I am a grad student in a counseling program.  I am currently interning at a mental health clinic.  I work with clients who have a variety of presenting problems.  I would say that the majority of my clients are simply overworked and looking for stress relief.  I need to find several different methods for treating stress. 

The sad thing is, many of my clients actually become stressed when we start talking about stress relief techniques.  Most will not even give it a chance because they say that they do not have the time to practice meditation or guided imagery.  I need to find a simple and effective breathing exercise for my clients to use.

Most of the relaxation techniques that I know about take time, time to practice and time to work.  Most of my clients just aren’t willing to put in the work.  I really don’t blame them.  It must feel very frustrating to be talking about how stressed, busy, and overwhelmed you feel only to have your therapist tell you that you need to make time every day to practice relaxation techniques!  Instead of arguing with my clients about the need to practice relaxation, I am really trying to find something simple and quick that will at least help in the short-term.  Maybe once they see some positive effects of something simple, some of my clients will be more willing to try some of the more involved techniques.

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