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Stress is a normal part of life — good stress and bad stress. With bad stress, you have both physical and emotional reactions to certain triggers that can cause you to worry and feel on edge. Stress can fluctuate at work or at home, while challenging situations and other changes in your life can trigger it, too.
If you’re curious about how you can manage stress through therapy, read on to learn more about what types of therapy and therapists can help.
What therapies work for stress?
While stress itself is a normal part of life, recurring stress that interferes with your daily activities and overall well-being is not. Stress can manifest itself in different ways, including excessive worrying, inability to sleep at night, and body aches.
Stress can take its toll, but therapy can help you manage it better. Some types of therapy may even equip you with strategies to cope with future stress. Below are the most commonly used therapies for stress and related mental health conditions.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for short-term help
CBT is perhaps one of the most common types of therapy available, as it addresses your thought patterns and behaviors. Your therapist will help you identify your stressors, and help you come up with healthier responses to reduce the impact of your triggers.
CBT may be used on either a short-term or long-term basis. This can make it suitable for helping to treat chronic mental health conditions, as well as helping you get through traumatic events and other causes of acute stress.
You may benefit from CBT if you’re concerned about:
- anxiety
- depression
- bipolar disorder
- sleep disorders, such as insomnia
- phobias
- obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Psychodynamic therapy
Like CBT, psychodynamic therapy aims to help you identify thought patterns that may dictate behavioral responses. Psychodynamic therapy, however, is used on a more long-term basis. It may be best suited for stress caused by long-standing issues that you have been dealing with, which are intertwined with other mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression.
Behavioral therapy
Behavioral therapy is similar to CBT with its focus on changes in behavior. But unlike CBT, behavioral therapy is more focused on your actions, rather than your thoughts.
According to this type of therapy, your actions are dictated by previous behaviors. By changing your behavioral responses to stress now, you can create new patterns and possibly avoid further stress.
Behavioral therapy tends to work best for long-term triggers of stress, including traumatic events, as well as conditions such as anxiety, phobias, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Exposure therapy
Exposure therapy is a technique traditionally used to treat phobias, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. You might benefit from this type of therapy if you have a mental health condition that causes you to avoid certain situations, objects, people, and places.
This type of therapy may also help address chronic stress if you practice avoidance in an effort to avoid more stress. Unfortunately, such avoidance can make stress and anxiety-related disorders worse by making you feel even more uneasy.
Exposure therapy works by allowing your therapist to help gradually expose you to the triggers that you intentionally avoid. The idea is that, over time, you will become accustomed to these fears and become less stressed about them.
Group therapy
In some cases, group therapy may be an option if you’re dealing with an extremely stressful event. Examples include a natural disaster, child loss, divorce, and more. A trained therapist leads sessions, and you may find the group setting allows you to feel empowered and less alone.
What kind of therapist is best for stress?
Trained psychologists or a psychotherapists are generally the best type of mental health professionals for stress-related therapies. Their mission is to help you identify triggers of stress while collaboratively developing a plan with you to manage them. Psychotherapists are also referred to as “talk therapists.”
When looking for a therapist, you can ask a prospective professional what modalities they specialize in. For example, many talk therapists use CBT, while others might specialize in psychodynamic therapy. Also, some psychotherapists specialize in stress and related mental health conditions such as anxiety.
While psychologists and psychotherapists tend to be the most helpful in assisting their clients with behavioral changes in response to stress, some situations may warrant other types of mental health professionals who also use talk therapy techniques. These include:
- Psychiatrists, who can also administer mental health medications and have medical training
- Group counselor, who specializes in working with a small group of people with similar struggles
- Play therapists for younger children
- School counselors, who may address stress in school-aged children, as well as college students
No matter which professional you seek stress therapies from, be sure that they are licensed in your state and have the relevant education and experience to help you.
How to get help
If you feel that stress is starting to interfere with your daily activities, it’s time to reach out for help. The American Psychological Association is a good place to start your online search. Check out their free psychologist locator to find therapists in your state. You can also ask your family doctor for recommendations.
