Premium
Stress Management Training for the Elderly: A Psychoeducational Approach
Author(s) -
GARRISON JOHN E.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1978.tb05385.x
Subject(s) - medicine , relaxation (psychology) , coping (psychology) , stress management , cognition , cognitive psychology , stress (linguistics) , progressive muscle relaxation , psychotherapist , applied psychology , medical education , clinical psychology , psychiatry , psychology , linguistics , philosophy
A procedure is described for teaching elderly persons the use of relaxation as a coping skill. The procedure, called Stress Management Training, seeks to provide the client with: 1) a cognitive understanding of stress and relaxation, 2) the ability to relax by controlling muscle tension and sympathetic‐nervous‐system activity, and 3) the ability to extend the relaxation skill to real‐life stress situations. A case report demonstrates the process, which is an educational model rather than a medical model. The role of the psychotherapist as an educator and the potential usefulness of the social learning theory as a basis for conceptualizing mental health problems are discussed.