In the previous posts we have seen what is stress, how it can affect pregnancy and how prevent it. But what if in spite of everything we feel stressed? What could we do?
Well, at that point we can always consider the option of seeking the help of a professional who teaches us to fight it. And what would that help consist of? How is stress treated?
In this post we will try to answer that question.
Stress treatment
All the advice from the previous post for prevent stress during pregnancy they also help us to combat it, but if we feel stressed in spite of it or for whatever reason we are not able to start them it is advisable to go to a psychologist to teach us new coping skills and techniques.
As the Spanish Society for the Study of Anxiety and Stress (SEAS) If an individual has good coping strategies, they may be better prepared to cope with stress, but sometimes the demands may exceed their resources. That's why it's good to have a repertoire of skills diverse Y flexible.
Each pregnant woman has her own circumstances, so the first thing is to identify the Causes of your stress Based on what we find out in this tracking, we will establish an action plan aimed at improving your general condition.
A complete psychological evaluation is essential to establish appropriate and personalized intervention objectives and techniques in each case. In addition, it is common that along with stress appear depressive symptoms, which should also be taken care of.
We cannot always eliminate what stresses us. A boss too demanding, problems in pregnancy, economic, family ... who has no problems? In those cases, it is more useful to learn to handle the situation that we cannot change, so that we can live together with her without conditioning our life. We can always learn to face things differently.
Other times, however, we can do something to change things, but we don't know what or we feel blocked. In these cases a training in problem solving You can help us find the key.
In the cognitive behavioral therapyThere are stress reduction programs that have proven successful also during pregnancy. Let's see one of them.
Stress Inoculation Training
One of the procedures that is most used in Cognitive Condutual Therapy is the so-called Stress Inoculation Training. It includes a set of techniques aimed at preparing future mothers to identify and face stress situations. These techniques encompass both cognitive and physical and behavioral symptoms.
It is not about teaching them to overcome a specific situation with a specific plan, but to learn resources to solve that and other future situations.
They include preparation at failure: Learn to identify the keys that announce a failure to plan what to do. Failure can be a time to learn.
The Stress Inoculation Training packages consist of three phases: one educational phase, where theoretically it would be explained what stress is, its influence and how to deal with it; A second skills acquisition phase, where training in coping strategies presented in the previous phase takes place (including techniques such as relaxation, guided imagination, meditation, negative thoughts management, etc.) and a third application phase, where what was learned in real stress situations would be put into practice.
So you know, if you feel stressed and notice that you cannot fight it yourself, do not hesitate to consult with your doctor the option of going to a professional specialized in stress management. It is always good to acquire new skills and do not forget that they can help us to address future situations.
Photos | josemanuelerre, Jorge González Chau, on Flickr. In Babies and more Tips to calm anxiety in pregnancy, Documentary of the Punset: emotional education from the womb
