Stress-vulnerability model

(ZUBIN & SPRING, 1977)

The stress-vulnerability model describes how

stress impacts on mental health. The model
proposes that each of us is endowed with a
genetic predisposition to stress. This intrinsic
vulnerability interacts with psychosocial
stressors and results in a disruption to wellbeing
and mental health.
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Capacity to handle stress

Imagine that your capacity to handle stress is
like a bucket. Your genetics, social background,
and past experience shape:
• How the bucket is formed.
• The capacity of the bucket.
• What weaknesses the bucket has.
The more vulnerable the person = the smaller /
shallower the bucket.
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Stressful events
Stressful life events can be imagined as water
filling your bucket. Your bucket only has so
much capacity before the water will overflow
and you will show signs of stress.

RELOCATION,
REHEARSAL DEMANDS,
SUBSTANCE ABUSE,
Poor per for m ance/extr em e
expectation
PHYSICAL INJURY,
Substance use
POOR PERFORMANCE / HIGH
Physical injur y
EXPECTATION
Relationship difficulties
M oving away fr om hom e
Tr a i n i n g c o m m i t m e n t s
Genetic vulner ability
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Coping strategies
Imagine taps on the side of your bucket. These
represent your coping strategies and they help
lower the level of stress in your bucket.
Good coping = tap working well and stress can
be released.
Poor coping = tap not working and stress builds
up to the point where the bucket overflows and
you become symptomatic.
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Emotion focused coping

strategies
Strategies that you employ to decrease the
negative emotions you experience. These
strategies are useful when you have limited
control to change the source of the problem.
Examples of emotion focused coping strategies
include:
• Relaxation techniques.
• Connecting to your social network.
• Actively engaging in your life outside of the
problem.
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Task / problem focused

coping strategies
Strategies that you employ to change the
source of the problem. These strategies are
useful when you have a level of influence over
the situation.
Examples of task / problem focused coping
strategies include:
• Learning problem solving skills to manage
projects better.
• Formulating a healthy eating plan.
• Acquiring conflict management skills.
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Unhelpful coping
strategies
Imagine that you have attached a hose to one
of your taps and redirected the water back into
your bucket. Recycling the water happens when
you use coping skills that provide short term
relief but cause you more trouble in the long
term such as:
• Avoiding the problem.
• Using alcohol and other drugs.
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Protective factors
Protective factors assist you to turn the taps on
and lower your stress level.
Protective factors make you resilient to stress
and include:
• Taking steps to reduce symptoms.
• Building personal or professional support
networks.
• Learning new and better coping strategies.
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Manage stress and

maintain a buffer zone
Your buffer zone is the space between your
stress level and your overflow point. Manage
rising stress with coping strategies and
protective factors to increase your buffer zone
and prevent an overflow.
Remember, recovery is NOT negotiable

Buffer zone

Str ess level

STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Stressors
Major life events
Deaths and separation
Relocation
Divorce
Missing key life events
Marriages
Births
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Stressors
Work demands
Work commitments
Training demands
Performance / production timetables and
deadlines
Touring
Shift work including long and late hours in
production
Grant deadlines
A colleague's behaviour, especially if they have
a power relationship with you
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Stressors
Performance related
Performance
Production week
Auditions
Post career identity
Contract termination
Extreme expectation
Poor performance
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Stressors
Effort
Matching your effort to the task requirements
is an important component of high levels of
performance.
You will place yourself under stress if you:
• Use excessive intensity and / or duration of
physical and / or mental effort.
• Use insufficient intensity and / or duration of
physical and / or mental effort.
• Are overworked and under resourced –
including overworking the body in physical
performance.
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Stressors
Emotional demands
Relationship difficulties
Family commitments
Financial stress
Responsibilities
Worries
Conflicts
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Stressors
Environment
Living arrangements
Noise
Safety of environment - including physical and
psychological safety
Demanding environments
Hazardous environments
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Stressors
Personal characteristics
Age
Sleep loss / disturbed circadian rhythms
Lack of support
Substance abuse
Poor nutrition
Perfectionism
Anxiety
Overall fitness
Health level
STRESS-VULNERABILITY
MODEL

Stressors
Physical
Neuromuscular injury
Limb injury
Illness - chronic and acute
Feeling good
It’s not normal to feel happy all the time, but it
is possible to take actions to feel satisfied with
yourself and your life much of the time.

