It’s not just the work environment itself which results in stress, the daily commute is often cited as one of the most stressful parts of the working day. Do you wonder if treatment for commuting stress can help you, and what’s available? 

If the commute is another factor in the stress you experience, a therapist can work with you to try and make the journey as stress free as possible. Examining all the elements that add to stressful travel, then developing alternative behaviours and thoughts can make all the difference.

Treatment for Commuting Stress

You can read an earlier article I wrote about Cognitive Behaviour Therapy or find more information about CBT on my website, but essentially, you work with a therapist to change your feelings by changing your thoughts and behaviours. By learning new techniques to help you cope with commuting stress and putting them into practice, this type of therapy is a positive and successful treatment for commuting stress.

Top tips for reducing commuting stress

• One of the most important shifts we can all make is in accepting the delays will happen. Journeys involve many moving parts – both human and mechanical – so the potential for breakdowns, blockages, accidents and human error are almost infinite and are to be expected from time to time.
• Accept inevitable delays and plan for them. For example, know alternative routes, potential stopovers, carry a good book and emergency rations.
• Add time on to every journey in anticipation of delays – if the delay happens, you’ll hopefully still be on time and if it doesn’t you’ll be ahead of schedule, giving you extra time to relax or work.
• Keeping a sense of proportionality can also reduce stress – it might be frustrating being caught in a 2 hour motorway tailback, but you’d no doubt rather be in the queue than in the accident that caused it.
• Make your commuting environment as comfortable and relaxing as possible. For example, whether on a busy train or motorway, you could listen to relaxing music or a good audiobook to make the journey more bearable and feel subjectively shorter.

Read my latest post about coping with stress in the workplace, or you can find more information about stress and its treatment.

If you have any questions about working with a therapist, or anything else in relation to the Achieving Balance therapy practice, please contact me on 020 7096 8854 and I will be happy to discuss these with you.