How To Support a Stressed Out Student with Malaty Therapy in Houston

Do you feel like your biggest stressor is school? Are you constantly struggling to keep up with all of the demands of your classes? Do you feel like you are putting in an ample amount of effort to study, but still not getting the grades you strive for? If given the option to “quit” school, would you? If you can internally relate to any of these questions, then you may be a stressed out student! Lurking around every corner of the booming metropolitan city of Houston, Texas seems to be a school. Therefore, our city is filled with students just like yourself or your loved ones. Within this giant and growing pool of students comes a great deal of stress. Stressors within the academic environment can include social pressures, conflicts with teachers, a high-amount of school work that seems to never lessen, and other external stressors. These stressors can weigh heavily on a student’s overall physical, mental, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, and social wellbeing. Malaty Therapy is located right in the heart of Houston and the majority of clients that we serve on a daily basis are students to some capacity. Therefore, we understand the unique stressors that are placed on a stressed out student of any age within our community. Through the therapeutic process, we have been able to help our students develop healthy coping skills in relation to their stressors, set achievable goals in regards to their academia, gain support and resources for external issues they may be having that impact their ability to function in an academic setting, and lessen their overall stress-related symptoms. In this blog, we hope to explore strategies for managing stress and intervention methods for seeking support to lessen the toll that academic stressors may be placing on you or your student’s mental health.

Understanding Student Stress In Houston

Stress is defined as “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.” In relation to the academic setting, we feel like the word that should be emphasized within the definition of stress is “demanding.” A stressed out Student within today’s society are not only met with academic demands within the classroom, such as assignments, tests, homework, and projects, but also social demands within their extracurricular activities and amongst their peer groups. While it would be a simple solution to tell our students to place all of their efforts and energy into their classwork and compromise the rest, in today’s society, we know that this is just not possible. Students should be able to engage in all of the things that once brought them joy (sports, social groups, etc.) alongside meeting their academic demands without having to compromise one or the other. Today’s students are spread very thin and it can take a serious toll on their overall wellbeing. Within the past decade, students have shown an increasing amount of the emergence of stress-related mental health symptoms including social withdraw, fatigue, erratic mood and behavior changes, reliance on unhealthy coping mechanisms, a lower sense of self worth, a higher sense of anxiety related to academic and extracurricular performance, and more. This can leave students with a feeling of “burn out” before they even enter young adulthood. It’s important that we recognize their struggles and encourage them to share these thoughts and feelings with someone because if we don’t, that can send our students into further isolation. Our students deserve to be heard and they deserve to have a support network of individuals that are ready and willing to help them cultivate solutions to their problems.

Signs of a Stressed Out Student

While stress is a common trend amongst the entire population, students react to stress in different ways than adults. While some students seemingly have an easier time adjusting to life’s challenges and adapting to the incoming stressors that the school setting throws their way, a vast majority of students within today’s society are unable to keep moving right alongside their stressors. How can you tell if your student is truly “stressed out”? Students that are struggling to adapt to their stress levels may show erratic shifts in their moods and behaviors. Maybe the littlest thing, such as them not being able to find the shoes they want to wear to school that day, may set them off into a tailspin that hasn’t happened before? Things that once seemed manageable may start to seem like the end of the world to the stressed out student. Stressed out students may also begin to exhibit changes in appetite, sleep hygiene, energy levels, and social behaviors. While sometimes these reactions can quickly seem to correct themselves, more often than not, they can snowball into bigger issues. That being said, it is extremely important that as soon as these symptoms are noticed, that interventions are starting to be put into place. Maybe you ask your student what is bothering them and they choose to say “nothing”? While it can be frustrating, this response is not an indicator that everything will work itself out. While there are many resources available to students that are struggling, support groups and therapeutic interventions are sometimes the most effective ways to not only address your student’s stress-related concerns, but also to set them up for a future of adaptability, resilience, greater sense of self, and overall healthier wellbeing.