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FEELING GOOD

Flourishing
(SELIGMAN, 2011)

Flourishing is a term used to describe a time

in life when things are going well.
The acronym perma can be used to remember
five factors that may bring on a sense of
flourishing.
Positive emotions
Engagement
Relationships
Meaning
Accomplishments
FEELING GOOD

Positive emotions
A balanced life is likely to have a wide range
of emotions.
When flourishing you tend to experience more
positive emotions because you:
• Are doing things that help make you happy
or aligned with your personal values.
• Don’t get bogged down by events that
aren’t going your way.
FEELING GOOD

Creating positive states I

There are several ways you can create a
positive emotion.
One of the best is to find and show gratitude
for something.
Think of something someone has done for you
recently and take the time to write them a thank
you note.

Creating positive states II

Giving is a good way of feeling good about
yourself.
Do something for someone else even if they
haven’t asked for it, particularly if you know they
could use the help. Even if it is as simple as
getting them a coffee when they don’t seem to
have time to stop.
FEELING GOOD

Engagement
Engagement is about finding or creating tasks
that hold your attention.
Some tasks will hold your attention naturally but
for others try:
• Turning them into games by challenging
yourself to see how much / many you can
do in a certain time, and then try to beat it.
• Finding someone to work with you on
the task.
• Combining the task with something
you enjoy.
• Taking the task to a new location.
FEELING GOOD

Relationships
Finding and creating good relationships is
critical to our wellbeing.
Take time each day to have a conversation with
someone and when doing so, make sure you
listen to their story and share your own.
FEELING GOOD

Meaning
Meaning and purpose in what we do helps us
feel connected to the world around us.
Believing that what we are doing is important
and linked to a bigger picture is good for us.
If you are not sure why you are doing a task try
to understand its connection to:
• The company’s mission and purpose.
• Your values.
• The desired outcome.
• The process being undertaken.
• Your own learning and experience.
FEELING GOOD

Accomplishment
Feeling like we are getting somewhere tends
to make us feel good.
We don’t always have to feel like we have
finished something, but it helps to recognise
progress.
Keep a record of all that you have done in a day
to balance the list of tasks on your to do list.
Social Network
Your social network is one of your most
important protective factors.
SOCIAL NETWORK

Cultivate personal
relationships
Build intimate relationships with other people.
Make time to see people outside of work.
Develop relationships face to face through
activities such as book clubs and volunteer
work.
SOCIAL NETWORK

Stay in touch
Be mindful of withdrawing socially. Find ways
to remain connected to your social network
especially when you cannot be physically
presents such as:
• Letters.
• Phone calls.
• Email.
• Social media.
• Video conferencing.
SOCIAL NETWORK

Build a professional
network and support
network
Engage with mentors, networking events,
upskilling, and secondments.
Invest in a network of support in which you can
call on others in times of need and reciprocate
when others need support.
Self-compassion for
wellness
Self-compassion is a skill you can strengthen
through practice and one of the strongest
predictors of mental health and wellness.
Self-compassion helps you learn how to best
care for yourself through both the good and
the bad.
SELF-COMPASSION FOR
WELLNESS

Mindfulness
Common humanity
Kindness
When being self-compassionate you will:
• Mindfully accept.
• Understand the common humanity that
your feelings and experiences are not
entirely unique.
• Commit to kindness, to yourself in the
moment, and to reducing future moments
of suffering.
SELF-COMPASSION FOR
WELLNESS

The imposters
Imposters get in the way of self-compassion
and can include:
• Self-indulgence.
• Self-punishment.
• Self-pity.
• Passivity.
• Egotism.
SELF-COMPASSION FOR
WELLNESS

