Counsellors' Corner

Helping Your Young Person Manage Stress

The end of term is usually associated with assessment and exams, leading to stress for many young people.  While a certain level of stress can be helpful to motivate us, it’s important for young people to be aware of their stress levels, and learn skills to manage this.  Stress involves an individual’s psychological perception of pressure as well as the body’s physiological response to this perceived pressure.  An event that an individual perceives to be stressful, such an exam, triggers a hormonal reaction, including adrenaline and cortisol, which course through our bodies.  These hormones trigger a physiological response which focuses our attention to the perceived danger (eg the exam).  Recognising when we are reaching unhelpful levels of stress is important so that we can manage it in an effective way.

Stress management can include both physical and psychological strategies.  Each person needs to find their own strategies which work to decrease their stress.  Physical strategies may include exercise or meditation, and psychological may include confiding in trusted others.  Given that the stress response is initiated in the brain when it perceives danger, research suggests that the most effective way to decrease stress is to change the perception of the presenting situation, so it is not deemed stressful.  Assisting your young person to see their source of stress, such as an exam, as demanding rather than life-changing, can help to reduce their stress.  It assists us from engaging with stress that is unhealthy and allows us to experience stress that is healthy and helpful for focused attention and information processing. 

Remember that, for young people, their brains are still developing, so stress management may not come naturally to them.  Some suggested strategies for assisting your young person with stress management include:

• Ensure your young person is looking after themselves – having enough sleep, eating well, exercising, and connecting
• Assisting them to plan and organise their time 
• Reflecting on values and strengths to help motivate and align your young person to what they’re working towards
• Encourage practice of relaxation techniques (eg deep breathing, muscle relaxation)
• Help your young person to adjust negative thoughts into more neutral or positive thoughts to change their perception of the situation 
• Practise gratitude and letting go of what’s beyond our control
• Model healthy stress-management in the household
• Manage your young person’s use or over-use of technology

Wishing you and your families the very best over the coming weeks.

Ellie Keane and Emma Moore