From stress to wellbeing and job satisfaction

· In this talk Helen Eriksen identifies the psychological factors behind stress, and why we are often much too slow in recognizing stress. Despite the serious nature of the talk Helen succeeds in delivering a humorous and uplifting message, which motivates the participants to take subsequent action.

· Helen starts with the circumstances and working conditions that the participants actually meet at their workplace. Her point of departure is that we cannot solve the challenges of the new paradigm with the basic assumptions of the old

paradigm. In this context it is often the assumptions that create stress. Stress in itself is an expression of a healthy system, which reacts to increasingly strong warning signals by stating that there is a need for adjustment. Our ability to manage stress depends on how we interpret the warning signals in practice, and how aware we are of what they are actually trying to tell us. Often we just continue to do more of the same, which is when it all goes wrong.