Self-acceptance and
soothing self-talk
Accept what you experience in your body
and mind. This practice is about being aware,
not about whether a feeling or thought is right
or wrong.
Your inner critic is usually loudest in times
of stress.
Practice:
• Employing compassionate and soothing
self-talk.
• Daily positive affirmations.
• Contemplating joy from inside yourself
rather than seeking happiness externally.
SELF-COMPASSION FOR
WELLNESS

Body scan
Engaging in a body scan trains awareness
and curiosity to the sensations in your body.
It alternates between a wide and narrow focus
of attention on different parts of your body and
your body as a whole.
The body scan is a powerful technique to:
• Contact your body.
• Cultivate moment to moment awareness.
• Reduce stress.
SELF-COMPASSION FOR
WELLNESS

Active recovery
Optimal physical and mental recovery includes
both passive and active recovery.
During passive recovery you completely rest.
Active recovery involves low to moderate
intensity activity that gets the blood flowing to
reduce residual fatigue in the muscles.
Active recovery can include:
• Walking or hiking tailored to your current
fitness level.
• Swimming to engage the muscular and
cardiovascular system without adding
pressure on joints.
• Yoga or tai chi to build mobility through
a safe range of motion.
• Cycling for aerobic capacity.
• Light weight lifting that is restorative.
• Self-myofascial release using a foam roller
or spikey ball to massage your muscles.
Grounding techniques for
staying present and calm
Grounding techniques are a set of tools used to
assist you to stay in the present moment during
episodes of intense anxiety or overwhelming
emotions.
Grounding techniques help bring you back
into the here and now in a safe way.
The more present you are, the calmer and safer
you will feel.
GROUNDING TECHNIQUES FOR
STAYING PRESENT AND CALM

Grounding
Grounding involves:
• Bringing your awareness to some aspect of
the physical world or the psychological world
within you.
• Focusing on the present rather than the past
or future.
• Paying attention mindfully rather than drifting
into autopilot.
GROUNDING TECHNIQUES FOR
STAYING PRESENT AND CALM

Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a way of paying attention that
entails intentionally being aware of the present
moment with flexibility, openness, and curiosity.
It is accepting things just as they are, without
judgment.
Mindfulness:
• Is an awareness process not a thinking
process.
• Involves an attitude of openness and
curiosity even if the moment is difficult or
painful.
• Involves flexibility of attention in which you
are able to consciously direct, broaden, or
focus your attention.
GROUNDING TECHNIQUES FOR
STAYING PRESENT AND CALM

Mindful attention
Mindful attention that observes thoughts,
feelings, and sensations as constantly in flux,
results in a sense of calmness. You can then:
• Take in the fullness of the given moment.
• Be more responsive to yourself and your
environment.
• Be less reflexive in your actions.
GROUNDING TECHNIQUES FOR
STAYING PRESENT AND CALM

Stay present
People find it very hard to stay present even
though life happens in the here and now.
Contacting the present moment lies at the heart
of all mindfulness.
In a moment of stress, access the present
moment through your five senses.
See 5 things
Hear 4 things
Touch 3 things
Smell 2 things
Taste 1 thing
GROUNDING TECHNIQUES FOR
STAYING PRESENT AND CALM

Breathing and mind-body

practices
Focusing on your breath for one full minute
trains your attention and begins to change your
brain.
Practicing breathing:
• Helps calm your body and mind.
• Allows you to take in more air and reduce
symptoms of stress in order to perform.
• Decreases your flight or fight response and
increases your rest and digest response.
Mind-body practices that focus on the body
as a whole, such as yoga and tai chi, can also
develop mindfulness.
GROUNDING TECHNIQUES FOR
STAYING PRESENT AND CALM

