Table 1.

Overview of program sessions in the Less Stress intervention.

Session	Description	Psychoeducational content	Techniques and exercises
1	Introduction	Information about program, program structure, and a test of stress levels.
2	What is stress?	How modern everyday life can affect our stress levels and explanation of stress as a reaction to real or perceived threats to one’s physical and mental well-being.	Mindfulness breathing exercise to help become grounded in the present moment. Homework: Practice mindfulness breathing.
3	What makes you stressed?	Problem-focused vs emotion-focused coping for stress management.	Practical tips on taking care of your economy and worry postponement.
4	Stress and emotions	Debunking the myth of “positive stress.” A bit of stress is not dangerous, but all stress is essentially negative and interlinked with negative emotions.	Mindfulness breathing exercise to help become grounded in the present moment. Homework: practice worry postponement.
5	Physical activity, stress, and mood	Physical activity has an immediate impact on mood and acts as a buffer against stress. Learning detached mindfulness as a way of relating to negative thoughts and feelings.	Engage in physical activity. Practice detached mindfulness by means of the “Clouds in the sky” exercise.
6	Causes of stress	The difference of big stressors (eg, wedding, pregnancy, a new job) and everyday stressors or concerns (eg, noisy neighbors, parking ticket, a dreaded phone call). Identifying everyday stressors and finding ways to deal with these.	Strategies for dealing with everyday stressors: (1) avoidance—avoid situations that cause you stress or negative emotions; (2) change—if avoidance fails, adjust the situation such that the cause of stress dissipates; and (3) reattribute—if changing fails, think of the positives that come out of the stressful situation.
7	Procrastination	Procrastination as a source of stress if delaying all things that are difficult or unpleasant, and how these things can grow into big stressors.	Detached mindfulness: “Tiger task” exercise for relating to difficult or unpleasant situations, thoughts, or feelings.
8	Why do we procrastinate?	Reasons why we procrastinate (1) lack of commitment, (2) lack of motivation if goals are distant, and (3) anxiousness. Identifying personal reasons for procrastination.	Mindfulness: “Gong gong” exercise to help become grounded in the present moment and relaxing by focusing on an external sound.
9	Optimism	Optimism leads to less stress, but too much optimism (ie, being overoptimistic) can cause more stress. Beware of situations that require predicting how much time things take and how much things cost; we almost always underestimate.	Passenger train metaphor - alternative to the “Clouds in the sky” exercise. Negative (and positive) thoughts come and go, just stand by and watch your thoughts pass by.
10	Work-related stress	Explains the “demand, control, and support” model of work-related stress.	Find a balance between demands, control, and support at work. Mindfulness: “Body scan” exercise to increase bodily awareness of how one is doing and become more present in the moment (ie, progressive muscle relaxation).
11	Time management	Everybody has the same amount of time, but some are better at doing 1 thing at a time.	(1) Make 3 lists of activities you have to, ought to, and can do; (2) prioritize and organize each of your lists; and (3) Start with the “have to” list and fill in with items from the “ought to” list. Still time to spare? Fill in with items from the “can do” list without being overoptimistic.
12	Goal management	Reassess your personal goals and get rid of unrealistically high goals (eg, weight loss, career ambitions, personal appearance) that cause a constant feeling of guilt or stress.	Mindfulness: “Body scan” exercise to increase bodily awareness of how one is doing and become more present in the moment (ie, progressive muscle relaxation).
13	Conclusions and summary	Test of your stress level.