Coaching Clients Through Stress: Tools for Healing and Resilience

Written by: Claudia Haller NBC-HWC

As beautiful as life is, it sure does have some difficult moments. Nothing lightens the load like having a hand to hold, or to pull us up, as we navigate those stressful times. At some point or another, we all experience this side of things, leaning on others to get us through. But as health and wellness coaches, we often get to stand on the other side, to be that support beam that is just what our clients need in a particularly challenging time of their lives.

What an honor it is to be able to step into that role, to provide that helpful hand, and to guide our clients through it all! From work challenges to family dynamics, the weight of stress can quickly overwhelm, leaving our clients feeling stuck and uncertain about how to manage it all. But as coaches, we have powerful tools at our disposal to help our clients navigate these moments and foster healthier responses to stress.

Stress Management: A Key Skill for Wellness
First, it's important to understand that stress isn’t just a feeling; it has real, measurable effects on the body and mind. Chronic stress can increase inflammation, weaken the immune system, and contribute to conditions like heart disease, anxiety, and depression. As coaches, we can help our clients reduce these risks by teaching them effective stress management techniques.
 
Digging Deeper: Understanding the Root of Stress
To effectively manage stress, it’s crucial to first understand where it’s coming from. As coaches, we can guide our clients in exploring the underlying causes of their stress. Often, the stress isn’t just about the immediate pressures they face but about deeper emotional triggers that haven’t been addressed.

Encourage your clients to ask themselves: What is stressing them out most? Are they struggling to set boundaries, feeling overwhelmed by the expectations of others? Are they being triggered by the constant barrage of news, or are certain people’s comments or judgments causing them to feel inadequate or anxious? When clients take time to reflect on the root causes, they can better understand how these stressors are impacting their physical and emotional health. By identifying these sources, they can start to implement strategies like mindfulness, meditation, and journaling to address and manage them effectively.

Just remember to always stay within the scope of your practice. Sometimes a client’s situation may fall outside of your area of expertise; don’t be afraid to refer them to another type of professional, like a therapist, when appropriate.

Mindfulness and meditation go hand-in-hand with one another and are two of the most beneficial practices we can introduce. Mindfulness is “the practice of being fully present and aware of your current experience, without overreacting or getting lost in thoughts”). This is often achieved through meditation, which is a skill that involves focusing your attention to cultivate mindfulness and a sense of calm.
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Learn more about the many different kinds of meditation here!

The Science Behind Mindfulness and Meditation
Research shows that mindfulness not only reduces stress but also increases emotional regulation, improves sleep, and enhances cognitive function. This practice, along with meditation, encourages clients to tune into the present moment, break the cycle of overthinking, and create a sense of calm amidst chaos.

Scientific studies back up the power of mindfulness. For instance, a Harvard research team led by Sara Lazar, found that mindfulness meditation can actually change the structure of the brain. Study participants took part in eight weeks of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Findings included increased cortical thickness in the hippocampus (the area of the brain responsible for learning and memory) as well as parts of the brain that deal with emotional regulation and self-referential processing (how we process information about ourselves). Not only that, but mindfulness meditation causes decreases in areas of the brain responsible for fear, anxiety, and stress.

By teaching your clients how to incorporate mindfulness into their daily routines, whether through breathing exercises or mindful movement, you are empowering them to reduce stress and improve their well-being.

We often think of yoga in conjunction with mindfulness and meditation. Yoga is its own separate practice, with many components that go beyond mindfulness, including physical poses that improve flexibility, strength, and balance. While yoga and mindfulness can be practiced independently, we often find them woven together. Yoga integrates breathwork, mind-body connection, and focus. As a whole, well-rounded practice, yoga often includes components of meditation. In fact, yoga classes typically end with a meditation posture, called Savasana (and if you’ve never taken a yoga class, trust me…go for the Savasana)!
Yoga is known for its significant ability to alleviate stress. Studies show that it can reduce depressive symptoms, balance the nervous system, reduce inflammation, and maintain neurotransmitters.

Havening: A Powerful Technique for Emotional Healing
Mindfulness and meditation aren't the only techniques that can help clients manage stress. Havening, a neuro-therapy that involves sensory input, specifically physical touch combined with visualization, has proven to be incredibly effective in helping clients release emotional trauma and manage stress. This technique was transformative for my mentor, who faced intense emotional trauma.

For anyone who remembers the 9/11 attacks on the United States, the memory is most likely a traumatic one, whether you witnessed the terrible impact on the TV screen or experienced it firsthand. My mentor escaped from Tower 1 that day. She also happened to be pregnant at the time. Bringing new life into the world amidst such tragedy compounds the fear and sadness that we were all certainly feeling.  Years later, she found herself in the terrifying position of being trapped, caught up in a train crash. The trauma from both events became so intertwined with her core memories, sense of self, and her life as a whole, that it often left her feeling paralyzed. A driven, type-A woman, she had always prided herself on her strength and resilience. Yet, the mere sight of a deep blue sky, reminiscent of the same sky on that tragic September 11th morning, would trigger panic attacks.

