When Stress Events Hit

This week we talked about when the family is under stress. Every family experiences stress. They all feel it a different way but it is almost impossible that a family will not encounter some kind of event that will put them under stress. I know my family have had several of those. From moving into a new house to having car problems. Some events are big and some are small but they cause us stress and shape our families. But it isn't only the stress event itself that creates the outcome. There a model called ABCX that shows how we react to the stress events that causes the outcome. A is the Actual event that takes place. For example lets use moving into a new house. B is Both the resources and responses. When we moved we had several resources: we turned to family, friends, and the ward for help. Responses were willing to help and our response was that we were ready to move even though it was a very unorganized moved. We weren't negative and tried to keep a positive attitude. C stands for Cognition.  What we think during the event. The move was chaotic. But I remember having fun during the move. One of my best friends had spent the night the night before the move and so together we took trips back and forth moving stuff into the new house. I'm sure every family member was thinking something different. But I don't think there was anyone who expressed negativity. X is the total eXperience. The total experience depends on the event, resources & responses and cognition  It is up to us what the experience of the stress event will be.