Course Menu

Live Chat

chat live with aihcpHave questions? Join us on "live chat" online now! One of our advisors will be happy to assist you and respond to your questions.

SM 530 Clinical Stress Management Syllabus

Online Classroom Banner

Printable Copy of The Exam Access Online ExamCourse Evaluation Form

COURSE OVERVIEW: Welcome to the online CE course; “Clinical Stress Management.” This online continuing education course, is designed for mental health professionals and other health care professionals seeking to expand their professional practices by offering clients highly effective stress-management, evidence-based therapeutic interventions. Mental health and health care professionals will study foundational theories of stress and its effects on body, mind and spirit. These professionals will examine research related outcomes related to stress management techniques that have been validated in clinical practices with evidence-based effectiveness. The mind-body-connection is studied throughout the course and is emphasized as a holistic model in which to assess and treat clients who present with stress related body, mind, and spirit distresses. Mental health and other health care professionals will examine and learn and be able to assess clients for many life and occupational situations related to stress and their responses and coping mechanisms to them.  The diversity in stress environments for clients and the response to them is examined as well. Mental health professionals and health care professionals will then explore and learn, from in-depth study, key evidence-based clinical interventions in stress management that can be effectively use with clients to significantly reduce and management their defined stressors.  Professionals will be able to work with their clients to develop personalized stress management intervention plans that clients may use on an on-going basis to manage their long-term stressors to enhance their overall mental, physical and spiritual health.  Mental health professionals will also learn to assist clients to perform self-assessments of the effectiveness of the outcomes of their personalized stress management intervention plans. This course is particularly designed for mental health and other health care professionals who are seeking to achieve the Stress Management Consultant Certification status as offered by the AIHCP, Inc.

Upon successful completion of this course, students are awarded 30 contact hours of continuing education creditsCourse Code: SM 530.

Course Refund & AIHCP Policies: access here

Lady at a desk who is stressed out grabbing her forehead
portrait of Young pretty business woman work on notebook computer in the bright modern office indoors

This Course is Board approved. The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is an Approved Provider for Continuing Education by the South Carolina Professional Counselors, Marriage & Family Therapists and Psycho-Educational Specialists licensing board, Provider # 4637.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc. is a licensed Continuing Education Provider in the State of California, Board of Registered Nursing, Provider # CEP 15595. Access Info

Instructor/Course Author: Dominick L. Flarey, Ph.D, MBA,RN-BC, ANP-BC, GC-C
Link to Resume: access here

Email: info@aihcp.org

This is a guided, independent study CE Course. You are to study and progress at your own rate. There are no written assignments. It is recommended that you follow this process for completion of the course :

1. Order your textbook for the course. Information and a link to order the book online are presented below.

2. Review the course objectives.

3. You are required to read/review all chapters in the assigned textbook, unless otherwise indicated by your instructor in this syllabus. As you read/review each chapter, you may want to stop and identify the corresponding questions on the exam related to the material of that chapter, and answer the questions on your printed out copy of the examination. You can obtain a printed copy of your examination simply by clicking on the link at the top of this syllabus “Printable Copy of The Exam.” This will allow you to work with your exam as you study the text book (s) and progress through your course. Then, when you have completed your examination using the printable copy, you will be ready to transfer your responses into the computer based examination program for final submission and grading. You can proceed doing this with each chapter, until you have completed your study of the textbook. Please read/review each chapter in sequence. Do not “skip” ahead, as each chapter builds upon the materials in the previous chapter.

4. Once you have completed all of the chapters in the textbook, you can proceed to your final online examination by clicking the “Access Online Exam” link below the course banner at the top of this syllabus. You can also download the exam as a PDF file by clicking on the “Printable Copy of The Exam” link next to Access Online Exam. If you wish you can print this file out as a printed off copy of your examination. Once you access the online exam you will see a screen that will ask you to input your Name, E-mail address, and your student ID/AH Number (AH####). Please fill out all of the requested information accurately. If you do not, we will not be able to identify who took the exam and your answers will be lost. The following slide will welcome you to your exam and present the introduction slide with further instructions on how to take the exam. Answer the questions to the best of your ability. There is only ONE correct response for each question.

