Stress refers to a set of responses to danger and loss of control, which man shares with many other animals. These reactions go together with hormonal changes, affect one’s reserves, exhaust one in the longer run and ultimately may lead to breakdown. Though stress can mobilize energy to deal with an emergency and get one through an unbearable episode, most stress responses are not geared to our present organizations. One must then suppress these responses, which demands extra effort and throws one in a state that is often not recognized as stress anymore. Moreover, stress is not only unpleasant and damaging for the individuals involved, but is also very contagious and can be devastating and very costly for teams and organizations.

To do something about stress it is necessary to be able to recognize its symptoms, which is often difficult, also because stress phenomena vary from person to person. ‘Stress is a choice’ not only teaches participants to recognize their stress responses, but also makes them aware of their external stress sources, personal vulnerabilities to stress and habitual ways of coping. They learn techniques to calm down, deal with their personal vulnerabilities and to take away or neutralize their external stress sources, in short to extend their coping repertoire in a highly personalized way. As a result their world becomes more manageable, comprehensible and meaningful, and they develop much more effective, pleasant and creative ways of functioning, and all of this in a more social way. As such ‘Stress is a choice’ is a win-win solution both for individual employees and organizations.