Transitions and warm up /

cool down
Have clear switches to move from one domain
of your life to another.
For example, breathe in and out three times
as you say to yourself:
Exhale "I am leaving …"
Inhale "I am going to …"
The body also requires a period of time to
make the transition into and out of rehearsals
and performances. Warm up and cool down to
reduce physical and mental stress.
GROUNDING TECHNIQUES FOR
STAYING PRESENT AND CALM

Visualisation
Imagery has a stronger impact on emotions
than words and thinking.
Imagery can involve:
• Recalling a peaceful and pleasant scene.
• Imagining yourself coping well.
• Creating the feeling of control in your life.
• Visualising success.
• Mastery of performance.
Goal setting
Research clearly shows that goal setting
facilitates achievement of personal growth and
peak performance.
GOAL SETTING

Reality check

Expectation

Reality
GOAL SETTING

Short and long-term goals

Establish both short and long-term goals.
This has a number of the benefits including:
• Helping you to focus on what is important.
• Providing motivation.
• Generating a real sense of personal
satisfaction upon achievement.
• Giving purpose.
• Developing resilience to persist when the
going gets tough.
• Developing strategies and tactics to achieve
your goal.
GOAL SETTING

Types of goals
There are three types of goals. Outcome goals,
performance goals, and process goals.
Separating goals helps organise your thought
process and allows you to focus on what you
want to accomplish. Use:
• Outcome goals to narrow your focus and
draw motivation.
• Performance goals to keep you on track for
your outcomes.
• Process goals for actually getting better.
GOAL SETTING

Outcome goals
An outcome goal is the big picture and often
beyond your control.
An outcome goal compares one performance to
another and might be about:
• The final show being the best.
• Winning an award.
• Making the most successful performance of
the year.
GOAL SETTING

Performance goals
Performance goals are the building blocks
to help you reach your outcome goals and
improve your performance. You have some
control over performance goals.
For example, to make the most successful
performance of the year you need to:
• Sell 100% of your box office.
• Have wide reaching community engagement.
• Develop a strong theatrical dramaturgy.
• Secure a world-renowned director.
GOAL SETTING

Process goals
Process goals are completely under your
control. They are the actions that need to be
taken to reach the performance target.
For example, in order to make the most
successful performance of the year, by selling
100% of your box office, you need to:
• Make phone calls.
• Place ads.
• Use social media twice per day.
• Get interviews with print media.
• Develop eye catching marketing.
• Generate buzz.
GOAL SETTING

Importance ranking
The three different goal types are not all equally
powerful in their effect on performance.
Process goals are the most important.
Performance goals are second in helping
performance.
Outcome goals are essential, but least
important compared with the other two.
GOAL SETTING

Deriving goals I
Outcome Goals Performance Goals
Process Goals
Your outcome goal should get you excited.
The performance goals should be measurable
(even if you don’t measure them).
The process goals are about the behaviours
you are going to take.
Continued on Deriving goals II
GOAL SETTING

Deriving goals II
Continued from Deriving goals I
If your outcome goal was to create a
performance that increases an audience’s
understanding of connection with place in
migrant populations.
Then your performance goals may be:
• Create five different migrant stories with
characters varying across country of origin,
time of migration, age, gender, and family unit.
• All stories to include emotional, cognitive,
and behavioural aspects.
• Translate stories into live performances with
movement and text.
• Recruit exemplar performers.
Continued on Deriving goals III
GOAL SETTING

Deriving goals III

Continued from Deriving goals II
The process goals you decide on may be:
• Interview 30 migrants.
• Hold auditions to identify new performers
with high potential.
• Spend 1 week drafting the script.
• Arrange an initial 2-day workshop to bring
the performers and the migrants together to
develop content with the draft script.
• Work from 9 – 5, five days a week for 6
weeks.
• Present a work in progress showing each
fortnight and seek feedback on the narrative
and artistic content of each performed story.
GOAL SETTING