5. When you have answered the final question, it will ask you to submit your answers. It will then show you your grade for the exam, and if you passed the exam it will allow you to review your answers. If you passed, the close button in the bottom right hand corner will take you to the course evaluation form. At which time, please fill out an evaluation so your grade can be processed. Once received, we will send you an e-mailed copy of your exam with the correct and incorrect answers.

5a. If you did not pass your examination, you will receive a notification stating failed. You will not receive any feedback on your answers. Please press the close button on the bottom right hand corner to exit your exam. At which point, contact the Assistant Executive Director @ Mark@aihcp.org,  for a chance to retake the exam. If you fail on your second attempt, you will fail the course and have to pay to retake it.

6. If you have successfully completed the examination with a passing score, we will process your CE Certificate, which will include the course title, the awarded contact hours of continuing education, and the date of completion. Your CE certificate will be e-mailed to you as a PDF file. You can expect to receive your certificate (via e-mailed PDF file) within 2-3 business days upon receipt of the completed evaluation form. No CE Course Certificate will be processed without a completed course evaluation. If you missed the course evaluation link after the exam, you can alternatively click the “Course Evaluation Form” at the top of this syllabus. Please note that the Organizations and the licensing Boards that provide our CE approvals all require that a course evaluation be completed by the course participant before a CE Course Certificate may be awarded; as such there are no exceptions. A course evaluation must be completed in order to receive your CE Course Certificate.

TIME FRAME: You are allotted two years from the date of enrollment, to complete this course. There are no set time-frames, other than the two year allotted time. If you do not complete the course within the two-year time-frame, you will be removed from the course and an “incomplete” will be recorded for you in our records. Also, if you would like to complete the course after this two-year expiration time, you would need to register and pay the course tuition fee again.

TEXTBOOKS: There is one (1) required textbook for this course.

Comprehensive Stress Management, 12th edition, by Jerrold S. Greenberg. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2010. ISBN: 10: 0073380911

Link to Purchase on Amazon.com: click here

GRADING: You must achieve a passing score of at least  75% to complete this course and receive the 30 hours of awarded continuing education credit. There are no letter grades assigned. You will receive notice of your total % score. Those who score below the minimum of 75% will be contacted by AIHCP and will be permitted one more attempt to retake the online examination.

FINAL EXAMINATION: It is recommended that you click on the “Printable Copy of Exam” near the top of the syllabus. It will download as a PDF file. Below are detailed instructions on how to take your exam.

1). When ready to start your final examination for the course, please click on the “Access Online Exam” link near the top of the syllabus.

2). You will be prompted to input your Name, E-mail Address, and Student ID # (AH####). You must fill this out, the exam will not allow you to proceed if you do not. It is very important that you use your full name, your valid e-mail address and your student ID/AH Number. If you do not input your correct information, we will have no way of identifying your exam and it will be deleted! All unidentifiable exams are deleted!

3). Next you will be taken to the introduction screen for your exam. There will be detailed instructions on how to take the online exam. Please review them and when ready click the “Continue” button on the bottom right hand side of the screen to begin your exam.

4). When you have answered all of the questions and are happy with your answers, the exam will prompt you to either “SUBMIT ALL” or “RETURN TO EXAM”. If you are ready press “SUBMIT ALL”.

5). If you received a passing score, you will receive a “Congratulations, you passed” screen with a green check mark. You will have a chance to review your questions and answers. A copy of your exam will be e-mailed to you within 1-2 business days.

5a). If you failed the exam, you will receive a “You did not pass” with a red X. You will have no chance to review your questions and answers. At this point, please contact Administration, Mark D. Moran, Assistant Executive Director for instructions on re-taking the online examination. You may retake the online examination one time. You will receive full instructions regarding the re-take of the examination.

