Course content

How is stress regulated in your body? How much of what happens at the workplace influences (chronic) stress levels? How much (or how little) control do you have over your stress levels? What are the stress triggers in your workplace, and can you, and the team, find better ways to cope with them? The answers to these questions will help participants recognize, regulate, and leverage stress to promote healthy stress levels at work. From a social psychological perspective, it is important to create a culture where employees can openly communicate about stress and mental health. Do you feel psychologically safe to be vulnerable, ask for help, and express your needs? Is management open and sensitive to stress signals? Is there space to relax, take breaks, focus your attention, and organize your work according to your needs? What can we do to gain control, individually, as a leader, and as a group? How do we set-up a (collective) environment that supports us to manage stress in a healthy way? The answers to these questions will help to set up a sustainably supportive group environment where chronic stress and burn-outs can be prevented.

In summary, this course addresses the general question of how to effectively manage stress at work, providing insight into physiology, (in-)effective patterns, attention regulation, stress mind relaxation and breathing practices, psychological safety and vulnerability at work, and how to shape social and physical environments in order for support. The course is based on scientific research on the physiology and psychology of stress, productivity, mindset, psychological safety, leadership, emotional intelligence, group processes, mindfulness, and breathing, and provides individual exercises and group exercises on these topics.

Learning objectives

By the end of the course participants are able to

• Recognize healthy and unhealthy stress.
• Communicate clearly and effectively within the team about their health and well-being.
• Regulate their stress levels on a physiological and emotional level.
• Ask for help and support if or before stress becomes chronic.
• Create a climate of psychological safety and vulnerability.
• Recognize if and how they pressure or support others in the group.
• Organize a team work structure that promotes healthy stress and prevents chronic stress and burn-out.
• Understand how to sustain the implemented practices.

Teaching method

The program alternates between theory and practice and is partly based on personal learning objectives from participants. Between the sessions, participants are invited to put the learnings to practice within their own working environment.

I aim to provide a group environment where participants are not only working on their individual stress levels, but also support each other on their quest to build better and healthier work behaviors in the team.

The course starts with a short anonymous questionnaire so the specific stress levels and stress triggers in the organizational environment can be assessed before we start the group sessions. The analysis of this assessment will be integrated into the course so specific stressors and problems can be addressed. During four online sessions, participants will explore the course content under guidance of Dr. Inge Wolsink, behavioral scientist, organizational psychologist, trainer, meditation teacher, and coach. Theoretical background and exercises will be provided during these sessions, as well as in short audio form, so participants can get back to the course content whenever they feel the need to revive knowledge or continue their practice at home or at work. For individuals who feel the need for personal guidance, there is the option to have an online private coaching session during, or soon after the course.