Stress Management Strategies

Having access to an array of potential stress management strategies in response to the variety of stressors your clients may encounter increases the likelihood of improving the coping response to stress. However, without a means by which to measure each strategy’s effectiveness for a particular stressor, blind treatment is what results.

When developing an evaluation of your stress management workshop, identify your intention for the workshop’s overall outcome. Then consider the outcome of your workshop using the following measures:

1. How might you define or determine whether the workshop was successful?
2. Consider asking what has changed. Has the program made a difference?
3. Are behavioral changes going to occur? What behavior shifts have already occurred?
4. How are the participants’ lives changed?
5. Do they feel confident with the tools they were given?
6. Can participants envision a previous stressful experience where the application of these tools would have benefited them?
7. How well was the information relayed? Was the environment comfortable?
8. Are there wider ripples of social effect due to the resulting policy changes or institutional practice

Review the “Evaluation of the Guided Imagery Workshop” handout provided. Also, conduct an Internet search for additional examples of reputable workshop evaluations. Then, consider the various evaluation methods and select an evaluation method appropriate for your stress management workshop.