6). After receiving a passing score, click the “CLOSE” button in the bottom right hand corner to close out of the exam and be redirected to the course evaluation form. You must fill out the course evaluation form in order for your grade to be processed and for you to receive an CE certification.

Note: all of our Examinations are Copy Written

COURSE EVALUATION: upon submitting your responses to the examination questions, you are required to complete the online Course Evaluation Form.  This will take you directly to the online evaluation form. Complete the evaluation and be sure to click the “submit” button. CE certificates will not be sent unless a course evaluation is completed.

COMMUNICATION: this is a self-directed, independent study course. However, you may certainly submit to us questions or comments regarding the course materials. We will be sure to forward any questions you may have to the author of the course. You will then receive a follow-up response from the author. All of our course authors are fully educated and credentialed in the practice of Crisis Intervention. You may email any questions to: info@aihcp.org. Please be sure to include the full title of the course you are in, as well as the course code (provided above). If you have any questions at all or need any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT CENTER: Our Technical Support Center is open Monday-Friday; 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (EST).  You may e-mail technical support at: admn@aihcp.org   You may also phone us at: 330-652-7776. If you leave an e-mail after normal business hours, the Support Center will respond to you as soon as they open up the next business day.

INTERACTIVE STUDENT FACEBOOK GROUP
Please join the Interactive Facebook Group for Crisis Intervention!

facebook logo

We host a private (students only) Facebook page for Crisis Intervention. This page is dedicated for private use by all students in our Crisis Intervention courses. We highly encourage all of our students to “join” this private group. The group is used for:

  • Providing interactions between all students in the Crisis Intervention and Stress Management education program.
  • All members may post on the page as well as download documents and photos.
  • Interactions between students and faculty.
  • Meeting new colleagues/friends who have the same interests in Stress Management.
  • Providing a medium for Chat sessions among members of the group.
  • Providing new information to all student on an ongoing basis via posts in the room.
  • Stimulating discussions related to Crisis Intervention and Stress Management and other professional issues/topics.
  • Sharing articles, links to recommended websites, links to videos as well as links to events and other education resources.
  • Our staff provides up to date articles for your review. Articles are added almost on a daily basis. Reviewing the information is voluntary but highly recommended.

Joining the private Facebook group is voluntary. We do highly encourage you to join and participate. Your participation will enhance your learning and provide a platform for networking with your colleagues. Join the group today! You must ask for permission to join this group. Our staff will receive your permission notice and will verify your student status and then authorize your membership to the group page.

Important Information: You must have a Facebook account to join this group. If you have a Facebook account, just click on the link below and you will be taken to the Facebook sign in page. You would then log into your account. You will be on the Crisis Intervention private group page. Once you have clicked on the link, a notice will be sent to our administrative office and you will be authorized to the page. On your Facebook page, the group page will be listed on the left hand side of your page. You can click it at any time and enter the private page. If you do not have a Facebook account, it is easy to open one. The link below will take you to the sign in page and you can click on the link to open an account. Facebook accounts are free.

Click here to access the Crisis Intervention Private Facebook page

Click here to access the Stress Management Private Facebook page

Click here to access the Stress Management Public Facebook page

AIHCP BLOG: Please visit our interactive web blog. Students and certified members are encouraged to visit our blog frequently. You will find useful articles, news, posts and much more related to the specialty area of Certification you are pursuing. Click the link above to access the blog. Then, click on the link on the right hand side that corresponds to the subject area you are studying. Feel free to posts replies, comments and news. Register to become active on the blog and contribute your own unique information for all to see and share. Sharing and interacting with your peers is an excellent learning process. By sharing you contribute to the ever growing body of knowledge in your specialty area.

STUDENT RESOURCE CENTER: Please access our student resource center. The Resource Center contains all of our current policies, as well as important information regarding classroom and examination accesses. Also included are trouble-shooting tips when a student has any difficulties with classroom or examination accesses. The Resource Center also provides other information regarding our continuing education and certification programs. Access to online libraries is also provided. To Access the Student Resource Center: click here.

