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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.
When to Get Professional Help for Stress
It’s important to understand what your baseline level of stress is and also how well you cope with stress. Sometimes, getting feedback from others who know you well might also provide insight, as it can be hard to see ourselves objectively.
When you start to feel tense muscles, physical pain, headaches or changes in your libido, these are some of the common physical symptoms of stress. Changes in behaviors such as eating habits, alcohol use and mood swings can also be red flags that you’re undergoing a lot of stress. Sleep issues, hyperarousal, anxiety and depression are also indicators of high stress.
If any of these stress-related issues becomes so extreme that they are interfering with your normal activities of daily living, such as going to work, seeing family or friends or attending routine social gatherings, it’s a sign you may need to seek out professional help. While experiencing stress in moderation isn’t harmful, stress that is intense, chronic, or debilitating can have lasting negative effects on both your physical and mental health.
How Can Therapy Help With Stress?
Therapy can help people with high stress develop more awareness about the causes and triggers for stress in their lives, which can sometimes help to identify solutions or lifestyle changes that can help reduce stress. In addition, therapy can help people learn effective and healthy methods of coping with stress, including specific relaxation skills to reduce stress and enjoyable activities that can help counteract it.
Common Types of Therapy Used for Stress Management
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most common types of therapy used for stress management. In CBT, the therapist helps you identify negative thought patterns which negatively impact your behaviors and emotions. By getting to the root of the thought, CBT empowers you to reshape your experience. CBT, when used consistently for two months, can help relieve feelings of stress and anxiety related to chronic illnesses.3
Additionally, CBT has shown to be effective for caregivers of those dealing with chronic illness as well, as evident in a 2018 study. In this study, caregivers were found to benefit from group stress therapy that lasted at least two months as the group setting was able to help all individuals in the group adhere to consistently attending group stress therapy.2 Another study on nursing students found similar benefits after 10 weeks of consistent CBT, with these students reporting feeling more competent, less stressed, and having higher self-esteem.5
Mindfulness skills and formal meditation also have powerful stress-relieving capabilities, and these skills are often integrated into therapy.4 Mindfulness and meditation help people learn to pull their attention away from unhelpful thoughts and to be more present. Certain types of therapy like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness-based CBT, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy utilize mindfulness as a method of regulating emotions.
For those who can identify a specific situational cause for their stress, solution-focused techniques can also be helpful. Solution focused therapy is often provided in 6-8 sessions (or fewer) and focuses on helping people find solutions for specific problems and stressors they are experiencing. Those with stress related to a more chronic problem (like anxiety, depression, grief, or trauma) may benefit from longer-term therapy, but solution focused therapy can be helpful to those experiencing situational stress or difficulties adapting to a specific life change.
3 Examples of Therapy for Stress
Since stress can manifest differently, and different therapy types are useful for different situations, here are three examples of different techniques used for specific situations:
1. CBT for Work-Related Stress
A client who is getting CBT therapy for work-related stress would be introduced to the core concepts of CBT, which describe the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. They would be asked to “self-monitor” these outside of sessions, possibly even using a tracking log or worksheet, using this exercise to help the client become more aware of the specific thoughts that feed into stress and cause negative reactions. The client may be taught specific skills to interrupt unhelpful thoughts like these when they arise in the future, replacing them with new, more helpful thoughts.
2. Brief Solution-Focused Therapy After College Graduation
A client who just graduated from college and is starting a new career might seek counseling for stress related to major life transitions. Their therapist might help them identify the specific problems and sources of stress in their lives right now, and help them find practical, helpful solutions to address these. The therapist might also help the client learn new, healthier methods of coping with stress. Generally, this type of therapy is short-term, ending in 6-8 sessions or less.
3. ACT for Non-Specific Stress & Anxiety
Sometimes clients do not know what is causing them stress and anxiety. If they are unable to identify a specific cause, the therapist is often still able to provide help by teaching them different ways of coping and responding to emotions. An ACT therapist would likely endorse emotional acceptance and mindfulness skills, encouraging the client to be open to experiencing anxiety and stress rather than avoiding them or trying to control them. By “dropping the struggle” with emotions, the client often notices that these difficult emotions become less intense and don’t last as long.
Is Therapy Effective for Treating Stress?
Stress counseling can be very effective in helping people reduce their stress, identify and address underlying issues, and learn better methods of coping. Given that stress can sometimes mask itself as high-functioning anxiety or depression, having a professional opinion is important in ruling out a more chronic cause.
Therapy provides a confidential space for people to express themselves, seek support, and identify changes they need to make to reduce stress. Stress therapy also helps people learn additional ways to manage stress on their own to supplement talk therapy.