The Role of Malaty Therapy in Supporting a Stressed Out Student

Malaty Therapy is a private practice located within the heart of Houston Texas and we strive to identify ourselves as a vital support to your student’s overall wellbeing. Our practice is composed of licensed professionals ranging from all demographics that are ready and able to serve your student. Whether it is through virtual, in-person, individual or family therapy, our clinicians are ready to work with you to come up with a treatment plan that will best fit you and your student’s needs. At Malaty Therapy, we recognize that no two students are the same. Therefore, we tailor our therapeutic practice and treatment modalities to best fit your student. Together, we will work with you and your student to build a safe and secure environment that allows for individual growth, goal setting and the lessening of stress and anxiety related symptoms that your student may be experiencing. While change does not happen overnight, we strive to get your student on the right path to success so that progress is consistently seen over the course of their therapeutic journey.

Coping Strategies for Stressed Out Students

While every stress management technique will not necessarily be successful for each individual, there are several coping strategies related to stress that seem to lessen stress-related symptoms more so than others. First and foremost, it is vital that your student is meeting their basic physical needs. This includes getting enough sleep, eating enough good food that meets their needs, getting enough low-impact exercise or movement during the week, and ensuring that all physical health issues are being addressed (this includes any underlying health-related disorders, deficiencies, etc.) In addition to the basic needs being met, there are several stress-management techniques that students can begin to implement in their daily routines. These can include resetting their central nervous systems by regularly practicing deep breathing, mindfulness exercises, such as meditation, relaxation exercises, such as reading or progressive muscle relaxation, and incorporating self-care into their daily routine. Self-care is unique to each individual, but in general, it can look like including activities that your students can do to take care of themselves, such as practicing good hygiene, praying, meditating, connecting with friends, and more. As students navigate through their adolescent years and begin to approach young adulthood, their tendency to want to lean towards unhealthy coping skills such as alcohol or other substances, increases. Therefore, when they begin to implement healthy coping skills at an earlier age, they can continue to develop these as they get older and lessen their likelihood to turn to unhealthy coping skills. While these can seem like big, daunting tasks, implementing these healthy coping skills and strategies might only take a few minutes at a time. Above all, the best coping skill and strategy that a student can add to their life is engaging in connection with an individual that they trust to share their feelings, emotions, and experiences in relation to the external stressors that they may face. For many, this is done through therapy.

Seeking Support from Malaty Therapy In Houston

If you and your student feel that beginning therapy is the best method of stress-management that they can incorporate at this time, we are honored to help you at Malaty Therapy! While it can seem overwhelming to begin therapy, we strive to make this an easy process for you and your student. If students would like to start therapy at Malaty Therapy, we encourage you to call and tell us a little bit about what you are noticing within your student. Once we have a little bit of insight into where your student is currently at, we can then work to match your student to a therapist that best fits their needs. If your student has demographic preferences (gender, age, etc.) regarding their therapist, please let us know so that we can meet these requirements for you. Once we have matched your student with a therapist, we offer free consultation calls before your first appointment where you can ask the specific therapists about their practice or any questions you may have about the therapeutic process. Our therapists meet you and your student where they are at along their journey. We offer both in-person and virtual appointments and while we recommend weekly appointments when beginning therapy, we are happy to work with you on you and your student’s schedule to create a schedule that best fits. Our therapists work to cultivate a safe, nonjudgmental and confidential relationship in which your student feels comfortable sharing their feelings and stressors. Each of our licensed clinicians specializes in specific treatment modalities over others, so we encourage you and your student to explore different modalities to see what might fit their needs best. If you don’t know, then we can assist with this!

How a Stressed Out Student Can Seek Help

We understand that today’s students experience a great deal of stress that can severely impact their livelihood and overall wellbeing. At Malaty Therapy, we strive to be a great assist and support to helping your student overcome these symptoms of stressors. Together along the therapeutic journey, we can help teach your student how to effectively cope with their stressors to set them up for further success in young adulthood. Beginning the therapeutic journey can feel overwhelming and scary, but we want to make this as smooth and comfortable as possible. Please don’t hesitate to share any concerns that you may have so we can help provide you with solutions and comfort. Today’s students foster a great deal of adaptability, resiliency, and strength, and our goal is to grow these already existing characteristics to a place where external and internal stressors don’t overpower them. We cannot wait to get started with you and your student!

Malaty Therapy: The Best Houston Therapists
Address: 11211 Katy Freeway Suite 300 Houston, TX 77079
Phone: (713) 628-3966
Email: tammer@malatytherapy.com

We invite you to take the first step towards holistic well-being by connecting with us. Together, we can grow, resilience, and positive transformation.