Discussion Boards:  Please access the Discussion Boards by clicking on the Tab on the left side of your computer screen. The Discussion Boards are provided for our students as means to communicate with others taking courses in our Crisis Intervention and Stress Management Courses and Programs.  You have full access to the Discussion Boards throughout the time you are enrolled in a course. They are a great means to meet others who are studying Crisis Intervention and Stress Management, exchange ideas, post questions and ideas, provide responses to other’s questions, provide links to outside resources and more.  Once you access the Discussion Boards, simply follow the instructions to create your own account and start reading and posting.

E-Learning Library: Please access our E-Learning Library by clicking on the Tab on the left side of your computer screen. The E-Learning Library is a free service for all of our students. It is an ever-growing library of FREE E-Books that you may access at any time. The books are produced by us professionally on a wide array of health care related topics. You may read and or download them for later references. We frequently add new E-Books to the library on an on-going basis. The E-Books are not related to this course and so are not required readings for this course.

Malpractice Insurance: Many are interested in seeking out companies that provide health care professional malpractice insurance. We have compiled a list of companies that you may contact directly regarding this. Most companies will provide you with a quote online. For information, click here.

Submit a Testimonial: Students and certified members may submit a testimonial to our public Testimonials Page. Visitors to our website, especially those considering our certification programs, are keenly interested in hearing about the experiences of health care professionals who are enrolled in our programs. To submit a Testimonial, simply access the online Form: Access Here. You may also preview our current Testimonials Page Here.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Discuss the pioneers in stress management as well as their contributions to its understanding and the development of therapeutic interventions.

2. Discuss the anatomy/physiology involved in the stress reaction and explain how to educate clients regarding this so that they have awareness of what is happening to them when under stress.

3. Discuss the endocrine system, hormones and their effects related to stress reactions and explain how to educate clients regarding this so that they have an awareness of what is happening to them physiologically when under stress.

4. Describe the functions of the autonomic nervous system and its role/functions related to the stress response, as well as the physical and psychological manifestations that occur and establish a teaching strategy to educate clients on these manifestations they may experience under stress.

5. Identify how stress affects all of the major organs and body systems and be able to incorporate the knowledge into the assessment of clients in clinical practice.

6. Explain how stress affects the immunological system and be able to incorporate this knowledge in clinical practice.

7. Discuss major disease states associated with chronic stress and be able to incorporate this knowledge in client assessment and treatment in clinical practice.

8. Discuss a model of stress based on life-situations and utilize the model when assessing clients in clinical practice.

9. Discuss Eustress and its concomitant model and educate clients on this concept.

10. Identify and discuss core issues related to nutrition and stress and incorporate this knowledge in patient teaching in clinical practice.

11. Discuss the use of the Life Events Model for stress identification and use this model when assessing clients in clinical practice.

12. Discuss concepts related to interpersonal relationships and stress and be able to work with this model is assisting clients to identify stressors related to their own relationships.

13. Identify effective strategies for conflict resolution in interpersonal relationships and work with clients to learn and use these strategies in their own lives.

14. Identify social support networking strategies for stress reduction and assist clients to seek out and utilize such networks.

15. Describe how personal perceptions affect the experiences of stress and lead clients in an exploration of their own personal perceptions of the stresses they are confronting.

16. Identify how the use of humor may be effective in stress management and teach clients how to use humor as an effective stress management intervention.

17. Discuss major interventions used in anxiety management, how and why they work and teach them to clients in clinical practice while evaluating the client’s responses to these interventions.

18. Discuss how spirituality and religion play roles in stress and stress management and work with clients to assess these dimensions of their lives and what roles they play or can play in their own stress management plans.

19. Identify major meditation techniques and their physiological, psychological and spiritual effects on stress, and assess whether the client maybe a candidate for referral to a meditation practice learning instructor or group.

20. Discuss the steps to effective meditation practice and discuss with clients their interest in seeking learning in meditation practices and make referrals for instruction as appropriate.