Achieving goals I
Process Goals Performance Goals
Outcome Goals
Evaluate your goals in reverse order to the way
you set them.
Decide if you have taken all the process actions
you said you needed to, in order to achieve the
performance targets.
If you did not take the process actions you should
not expect to achieve the performance goals
or the outcome goal. Consequently, you need
to determine if the processes you thought were
needed were correct, or if you have a block to
taking the required action.
If you took all the process actions you identified but
did not hit the performance goals, then you need to
rethink your processes to see what was missing.
Continued on Achieving goals II
GOAL SETTING

Achieving goals II

Continued from Achieving goals I

If you did the processes and hit the
performance goals but did not get the outcome,
then you need to revisit the performance goals
to see if they were set at the right level and if
there was anything you overlooked.
Remember, the outcome is the thing you
wanted, it is the thing that is driving the
process, so there should not often be a case for
changing the outcome.
Continued on Achieving goals III
GOAL SETTING

Achieving goals III

Continued from Achieving goals II
In the example in deriving goals, if you did
not put the hours in (work 9 - 5) or do enough
research (interview 30 migrants) then you should
not expect to be able to create the performance
goal of five different migrant stories.
If you did all the processes but did not end
up with 5 stories with the variation required,
then you might realise that your process goal
regarding interviewing was not specific enough.
You needed to interview 30 migrants and include
10 different countries of origin and have at least
3 people in each decade of life from 10 – 80
years of age.
If you hit all the performance goals but the
audience feedback was that they did not
experienced increase understanding, then
it might mean that your performance goals
focussed too much on creating the performance
and not enough on increasing understanding.
GOAL SETTING

S.M.A.R.T.E.R
Make your goal SMARTER:
Specific - make them as detailed and precise
as possible.
Measurable – have a method by which you can
quantify your current position and determine the
amount of improvement you want.
Accepted - goals need to be shared and
negotiated with all others involved.
Realistic – goals need to be realistic yet
challenging.
Time phased - set a date for when the goal
is to be achieved.
Exciting – ensure the goal motivates.
Recorded – record the goal and any progress
towards it.
Visual Communication
Efficient and effective communication and
improved ability to influence is vital.
A Wharton Research Centre study has
shown that the retention rate of verbal only
presentations is approximately 10%. If you
only give information verbally you often need
to repeat the message. However, when
you combine visual messages with verbal
communication, you increase the retention rate
to nearly 50%.
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VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Go visual
Go visual is the most important non-verbal tool
you can use to be an effective communicator.
To go visual is to display your information
visually as well as verbally to the people with
whom you are communicating.
Go visual by:
• Displaying information on a computer screen.
• Drawing a diagram on a whiteboard.
• Taking notes on paper.
• Using programs such as PowerPoint to
sketch diagrams.
• Moving your hands and fingers as “marker”
points.
VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Go visual for faster

processing, less
ambiguity, and better
retention
Our brains process visual images thousands
of times faster than text.
Visual communication allows for clearer
communication that is less open to
interpretation.
Incorporating visual information into verbal
presentation increases retention many fold.
VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Go visual for more control

of group attention and for
individual autonomy
Having one visible agenda (rather than
individual copies of agendas on paper) allows
you, through gesture and body movement, to
get attention and have more control over the
group to keep the meeting on track.
If someone wants to recap information, or if
they were not paying attention, they can ‘catch-
up’ on the message by seeing it written visually.
VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Go visual to reduce
volatility and emotional
responses
When there is information to convey that may
result in an emotional reaction, having the
information visible provides the person with
a degree of psychological safety.
Keeping your own eyes on the visually
displayed information, and directing the
listener’s eyes to the visual information, helps
make the issue objective rather than personal.
VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Go visual to equalise
power
Displaying information visually equalises the
power relationship between the parties and
objectifies the information, so both parties
are responding to the information and not
each other.
Breathing and
communication
Breathing is fundamental to communication.
Breathing allows you to communicate through
speech, to enhance your communication skills,
and to influence others enormously.
There are breathing skills that you can learn,
practice, and deliberately use to improve your
communication.

