A new stress reduction and coping skills group has been formed this semester to help students manage and deal with everyday life and anxiety issues.

Erika Flesher, MFTI of Student Health Services, serves as the group’s therapist as well as a counselor at the Student Health Center.

Flesher completed her Master’s Degree in marriage and family therapy and is working her way toward earning a license under the supervision of a licensed physiologist.  As part of her training as a therapist, Flesher was trained in areas to help students with these issues.

“I was trained in relaxation strategies, stress management strategies, and a number of our courses we took addresses the issues of students’ needs,” said Flesher.

Currently practicing at an outpatient community clinic, Flesher has been working closely with individuals dealing with these specific issues.

“The most typical issue I saw was students suffering from anxiety, stressed out from academics, juggling school and their personal life was giving them stress, so we thought we could better address the needs of the student population by having a group where people can learn anxiety reduction, stress management techniques, and how to relax.

“It’s also good for students who just want to know how to relax more because it feels better or it’s a healthier way to be. We tend to be healthier or less sick if we can manage our stress and be relaxed,” completed Flesher.

An approach used during group sessions is mindfulness, a practice that more and more research is being done on, and it has been found to be a very effective way of handling depression, anxiety and a number of other issues.

Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques are also a part of certain lessons. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a process of keeping track of thoughts to refute negative contemplation that make people depressed or produce anxiety in a testing or social situation.

Although Flesher will be conducting most group sessions, she will also have guests or leaders to better assist in students’ stress.

On October 5th the group was joined by a guest speaker, Jordan Severs, a marriage and family therapist trainee as well as a yoga instructor, was teaching affective yoga breathing techniques that better develop learning how to relax or manage stress.

“I’ve dealt with high levels of stress, after a friend suggested that I try yoga, it helped ground me and bring me to the present moment.

“Therapy for anxiety and depression helps a great deal, this group really helps gives you the tools necessary to cope with stress and deal with some of that anxiety which everybody had,” Severs said.

Breathing exercises, guided imagery and guided meditation help educate those who come from various aspects of stress and anxiety and give suggestions on how to handle it.

Students might share what specific interest they want to learn so groups may be in tailored sessions to the needs of certain people that show up that day.

“I tell people not to share more than what they are comfortable with,” said Flesher, “since it’s a group, there is no guarantee in confidentiality; I suggest only sharing what you feel comfortable with the other people in the group knowing.”

If any students are interested in one-on-one counseling you can make an appointment at the Student Health Service Department front desk.  Referrals are also offered to outside sources that best serve students’ specific needs.

“Since it’s a group atmosphere and set up to teach certain techniques it’s not so much a group therapy, it’s also not a non-individual, that can be done with individual appointments with me or I can refer people out to community services.

“If they’re not sure if they want individual or group I’d be happy to meet with them to figure that out, but if someone wants to try out a meeting and just show up they are welcome to do that,” said Flesher.

Because not all students share the same stress levels or anxiety problems, Flesher explains that the group sessions can help anyone.

“Various other therapists I know have done these kinds of groups for CEO’s, some of them do them for athletes to help them to in performing at a high level, and others people do it a universities to help students and professors to handle their stress, I’m kind of going from that model and see how it can work out here,” expressed Fletcher.

“It can be useful when you come one time because you can get a number of techniques just from coming once, but it tends to be more effective if you come to the group a number of times so you can develop ability sort of like working out.”

Flesher explains that just like working out, using these techniques could be beneficial if used once but will not build up the level of fitness in terms of relaxation.

“The more you practice it the better you get at it,” Flesher said, “I’d encourage people with a higher level of stress to make it a daily part of their life or weekly part of their life rather than trying it out once.”

Students, staff, and faculty members are welcomed to attend to one meeting or as many as they want.  Meetings are held every Tuesday at 11-12 p.m. in the Health Science Building.