Stress Awareness: It’s okay to feel stressed by David Temple, Clinical Intern

During my time at Family Service of Glencoe as a Clinical Social Work Intern, I learned so much about stress awareness in myself and in my clients. After the last three years, it feels like the word “stress” is everywhere and on everyone’s minds; and some might argue the entire world needs a week off to de-stress. Social media plasters stress awareness memes and videos with encouraging words of “breathe” or “do yoga,” which can instead become a reminder that you’re stressed and don’t have time to de-stress. We are very aware of stress; however, not everyone is aware that it is okay to feel stressed.  It is important to feel all the emotions that come with stress: anger, tiredness, sadness, frustration, annoyance, burned out, grumpy, hurt, confused, panic, and more. When we tell ourselves we shouldn’t be stressed or just need to make it through one more meeting, one more kid’s birthday party, one more thing before I can relax; we are pushing aside our feelings and increasing the reaction that we may experience. I tell the kids I work with that there is a lightning bolt in them and that bolt is coming out one way or another, but they get to decide if it’s a flash of light or a sharp bolt that hurts. Acknowledging your awareness of stress is giving yourself permission to feel how your mind and body are doing and to decide if you take a moment to de-stress or push it aside and wait until the stress becomes painful.

Completing graduate school and a clinical internship in two semesters was me asking for a giant lightning bolt in many ways; however, during my time at FSG, I was able to learn how to be a clinical therapist from some of the most amazing therapists I have met. The team at FSG modeled for me how to manage my own stress and to pause and give thought to why I was feeling stressed and what I could do to ease that stress. Often it was taking a walk around downtown or to the beach to clear my mind and get into a different environment. Sometimes, I was prompted to do yoga and take a deep breath or do mindful meditation. The greatest lesson I was given during my internship was to pause and sit with my stress and really process what I was feeling and what my mind and body needed at that moment. My own stress awareness resulted in me realizing, multiple times, that I needed to take a lunch break as a form of self-care! I was able to take this lesson on awareness and share it with my clients, guiding them through processing their own stress. I was given a piece of advice recently: ground yourself in empathy for yourself. That’s the message I want to share: to give yourself empathy and recognize your stress is your body and mind telling you that it’s okay to feel this way and that pausing for just a moment, even thirty seconds, will make a difference between a flash of lightning and a sharp bolt of lightning.