Stress Management Program

Stress has become a national epidemic. It is estimated that 75 - 90 percent of all primary care office visits are stress related. Although stress is an important biological defense mechanism, prolonged and traumatic stress can create physical, psychological, and behavioral disorders. If left undiagnosed and untreated, these disorders can become more severe and even life threatening. Diagnosis and treatment is often a long and tortuous process for people suffering from stress and some never find relief. The professional medical and mental health staff at Green Valley Spa can help you find the relief you are looking for and provide you with the skills for life-long stress management-you can rediscover the joy and purpose that stress has taken from you.

What is Stress

Stress is a powerful biological defense mechanism. Frightening, sudden, or painful events can disturb the bodies equilibrium, causing an instantaneously flush of stress hormones to race through the body producing a fight or flight response designed to deal with short-term events.

Imagine driving down the road and a car suddenly pulls out in front of you. The hypothalamus in the brain immediately releases CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone). This stress hormone activates the pituitary gland to secrete ACTH (adrenocorticotropin), causing the adrenal glands to release additional hormones: epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrealine). These two hormones raise blood pressure, redirect blood from the intestinal tract to the muscles to speed up reaction time. Cortisol (glucocorticold) is also released to create glucose (sugar) from the body’s fuel stores for an extra boost of energy and act as an anti-inflammatory agent to prepare the body for possible injury. This cycle of events is known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

The HPA axis gives your body added strength, increased awareness, and rapid reflexes that help you narrowly avoid the car that pulled out in front of you. When the moment is over, you can still feel the temporary effects of the stress hormones-high blood pressure, increased pulse, a pit in your stomach, and shaking hands and nerves.

The short term benefits of stress can improve concentration, focus, and reaction. Actors, athletes, and even students preform better under these short-term biological conditions. After a few minutes the body clears the stress hormones and returns to a state of equilibrium - but what if it doesn’t?

Stress Out of Control

The body evolved this stress mechanism for short term events. When exposed to long term, severe and traumatic events, these powerful stress hormones cause “harmful physical and mental illnesses.

Persistent stress over long periods of time can destroy the body’s ability to return to a state of equilibrium. People suffering with anxiety live between the stress event and the calm-a state a perpetual fear-where the body’s stress hormones flood their systems 24 hours a day!

Stress seems virtually impossible to avoid and the complexity of our modern lifestyle has increasingly produced new and unique sources of stress that seek to destroy our happiness and put our health in jeopardy. The cost of stress related illnesses has also put a staggering toll on businesses and individuals with time lost from work and decreased productivity. It is estimated that $300 billion dollars a year is spent on stress related symptoms.

  • Death of a loved one
  • Serious accident of injury
  • Toxic work environment and job termination
  • Legal problems
  • Loneliness or betrayal by a loved one
  • Financial problems
  • Victim of violence or abuse
  • Traumatic events, natural disasters
  • Divorce
  • Change of job or residence
  • New parents, or problems with children
  • Domestic disputes
  • Fertility issues
  • Retirement
  • Perceived failures, criticisms, or humiliation

Stress Related Illnesses

The symptoms of stress-related illnesses can be divided into three categories: psychological, physical, and behavioral. Anxiety, depression, loss of motivation, high blood pressure, insomnia, stomach ailments, obesity, decreased sex drive, substance abuse, irritability, and social withdrawal are a partial list of symptoms.

Psychological Symptoms:

  • Impaired concentration
  • Forgetfulness
  • Fears and anxieties
  • Depression and other mood disturbances
  • Irritability
  • Worrying
  • feelings of impending doom
  • Low self-esteem
  • Being easily distracted
  • Anger, guilt suspicion.
  • Low threshold of frustration.
  • Loss of motivation; fear of failure

Physical Symptoms:

  • Headaches
  • Increased blood pressure, heart rate
  • Sweating
  • Tightness of the chest
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Hyperventilation
  • Tremors
  • Nervous tics
  • Dryness of the mouth and throat
  • Feelings of lethargy and fatigue
  • Insomnia
  • Diarrhea and stomach pains
  • Decreased libido
  • Obesity or weight loss
  • Bruxism (teeth grinding)
  • Backaches or neck pain
  • Susceptibility to illness (low immune system)
  • Palpitations (heart pounding or skipped beats)
  • Muscle tightness or tension
  • Skin disorders
  • Heartburn and acid stomach
  • Osteoporosis and bone fractions.

Behavioral Symptoms:

  • Increased use, or resumption of, alcohol, drugs, or tobacco
  • Excessive caffeine intake
  • Impulsivity
  • Aggressive behavioral
  • Overeating
  • Relationship conflicts
  • Decreased activity
  • Avoidance of people or places; social isolation.
  • Reappearance of aggravation of phobias
  • Withdrawal from responsibility

Diagnosis and Treatment

If left undiagnosed and untreated, stress can become increasingly severe and life threatening. A recent article in USA Today discusses concerns with the increase in symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression and PTSD among U.S. Soldiers.

“Veteran groups argue that the failure of early detection and treatment allows mental illness to fester into problems so severe that a soldier must be discharged from the service.”

“The military is excellent at treating visible wounds,” says Joe Davis, a spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars. “The military and entire medical community at large still have a long way to go to effectively and reliably screen and treat wounds to the head and mind.” (USA Today July 23, 2010, Gregg Zorova)

Diagnosis and treatment can be a long and torturous experience for people suffering from stress-often taking years. Most medical and mental healthcare providers are not equipped with the specialized personnel and skills required to identify and treat stress related symptoms.

Details and Rates

The good news is that stress can be treated and your body and mind can return to normal. Early detection and treatment are critical to preempt more severe forms of stress such as: anxiety disorders and PTSD. At Green Valley Spa, our medical and mental health experts will determine the severity of your stress levels and set you on an immediate treatment program replete with mental health consultations, stress reduction treatments, classes, and workshops all in a peaceful and luxurious setting. You will return home with the tools to defeat stress and win your life back.

7 day minimum
$595/week (regularly $995/week)
The Anxiety Management Program must be added to the Luxury Adventure Package which includes all hikes, fitness classes, meals, 1 daily 50 minute spa treatment, lectures and workshops, luxury accommodations, and use of resort facilities.

Program Includes: First Week

Private Sessions

  • Medical Intake Assessment
  • Blood Tests:
    • TSH, Thyroid
    • CMP, Comprehensive Panel
    • Cortisol
    • CBC, Blood Count
    • Optional testing for additional fee (ESTRAD, PROG, Testosterone)
  • Medical Consultation
  • Mental Health Consultation
  • Scent Therapy
  • Sound Therapy
  • Mind Map
  • HeartMath™

Group Sessions

  • 3 Tai Chi classes
  • 3 Yoga classes
  • 3 Meditation classes
  • 1 Life Coaching workshop
  • 1 Journaling workshop
  • 1 Health and Hormone Lecture
  • 1 Stress Awareness Lecture
  • 7 Aquacize classes
  • 1 Shamanic card reading workshop
  • 1 Intro to stress reducing spa treatments workshop

Subsequent Weeks

Extra medical and mental health consultations, spa treatments, or sessions specifically designed for stress management can include the following:

  • Personal Meditation instruction
  • Personal Tai Chi instruction
  • Specialized spa treatments promoting relaxation and inner peace.
  • Life Coaching
  • Personal Yoga instruction
  • One on one Healthy cooking instruction
  • Personal fitness instruction
  • Acupuncture/chiropractic care