While many insurance companies cover mental health services, it’s important to check with your provider regarding in-network therapists. You’ll also want to check out information regarding co-payments and other fees.
There are affordable therapy options no matter your insurance coverage and budget.
Some therapists don’t take medical insurance due to privacy concerns. You may check to see if they offer sliding scale fees to help off-set your costs. Local clinics, blogs, therapy apps, and virtual sessions may also be less expensive.
It’s important to schedule an initial consultation to gauge your comfort level with your therapist. You may find that it takes a few different therapists until you’ve found the right fit.
What else helps with stress?
Aside from therapy, there are other steps you can take to reduce stress in your everyday life right now. You can start with the following:
- Exercise regularly. Research shows that even walking for 30 minutes each day can decrease stress and boost your overall mood.
- Schedule regular relaxation intervals. Do something that relaxes you for at least several minutes a day. Just some ideas include taking a warm bath, gentle yoga stretches, deep breathing exercises, or reading a book.
- Prevent social isolation. While seeing friends and family for in-person activities can help, even making phone calls or talking virtually can keep you socially connected and reduce your stress.
- Reassess your priorities. Focus on daily tasks without worrying too much over what you can’t get done. Also, say “no” to unnecessary tasks, and delegate extra work when you start to feel overwhelmed.
The above techniques can work for both chronic and acute forms of stress, and they can complement any therapies you decide to try. If you’re struggling with ongoing stress, see a mental health professional for advice.
The takeaway
Occasional stress isn’t necessarily a cause for concern if you are able to manage it on your own. But if stress interferes with your life on a regular basis and you’re feeling overwhelmed, it may be time to seek help.
Left untreated, ongoing (chronic) stress may contribute to (or worsen) certain mental health conditions, including anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression.
Unmanaged stress can also have other consequences to your health. These may include digestive ailments, high blood pressure (hypertension), and sleep disorders. Long-term stress is also linked to metabolic disorders.
Therapy can be an invaluable tool for stress, whether you’re going through an unusually tough time or if you’ve been struggling with chronic stress. It can even address stress related to mental health conditions or chronic illnesses.
Work Stress
While experiencing some stress at work is normal and can even be helpful at times—for example, it might keep you motivated or emotionally engaged in your job—it can also become problematic if you’re dealing with intense stress on a regular basis.
In these cases, work stress can interfere with your career goals and take a toll on your personal life as well.
What is work stress?
Definitions of work stress vary, but most include the idea of mental, physical, or emotional tension caused by work and career-related factors.
When you’re stressed, you might feel overwhelmed, have trouble relaxing or sleeping, or experience other symptoms of common mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression.
Prevalence of work stress
Work is one of the most common sources of stress in the United States. A 2017 report from the American Psychological Association notes that 58% of individuals surveyed said that work was a very or somewhat significant source of stress in their lives.
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America reports that more than half of study participants reported that work stress often impacts the quality of their work and their relationships with coworkers. Even more people—83% of men and 72% of women—reported that work stress affects their quality of life outside of work as well.
Symptoms of work stress
Everyone reacts to stress differently, but the following are a few of the most common symptoms of work stress:
- Anxiety or worry: You may be frequently preoccupied with thoughts about your work and find it difficult to relax or focus on other things.
- Feeling overwhelmed: Stress can make you feel like you’re not able to manage all of your job’s demands.
- Conflicts with others, both at work and outside of work: You may be irritable and easily upset, which can cause tensions with colleagues and supervisors as well as loved ones outside of work.
- Worsened performance at work: If your job is stressing you out, you might be less able to do a good job at work, which can add even more stress to the situation.
- Physical symptoms: Stress often comes with physical symptoms including muscle tension, headaches, and digestive troubles. You might find that these symptoms get worse when you’re at work, or thinking about work.
- Difficulty sleeping: You might have trouble falling asleep or wake up feeling unrested.
Types of work stress
Work stress comes in countless forms, but some common scenarios include:
- Being overworked and/or underpaid: You might simply feel like you have more to do than you can reasonably handle, and/or that you’re not being fairly compensated for your work.
