Relaxation techniques - Rosemary A Payne

This book is addressed to health care professionals such as nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech therapists and social workers. GPs and psychologists also may find it useful. It can equally be used by lay people since it is written in a non-jargon style. The methods chosen are those which lend themselves to presentation in small group settings.;It begins with a review of some of the theory surrounding stress and relaxation. This is followed by a chapter on general procedure which is applicable to all methods. Chapter three discusses stress, beginning with a further passage of theory and moving on to consider a variety of practical coping skills. The following 18 chapters each deal with a specific technique. Twelve chapters are, broadly speaking, concerned with physical or "muscular" techniques and six deal with "cognitive" or psychological methods.;There follows a chapter concerning "on-the-spot" techniques for dealing with stressful situations, using skills drawn from earlier lessons. Relaxation in the antenatal context is the subject of chapter 23. Assessment is addressed in chapter 24, and the final chapter looks at a few topics not already covered: the relation between the approaches themselves, some ways in which they can be combined and a brief reference to approaches which are not included.