Unit Two

RELAXATION TRAINING

Sections in this unit:

THE ROLE OF RELAXATION IN ANXIETY REDUCTION

REVIEW QUIZ

How well did you read and understand Unit One? The following is a quiz. The purpose is to provide a learning check and to give you practice at taking tests.

1. List and briefly describe the two main elements of anxiety.

2. When we are nervous while taking a test we go "blank" because we have studied too much and our brains can't handle any more information.

Please Answer True or False:

3. The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system serves to calm us down.

Please Answer True or False:

4. The following are body functions. Write a "P" next to those that are parasympathetic stimulated, and a "S" next to those that are sympathetic stimulated.

Dialation of pupils.

Increased digestion.

Increased heart rate.

Rapid breathing.

Reduced perspiration.

Release of glucose by the liver.

5. The messages that we hear ourselves saying are called,

6. How does faulty or negative thinking prevent us from doing our best in school?

Name:

E-mail:

Answers: 1. Physical & Psychological. 2. False. 3. False. 4. S,P,S,S,P,S. 5. Self-Talk

6. (Answers will vary)

THE ROLE OF RELAXATION IN ANXIETY REDUCTION

One of the ways that anxiety is controlled is to prevent your body from getting physically tense. If you are relaxed, it is physiologically impossible to be anxious. Our mind constantly interprets our physical state, and when we are really tense in certain situations, we tell ourselves we are anxious. Effective relaxation can help us prevent this interpretation from happening.

There are many ways to relax, all of which are effective provided that we use them. You can choose to use your own methods to relax (such as taking a walk, or listening to music) and they will help prevent you from getting nervous. As part of the process of this workbook you will learn two specialized ways of relaxing that may help you in school. The relaxation practice tape that goes along with this workbook will teach you two methods:

Relaxation Methods Taught on the General Relaxation Tape

or Tracks 1 & 2 on the CD
Deep Muscle Relaxation. It takes about 20 minutes to complete and shows you how to tense and relax all the muscle groups of your body. This is a good method for persons who have not practiced a lot of muscle relaxation previously because in a relatively short period of time you can learn to be very relaxed. (track 2)

Deep Breathing Relaxation. This one only takes 2-3 minutes and teaches you to focus on breathing with your diaphragm. It takes a little more practice to learn to get deep relaxation this way, but once learned it is a very fast and effective method. (track 1)

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION

The relaxation method that is used to control anxiety is called Systematic Desensitization by Reciprocal Inhibition. This is a fancy way of saying a step-by-step breaking down of fears by relaxation preventing the anxiety from happening. With systematic desensitization you will be taught how to completely relax your muscles. Then while you are in this relaxed state you will imagine the situations that make you nervous. You start with very low level nervous situations (like being at home studying) and work up to situations that normally make test anxious students very nervous (like reading the first test question and going blank). These steps of nervousness are called a hierarchy. The goal is to be able to clearly imagine this anxiety producing situation and keep your body totally relaxed. When you can do this you decrease the automatic tendency of your body to get nervous in the real situation. Therefore, when you go to take your test you will not be as physically tense as normal and your mind will interpret that as your being less anxious.

This program uses six steps on audio recordings to provide the systematic desensitization, one will be assigned for each of the units. You are to go through each step one or more times until you can imagine the scenes presented without having your body tense up. The following are the six steps in the hierarchy used:

Steps in the desensitization hierarchy as found on the relaxation recordings. 1. Imagine that you are at home studying.

2. Imagine that your instructor announces a test in two weeks

3. Imagine that you are trying to go to sleep the night before a test.

4. Imagine that you are receiving back a graded tests.

5. Imagine that you are entering class the day of a test.

6. Imagine that you are reading the first question of a test and skipping it because you cannot answer it.

After completing each of the recordings you will be asked to complete a log sheet with your comments and feelings about the experience, and this will be shared with your instructor. The relaxation process used on the recordings is the same one used on the deep muscle relaxation recording that went along with this workbook. Your instructor may provide additional information on the use of the recordings.

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS FOR UNIT TWO:

1. Listen to Test Anxiety Step 1 (track 3) and complete the log sheet.

RETURN TO THE WORKBOOK HOME PAGE

RETURN TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE

Relaxation Methods Taught on the General Relaxation Tape or Tracks 1 & 2 on the CD	Deep Muscle Relaxation. It takes about 20 minutes to complete and shows you how to tense and relax all the muscle groups of your body. This is a good method for persons who have not practiced a lot of muscle relaxation previously because in a relatively short period of time you can learn to be very relaxed. (track 2)
	Deep Breathing Relaxation. This one only takes 2-3 minutes and teaches you to focus on breathing with your diaphragm. It takes a little more practice to learn to get deep relaxation this way, but once learned it is a very fast and effective method. (track 1)

Steps in the desensitization hierarchy as found on the relaxation recordings.	1. Imagine that you are at home studying.
	2. Imagine that your instructor announces a test in two weeks
	3. Imagine that you are trying to go to sleep the night before a test.
	4. Imagine that you are receiving back a graded tests.
	5. Imagine that you are entering class the day of a test.
	6. Imagine that you are reading the first question of a test and skipping it because you cannot answer it.