One psychological method of stress management is Stress-inoculation training (SIT). This is a cognitive behavioural method designed specifically to prepare individuals for future stressors and to promote resilience. People are taught a range of coping strategies they might use to help deal with stress. The stress inoculation approach has three phases; conceptualisation, skills training and practice and real-life application. Conceptualisation is where clients are encouraged to relive then analyse their stressful situations by breaking them down into more manageable chunks. This enables the client to reconceptualise the problem and have a more realistic understanding of what aspects of a situation provoke a stress response. For example; a teacher at school, or a boss expecting someone to work overtime without being paid extra. Skills acquisition and rehearsal is where clients learn not to get into a stressful stage by being relaxed to help reduce immediate effects of arousal. Clients develop coping strategies to deal with specific stressors; it includes both cognitive and behavioural components. Real-life application is where the client puts their strategies and techniques to the test and then reports back to their therapist to see whether they were successful or not. Contact with their therapist is maintained and clients discuss what strategies work well and what they have struggled with.
One strength of SIT is that its effectiveness has been supported by research. Meichenbaum found that SIT is more effective than desensitization treatment. Jay and Elliot found that parents who received SIT training reported less anxiety than untrained parents while their children were undergoing medical treatment. So the parents were constantly worrying and anxious of how their child will be coping throughout the treatment. In addition Meichenbaum found SIT is affective with both