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BREATHING AND
COMMUNICATION

Breathe to reduce anxiety

When communicating issues that may cause
a strong emotional response, becoming more
conscious and deliberate about your breathing,
reduces anxiety in both yourself and the
listener.
Slowing and deepening your breathing
helps you:
• To manage your own feelings.
• To manage your own anxiety.
• To have a positive influence on those who
listen to you.
BREATHING AND
COMMUNICATION

Breathe to think clearly

It is normal as you go to deliver your message
for your level of activation to increase – heart
rate increases, muscle groups turn on, your
chest tightens, and your breathing becomes
more shallow.
The consequence is that it becomes more
difficult to think clearly as less oxygen is
reaching your brain.
Take some deep breaths. Clear thinking will
significantly assist your communication.
BREATHING AND
COMMUNICATION

Breathe to begin
Consciously take a few deep breaths before
you begin and continue to breathe low in your
diaphragm.
Deep breathing will help manage the potentially
debilitating side effects to communication of
increased activation or anxiety.
BREATHING AND
COMMUNICATION

Breathing and voice tone

You naturally have a lower tone and smoother
(rather than jerkier, ums and errs) delivery when
you are breathing low and regularly.
A lower tone and smoother delivery has a
‘calming’ influence on listeners.

others
People unconsciously mirror the non-verbal
aspects of others. This extends to breathing.
If you breathe low your listeners will more
naturally breath low in response.
It is common for people to be conflict adverse
and to believe conflict will result in poor
outcomes. Having a conflict resolution process
in place helps.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Conflict resolution outcomes are best:

• Resolved quickly rather than being allowed
to escalate through inaction.
• Fair to all relevant parties with all sides of the
story taken into account.
• Handled to minimise impact
on others.
• Transparent so as to be clear to everyone.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Step 1 - Get clarity on

Agree on what the disagreement is.

Obtain as much information as possible
on each side’s point of view and be certain
everyone understands the issues.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Step 2 - Establish a
common goal
Discuss what each side would like to achieve
as the desired outcome to the conflict.
Find commonality as a starting point for a
shared outcome.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Step 3 - Work towards

a common goal
All sides work together to discuss ways that
they can meet the common goal.
Explore win-win solutions. Resolving conflict
means finding a solution that does something
for both sides, so be ready to communicate
openly about the options.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Step 4 - Determine
the barriers to the
common goal
The two sides acknowledge what has brought
them into the conflict and talk about what
problems may prevent a resolution.
It is important to use this opportunity to get to
the root cause to ensure this conflict will not
come up again.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Step 5 - Acknowledge
the agreed upon solution
Once both sides have acknowledged a win-win
situation they need to own their responsibility
in the resolution of the conflict and express
aloud what they have agreed to. Use phrases
such as:
• I agree to…
• I acknowledge that I have responsibility for…
Crisis Coping
Crisis occurs as part of the unpredictability
of life. A crisis is created by an event which
temporarily overwhelms a person’s coping
resources
It is a person’s reaction to an event, rather than
the event itself, that defines the experience as
a crisis.
Be prepared for crisis - Keep up to date with
mental health first aid and first aid.
CRISIS COPING

Crisis level

Extreme
Seek immediate help call
000 or Lifeline 13 11 14.

Low
Use your coping strategies
and identify support.

Crisis over
Remain prepared and
keep revising and using
your coping strategies and
protective factors.
CRISIS COPING

What to look out for

During a crisis people tend to react in a number
of ways. Recognise if you or someone close to
you is experiencing changes in their:
• Emotional responses.
• Cognitive responses.
• Physical responses.
• Behavioural responses.
CRISIS COPING

Recognise barriers to
seeking help
There are many reasons why people do not
seek the help they need. These may include:
• Stigma and embarrassment.
• Preference for self reliance.
• Problems recognising symptoms.
• Not knowing the pathways for help.
• Concerns about confidentiality.
• Negative attitudes to help-seeking.
CRISIS COPING