21. Discuss the concepts of autogenic training and imagery and how they can be used in a stress management program, how to safely use them in clinical practice with clients and how to evaluate their effectiveness in use with clients.

22. Discuss progressive relaxation and how to teach clients to use it and how to evaluate the client’s response to it and the effectiveness of this intervention.

23. Discuss the use of biofeedback in stress management and prepare to refer those clients interested in pursuing this modality to a trained specialist.

24. Identify the major physiological arousal interventions used in a stress management intervention program, become proficient in their use and implement them in clinical practice, evaluating their effectiveness and outcomes with clients.

25. Identify and discuss core strategies that clients can be taught to decrease stressful behaviors, and prepare and implement a teaching plan for clients around these core strategies.

26. Utilize assessment tools for stressful behavior identification and utilize the data to develop personalized stress management plans for clients in clinical practice.

27. Identify the major issues related to diversity and stress and be able to utilize this knowledge in clinical practice when working with clients.

28. Discuss health status research and outcomes related to minority groups and be able to utilize this knowledge in clinical practice when working with minority groups.

29. Discuss occupational stress and the use of assessment tools in practice and be able to utilize these tools in clinical practice when working with clients presenting with occupational stressors.

30. Discuss issues of sexual harassment on the job and the associated stresses and work with clients to develop a plan to deal more effectively with these issues and confront them.

31. Indentify common stressors related to attending college and assist clients with these types of stressors to develop and implement personalized stress management plans to deal more effectively with the stresses.

32. Identify and discuss common stressors related to family dynamics and interventions to deal with such stressors and assist such clients in developing family stress management plans to confront and deal more effectively in working with stress and family dynamics.

33. Discuss a model of “family stress” and utilize this model in practice when working and assessing a family presenting with family dynamic/stressor issues.

34. Identify and discuss the most common issues for the elderly which create stress and use this knowledge when assessing and working with elderly clients.

35. Discuss issues of stress related to death, dying and the grief reaction and work with clients in clinical practice to develop a stress management plan to deal more effectively with these identified stresses or to refer to a qualified grief counselor.

COURSE CONTENT:

A brief abstract of content:

1. The pioneers in stress management theory and practice
2. Stress physiology and its implications for client assessments
3. Stress Psychophysiology and its implications for mental health assessments
4. Stress and Illness/disease and client presentations in clinical practice
5. Life situations and perceptions and their effects on clients stress levels
6. Interpersonal relationships and stress and how to assess clients levels of impact related to these issues
7. Spirituality, religion and stress and how they impact clients and how to assess these impacts in clinical practice
8. Meditation techniques to teach patients in the clinical practice setting
9. Autogenic training and imagery techniques to teach clients and use as therapeutic modalities in clinical practice
10. Biofeedback interventions that clients may be referred to as an advanced stress management modality
11. Relaxation techniques to teach and implement with clients in clinical practice
12. Physiological arousal mechanisms and how to work with them with clients in the clinical setting
13. Exercise and stress management including the development for developing effective stress management plans for clients for long-term implementation
14. Strategies for decreasing stressful behaviors that are useful in developing personal stress management plans for clients
15. Diversity and stress and how to incorporate these principles in client assessment and treatment planning
16. Occupational stress, how to assess for these types of stressors and how to assist clients to better manage stress in the work place
17. Stress and the college student, and how to help students better identify their current stressors and assist them in developing personal plans to better manage them
18. Family stress and dynamics, how to assess stress dynamics and how to work with families to better manage identified stressors within the family system
19. Stress and the elderly, assessing common stressors in the elderly population and implementing effective strategies to assist them in coping more effectively
20. Death, dying and grief and assisting clients to identify their grief reactions and learn to strengthen normal coping mechanisms during the grief phase
21. Assessment tools for stress identification which can be used in work and assessment with clients in stress management practices
23. Behavior change techniques, evidence-based, for mental health care professionals to incorporate in counseling sessions to enhance client outcomes
24. Community involvement and resources
25. Issues of coping in today’s world