress is a condition of either emotional or mental pressure or strain. The greatest source of stress in my life has been a leg injury, a broken femur to be more precise. I have always had a great passion for football, and my dream has always been to be the best footballer ever. After suffering from a broken femur, I could no longer play, and this broke my spirits. The mere thought of not ever being able to play football again makes me recoil with stress because football, for a very long time, has been the only thing that I am good at and it has proven futile to find another hobby in my current condition. Football was the only thing that was to get me to college, and now the future seems bleak because of my leg injury. This is why the injury has grown to become a chief stressor in my life

Behavior modification has appealed to be an easy and effective way of dealing with my stressor. I find it very simple and non-demanding to change my usual forms of behavior to help me cope with my stressor. This is because behavior often determines the personality of a person (Luke Seaward, 2011) and if I am to create a personality that will help me get through this phase of my life, then I prefer to change my behavioral patterns. This method of coping with my stressor made me feel like a have a second chance, and after its implementation, I anticipated that I would be able to raise my self-esteem and confidence and find other hobbies that I would engage myself in during this time.

After the implementation of behavior modification, I realized that most of the components applied were successful. There were very few of them that I found difficult to follow. Practicing values like expression, love, and affection proved to be a good method to deal with my stressor. Spending time with my family, I felt wanted and showing affection lifted my spirits. On Monday, showing kindness to my peers showed me that there is so much to appreciate and be happy for in life. Honesty was the most difficult of the values to apply, and after a few days, I slipped. Operant conditioning proved to be a very efficient method of coping with stress (Luke Seaward, 2011). On several days, for instance, Wednesday, I considered the results of my actions before doing them, and as a result, I did not hurt anyone. For a while, this made me feel good about myself.

Assertiveness was an effective behavioral method that helped me feel confident about myself and showed me that I could do anything I set my mind to without being influenced by anyone. On Tuesday, I decided to stay home and complete my assignment, although all my peers were out having fun. I learned to take my own stand-in decision making. Positive attitude got me through a lot in the past week. I expected the best from everything like my treatment results, and this felt relieving. I was not tense while awaiting the results, and this proved to be fulfilling.

Personally, the only thing I would have done to make my plan more fulfilling is applying the methods for a longer time so that they take root in my personality. For this reason, I would use this plan to combat other stressors in my life, for it is efficient and fulfilling.

Conclusion

Behavior modification has proven to be a very effective method of stress management which can be used to combat various forms of stressors. It is an easy method to apply in one's day to day life and is non-demanding. Behavior determines a person's personality and is, therefore, a great way to ensure that one is the best version of themselves.

Reference

Luke Seaward, B. (2011). Managing Stress Principles And Strategies For Health And Wellbeing 9th Edition. Boston: Jones.