Center for Stress Medicine

Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Center for Stress Medicine is a comprehensive community resource for the treatment of stress-related or illness and conditions. The professionals at the Center for Stress Medicine are devoted to alleviating stress to help patients achieve optimal health. The Center offers individualized therapy as well as workshops and specialized programs that promote healing and recovery from stress related medical problems. Licensed and credentialed therapists and behavioral health experts who specialize in stress management and mind-body interactions, provide patient care and treatment.

The professionals at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Center for Stress Medicine provide each patient with an individualized care plan based on the level of stress and the extent of physical reaction to stress. To determine each individual’s response to stress, the Center for Stress Medicine care team will measure stress response using biofeedback or neurofeedback. The results from this non-invasive testing assist the care team in developing personalized care protocols.

The care professionals at the Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Center for Stress Medicine may also partner with other care disciplines throughout the hospital to assure that the emotional needs of patients are met. Patients undergoing surgery may choose to participate in the center’s Managing Presurgical Stress program to help ease the anxiety and fear that often go along with undergoing a surgical procedure.

Behavioral Health Services
Along with the outpatient care services available through the Center for Stress Medicine, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital offers comprehensive behavioral health services for adults, adolescents and children. Services available include inpatient and outpatient treatment, education programs, hospitalization programs and substance abuse programs.

Workshops

Understanding Depression Workshop
Depression is a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Left untreated, depression may increase in severity over time and can lead to severe mental and physical problems. Help is available at the Understanding Depression Workshop offered at the Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Center for Stress Medicine. This 2-night workshop helps attendees to identify depression through signs and symptoms, learn the different types of depression and understand the available treatment options.

Introduction to Stress Management Workshop
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Center for Stress Medicine Stress Management Workshop helps identify the causes and effects of stress and teaches attendees to respond to stress in healthy ways. Workshop attendees learn to reduce the negative effects of stress, gain tools to control stress, make positive changes to improve health and productivity and benefit from the camaraderie of others dealing with similar stress-related issues.

Anxiety and Panic Disorder Workshop
Anxiety disorders are among the most treatable of all psychiatric disorders. More than 23 million Americans suffer from panic attacks, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders and other emotional problems that affect quality of life. The professionals who facilitate the Anxiety and Panic Disorder Workshop create a comfortable, non-threatening setting in which each participant is able to identify the thoughts, emotions and behaviors experienced from anxiety. Stress management techniques, such as breathing techniques and muscle-relaxation exercises are identified.

Anger Management Workshop
Many individuals do not express anger effectively. Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Center for Stress Medicine Anger Management Workshop is designed to help attendees understand how behavior exhibited while experiencing anger can affect daily life, relationships and health.

Stress related medical problems
Research shows that if the body, mind and spirit remain in a chronic state of stress, permanent psychological changes may result, causing physical problems.

Some known physical and mood disturbances that have been associated with excessive stress include:

• Headaches and/or migraines
• Chest pain
• Heart Palpitations
• Sleep disturbances
• Skin rashes
• Appetite problems
• Backache
• Anxiety/Panic attacks
• Depression
• Relationship problems
• Excessive anger

Stress may also intensify the severity of many existing chronic conditions such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, allergies, herpes, hypertension, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, gastrointestinal disorders and many infectious diseases and immunity-related problems.

Biofeedback or neurofeedback
Biofeedback is a non-invasive technique that monitors a body’s response to stress. It can be a useful tool in helping patients to learn to control a variety of stress-induced medical conditions such as headaches, muscle pain, asthma, digestive disorders, high blood pressure and sleep disorders. The Biofeedback/Neurofeedback program at the Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Center for Stress Medicine uses highly sensitive instruments to measure patients’ biological and neurological functions. Patients learn more effective responses and behaviors, thereby bringing relief and improvement to a variety of disorders.

Managing Presurgical Stress Program
The prospect of having surgery often brings mixed feelings along with great fear. The Managing Presurgical Stress Program at the Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Center for Stress Medicine helps surgical patients address feelings of loneliness, helplessness and anxiety. Participants in this program meet one-on-one with a counselor experienced in helping people deal effectively with the kinds of stress that precede or follow a surgical procedure.