- Lack of control over projects and/or outcomes: Not being able to exercise control over a work-related situation can often increase work stress.
- Tensions with colleagues, supervisors, or clients: You might find it difficult to work with certain people in your professional circles and feel stressed out as a result.
- Career changes or uncertainties: If you’re starting a new job, thinking of leaving your current job, or feeling unsure of your career path in general, you might be more likely to experience stress at work.
- Issues related to work-life balance: Particularly if you’re balancing the demands of parenting or caregiving at home, you may be dealing with stressful conflicts between your job and the rest of your life.
- Burnout: If you no longer find joy in parts of your job you once enjoyed and/or consistently dread going to work, you may be experiencing burnout.
- Vicarious trauma: Those who work with individuals who have been traumatized are vulnerable to vicarious trauma, in which caregiving professionals—such as doctors, therapists, and social workers—experience symptoms of trauma without direct personal experience of traumatic events.
- Physical workplace stress: Physically demanding jobs can lead to injuries and back problems, while desk jobs might lead to hand pain and strained eyes, among other ailments. These physical issues can intensify the psychological stress of work.
- Stress related to discrimination or harassment: If you’re being harassed at work or discriminated against on the basis of race, ethnicity, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability, you’re likely to experience higher levels of work stress.
What to do if you’re experiencing challenges related to work stress
If you’re looking for tools to manage stress caused by work or career concerns, consider the following options:
- Therapy: Find a therapist who can help you understand your work stress and learn proven techniques for managing it. (See more tips below on selecting a therapist.)
- Check-ups: Because stress can be related to medical conditions, it’s important to stay up-to-date with your medical appointments. Scheduling a check-up with your primary care doctor can help you rule out physical conditions that may contribute to your symptoms. Your doctor can also help you plan nutritional strategies for alleviating stress, like avoiding caffeine or eating a more balanced diet.
- Meditation or mindfulness practices. You can experiment with meditation or other mindfulness practices through classes or apps. Studies have shown that these practices can help reduce the symptoms of anxiety that may accompany work stress, and many are simple enough that you can integrate them easily into your work day.
- Talk to your supervisor: Especially with a therapist’s support, it can be useful to bring up your work stress with your supervisor to see what solutions you might be able to work out together. If your workplace has an HR office, it may be helpful to speak with an HR professional as well. Involving HR is crucial if your stress is related to any kind of workplace harassment or discrimination. If you’re in a union, you can also seek out help from union resources.
- Exercise: Some studies show that regular physical activity can decrease symptoms of anxiety, which often go along with stress.
- Creative pursuits: Visual arts, performing arts, and creative writing can all be helpful ways to diffuse your body’s stress response and add fulfilling activities to your daily life. Keeping up with hobbies outside of work can also remind you that work is only one part of your life, not the entirety of your existence.
- Nature: Studies suggest that spending time in a natural setting—even a city park—can have beneficial effects on individuals’ stress levels. Try taking a walk outside during your lunch break to deal with daily work stress.
How to look for a therapist for work stress
Look for a personal fit with your therapist
While personality fit is a nuanced factor, it is critical to your success in therapy. Multiple studies have revealed the importance of this factor, often referred to as “therapeutic alliance.”
On your initial phone call with the therapist, ask yourself:
- Could I see myself forming a connection with this therapist?
- Does their approach suit my personality?
- Do I feel like I will be heard and respected by this therapist?
Additionally, consider these factors:
- Some therapists are more reflective and spend most of the session listening and drawing insights about your patterns and coping styles.
- Some therapists are more directive, establishing weekly agendas and assigning tasks to complete between sessions.
- Some utilize specific techniques or tools (exposure exercises, eye movements, tapping, breath work, guided imagery, art and music, etc.).
- Some use a combination of multiple approaches.
Prioritize the approach that appeals to you
Therapists differ in their approaches to treating work stress. Common approaches include:
New to therapy? Learn about how to find a therapist here.
