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Article by Michael Finn
Copyright Michael Finn

Stress is a chameleon – many guises; so ubiquitous, that in terms of actually delineating the phenomenon, many people cannot see the ‘wood for the trees’.

Thus the term comes up every so frequently in clinical work as a generic reference to things too-familiar, things resigned to, things inescapable; often times the incessant pressure of change itself.

Definitions:

“A chronic relentless psychosocial “phenomenon”.

“The single common denominator for stress is – “the necessity of significant change in the life pattern of the individual” (Thomas Holmes – Psychiatrist, University of Washington.)

Like rust, stress never sleeps. It is insidious and it can quietly ravage, erode, damage and silently kill.

Stress is experienced as a reaction to a challenging circumstance, often times a circumstance difficult to navigate. This is the genesis of a potential long standing ‘conflict of interest’.

Some Generic Ubiquitous Stressors

• Iterpersonal interactions
• Sexism
• Racism
• Ageism
• Sizes and Body Image
• Abuse
• Resource Lacks
• Parental Responsibility
• Disconnectedness
• Materialism
• Isolation
• Hunger/Thirst/Disease

If a client becomes really blocked around a chronic stress pattern, I often elicit a dream which is recently memorable to him/her. The content may provide clues as to how to help the client deal with the change which is beckoning and pressing in on them.

The dream offers raw, unedited information as to where the ego is evolving in the moment. This is moreso evident in the case of repeated dream themes.

Some signal lies at the bottom of the experience, seeking expression.

Relating to the client’s full ‘personal history’, often leads to an overview, for the benefit of both practitioner and client, of ‘cyclic’ (similar) events and life passages.

When dealing with a chronic symptom for example, one recognises that today’s stress pattern is rarely new, but a rerun as witnessed by similar repeated experiences people will describe.( We are familiar with such a concept because television programmers are obsessed with repetition!)

Many times, the client can begin to unravel problematic stress reactions by seeing the cyclic returns; the issues which keep appearing. The practitioner gives her client a new vantage point from which to view these cycles to elicit possibly a fresh and proactive response. Stress kills when we feel locked into habitual response patterns over long periods and are not able, alone, to evoke change for the better.

Healing Metaphysics Home > Archive> Stress