Stress management plan development and implementation

¶ … Self-Modification Project

My overall goal for this Self-modification project is to develop appropriate stress management practices that will help me cope with stress effectively. I have selected this goal because my current learning experience is characterized by increased stress and anxiety that is hindering the ability to realize my full academic potential. Moreover, if I don't address identify the best way of coping with this problem, I may eventually suffer from depression.

Baseline Data for Current Behaviors

Antecedents: What situations, people, or circumstances led up to this behavior?

Behavior (START HERE!): What did you do that is helping or hindering you getting to your goal?

C:Consequences: What happened after you did this behavior? What reinforced or did not reinforce the behavior?

12th Oct 2014

Worry about time.

Created a things-to-do list with specific targets and timelines.

The list enabled me to manage my time well. I reinforced the behavior through adopting it as a daily practice.

13th Oct 2014

Worry about the things to be accomplished.

Created a plan to achieve my goals.

I effectively managed my time and accomplished most of my goals within the desired timeline.

14th Oct 2014

Fear of failure.

Listened and read several stories of people who failed in school.

I became very anxious after listening and reading these stories of failure. I started thinking that I would also fail in my education. I also started focusing on my weaknesses.

15th Oct 2014

Feelings of hopelessness.

Did not understand a certain topic in class.

The lack of mindfulness and failure to pay attention resulted in difficulties to understand the lesson.

16th Oct 2014

Feelings of unhappiness.

Developed an attitude of gratitude.

I started to self-congratulate and focus on my strengths.

17th Oct 2014

Anxiety about performance in exams.

Improved my exam preparation.

Made me less anxious and well-prepared for exams.

18th Oct 2014

Mockery from my friends and classmates.

Poor performance in group work.

I performed poorly because of feelings of inadequacy and increased personal criticism.

Intervention Plan

1. As previously mentioned, the overall goal of my self-modification plan is to develop an appropriate stress management program that will help me cope with stress effectively and avoid the likelihood of becoming depressed. The selection of this self-modification goal is influenced by increased stress and anxiety that has become common characteristics of my current learning experience. The plan should help me develop stress management practices to deal with anxiety about time, fear of failure, and anxiety about the number of things to be accomplished within certain duration of time. As evident in the 7-day diary sheet of ABC, the antecedents to my current behavior is brought by internal and external factors. The internal factors or cues include emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations while external factors include things that I see, hear, or do in my external environment. For instance, the internal factors include thoughts about performance in exams and emotions on various issues such as time whereas the external factors include mockery from friends and classmates. These antecedents have significant impact on my ability to realize my self-modification goal by contributing to the development of new behaviors or reinforcing positive behaviors. My current pattern of behavior is influenced by how I respond to the antecedent with regards to the establishing behaviors that help or hinder my ability to accomplish my overall goal. In cases where I have responded to the antecedent by creating positive behavioral patterns, the realization of my overall goal has been enhanced. However, in situations where my response to the antecedent has been negative, the ability to realize my goal has been considerably hindered. This implies that antecedents and consequences influence my current pattern of behavior based on the principles of reward and punishment in operant conditioning.

2. In order to achieve the self-modification goal related to stress management, a SMART target behavior needs to be established. The SMART target behavior should be based on analysis of antecedents, behavior and consequences as well as evidence-based recommendations. In essence, the SMART target behavior for this goal should focus on addressing the internal and external factors that contribute to the current issue or problem. My SMART target behavior for stress management is to learn and implement 6 new stress management practices i.e. mindfulness, physical activity, U.P.E., gratitude, savoring, and cognitive restructuring in dealing with probable stressful situations daily, as evidenced by effective time stress management in school. Mindfulness will entail relaxation in the moment and attentiveness while gratitude involves focusing on the positive and accepting the current situation. Savoring is a new model of positive experience that is made of various strategies whereas cognitive restructuring involves reflecting on, accepting, and learning from bad and unexpected events that take place. Physical activity will incorporate exercising and other relaxation techniques to lessen stress or effectively cope with stressful situations.

3. One of the situational inducements that I will use to enhance the probability of success with the SMART target behavior is chain stopping. Chain stopping is primarily described as prevention of the unwanted behavior from taking place through preventing the escalation of minor behaviors. As evident in the baseline data for current behaviors, one of the major factors contributing to unwanted behavior is worry about time and the things to be accomplished. In order to prevent this behavior through chain stopping and enhance probability of success with SMART target behavior, I will replace the worrying time with reading an inspirational book. I will replace the worrying times with reading a book in order to cope with stress effectively. The reading will deal with some of the factors that contribute to the stress by enabling me to focus on my studies and address some of the things I need to accomplish. Reading a book will also be part of relaxation, which helps in coping with stress.

4. The second specific situational inducement to enhance the likelihood of success with my SMART target behavior is redirection, which is an informal measure of preventing or stopping an undesired behavior. This process primarily involves doing something or carrying out an activity that interferes with the undesired behavior through redirecting thoughts. I will include meditation and breathing exercises in my everyday schedule since they have largely been considered as effective measures in controlling stress. The inclusion of meditation and breathing exercises in my daily activities will enhance possibility of success with the SMART target behavior through helping me clear my thoughts from the undesired behavior, particularly anxiety. Moreover, meditation acts as part of cognitive restructuring for accepting, reinterpreting, and learning from bad events that may take place in the course of the day. The meditation process will also be important in learning to prioritize daily activities and planning my time very well. This will in turn enable me to improve things and lessen the chances of worry or anxiety that contributes to more stress.