Develop a referral
network
Know where to refer and have contacts
you trust:
• GP referral system.
• Have a list of professionals – mental and
physical support.
• Support services such as Lifeline, Beyond
Blue, Mensline, or Headspace.
• Local hospitals.
• Dedicated first aid officers.
• Know the people who can support you when
you are struggling.
CRISIS COPING

Talk and write

Talking to someone about the crisis can help
you develop a new perspective on the event.
A journal of your thoughts and feelings can
help you see the crisis more clearly and track
changes in your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs
over time.
CRISIS COPING

Normal and everyday

Remind yourself that your responses are likely
to be normal in the context of a crisis.
Re-establishing your everyday routines and
habits can have a very comforting effect after
a crisis.
Creating goals for yourself that generate a
structure for returning to normal can give you
a sense of direction and hope for the future.
CRISIS COPING

Delay decisions
During a crisis your ability to think logically can
be severely compromised. Delay making major
decisions until the crisis is over.
Alcohol and drugs will further compromise your
ability to make good choices, and since many
drugs act on the central nervous system, they
can also adversely affect your mood.
CRISIS COPING

Control what you can

Identify those aspects of the crisis you have
control of. Remember, you cannot control the
event that created the crisis, but you do have
control over your response to the crisis.
Set healthy boundaries in your relationships.
You have the right to establish boundaries that
feel safe and comfortable. This will give you a
much better sense of control during and after
the crisis.
Compartmentalise the crisis so that it does not
affect all areas of your life.
CRISIS COPING

Take time
Give yourself time to process what you have
experienced through the crisis and take on a
lighter workload.
Remember, your responses to the crisis are
time limited, especially if you utilise coping
strategies and build protective factors.
CRISIS COPING

Use Humour
Humour can be an antidote to stress and help
you better manage a crisis. Actively seek out:
• Humorous books, T.V. shows, and movies.
• Life situations that will bring humor into
your day.
• Creative ways to get your daily fix
of laughter.
Self-care
Self-care refers to time spent ensuring that your
basic needs are met. If your basic needs are
not being met you will find it much more difficult
to deal with stress.
SELF-CARE

Sleep
During sleep our minds and bodies grow
and repair.
One night of little sleep is unlikely to diminish
performance the following day. However,
accumulated fatigue from sleep disorders, sleep
deprivation, and excessive daytime sleepiness,
will start to have serious effects on your health.
Be aware of the how your sleep patterns are
affected by:
• Lack of exercise.
• Watching / working in front of a screen into
the night.
• Stimulants such as caffeine.
• Depressants such as alcohol.
SELF-CARE

Exercise program
Regular physical activity has important benefits
for both physical and mental health. There are
many recommendations for activity levels
that include:
• Intensity of 80% to build up aerobic capacity
and muscle strength.
• Regular exercise most days of the week.
• Reducing sedentary behaviour.
SELF-CARE

Nutrition and diet

Food is any substance consumed to provide
nutritional support for the body. What you eat
will have an effect on your metabolism, health,
performance, and resistance to disease.
Food is your fuel and will determine your:
• Energy levels.
• Strength.
• Stamina.
• Rate of recovery.
• Risk of injury.
• Mental processing and alertness.
If you want to follow a diet, the best advice for
most people is a balanced diet according to the
NHMRC.
If you have reason to need (allergy or
intolerance) or want (losing or gaining weight)
something different, then take the time to get
professional advice from an accredited dietician.
SELF-CARE

Self-care pyramid
Practice self-care activities including investing
in building coping strategies and protective
factors.
Develop your own self-care pyramid.
Monthly - take time off, speak to a counselor /
personal coach.
Weekly - cut down alcohol / other substances,
use relaxation techniques.
Daily - Sleep well, self-soothe with music,
use coping skills, practice gratitude.

M onthly

We e k l y

Daily
Acknowledgements
This deck of cards has been compiled by
Dr Shona Erskine [Link]
With the assistance of
Adrian Schonfeld [Link]
Tim Dalmau [Link]

CircuitWest

Design by Emily Shingleton [Link]