Havening helped her heal. Through this technique, she was able to rewire her brain's response to these traumatic memories, gradually releasing the grip they had on her. Her healing process was nothing short of miraculous, and it allowed her to reclaim her life. Havening didn’t just change her personally; it transformed her into an incredible mentor who was able to use her experiences for good. She has since been able to guide me and many other individuals who have been lucky enough to benefit from her inspiring growth.

It's important to note that becoming a Havening Practitioner requires specific training and certification. If you are interested in learning more about this technique and how it can be incorporated into your coaching practice, you can find more information here. For coaches who are not yet certified in Havening, don’t worry! There are plenty of other techniques you can incorporate into your practice to help your clients.

 The Benefits of Journaling for Stress Management
Journaling is another powerful tool for stress management that is easy to integrate into your clients’ daily routines. The simple act of putting thoughts and feelings onto paper helps clear the mind, reduce mental clutter, and bring clarity to overwhelming emotions.

Studies have shown that journaling can lower cortisol levels, the body's primary stress hormone, which reduces stress and promotes emotional resilience. In one such study, by Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, individuals were asked to write about a past failure, before being exposed to a new stressor. As it turned out, those who wrote about their past failures exhibited lessened stress responses compared with those who did not. This was determined by collecting cheek swab samples and testing cortisol levels in the participants. Presumably, exposure to a stressful experience should increase cortisol levels…but it was significantly lower in those who partook in expressive writing beforehand! The takeaway here is that journaling reduces your cortisol response to new stressors. Write about the past, and stress less about the future!

Studies also show that expressive writing promotes emotional strength by enhancing certain pathways within the brain, specifically those responsible for memory and cognitive control. According to the Child Mind Institute, the brain is like a network of interconnected pathways. “The more you use a particular pathway, the stronger it becomes. Journaling is like exercising the brain’s emotional regulation ‘muscles.’” In other words, journaling helps to build long-term mental and emotional resilience.
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Journaling can also help clients process difficult emotions, track patterns in their thoughts and behaviors, and find solutions to ongoing challenges. For clients struggling with stress, anxiety, or trauma, journaling can be a therapeutic outlet for releasing pent-up feelings and gaining a sense of control over their experiences.

Encourage your clients to start with small, daily journaling practices, whether it’s a few lines in the morning to set their intentions or an evening reflection on the day’s events. Journaling helps clients create a space for self-expression and self-awareness, which are critical elements for long-term stress management.

Incorporating Stress Management into Your Coaching Practice
As coaches, we can support our clients by helping them find stress management strategies that resonate with them. If you’re not certified in Havening or looking to add more tools to your toolbox, mindfulness, meditation, and yoga are fantastic alternatives. These practices can easily be woven into your coaching sessions, helping clients reduce stress, increase resilience, and promote well-being. You don’t need another certification to make a significant impact, just a few tools that can bring immediate value to your clients' daily routines.

Whether it’s mindfulness techniques like focused breathing, meditation for calming the mind, yoga to release physical tension, or journaling to process emotions, these tools can be incredibly effective in supporting your clients' stress management journey. When clients learn to recognize and reduce stress, they experience a greater sense of well-being, clarity, and control, key factors in living a healthy, vibrant life.

Stress Management as a Lifelong Practice
Helping clients manage stress is not just about easing their burdens; it’s about equipping them with lifelong practices that will help them thrive. By incorporating mindfulness, meditation, yoga, journaling, and Havening into your coaching practice, you provide clients with powerful tools for overcoming stress, healing from emotional trauma, and building lasting resilience.

If you’re interested in learning more about my mentor’s inspiring journey and how Havening can support your clients, you can read her full story here, or reach out to me for more information. 

Here is a peek at what you’ll find on her website:
I first learned about Havening when Dr. Ron Ruden asked me to be a demo for his first Havening training in NYC in 2013. He knew I had escaped from Tower I on 9/11 (while I was pregnant) and thought Havening me would be a compelling demonstration of the power of Havening. I had never heard of Havening before, but I found myself in front of a room full of trainees telling my story. As I began to relay my experience, I was flooded with emotions I didn't even realize still existed! But, at the end of the short Havening session, my 9/11 experience felt very far away. I was shocked, surprised, and euphoric - I couldn't believe how much lighter I felt from under an hour of Havening!  Needless to say, I was more than intrigued by how quickly and profoundly the Havening Techniques changed how I viewed my 9/11 experience.

https://www.metamorphosishavening.com/
 
Claudia is an NBC-HWC Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, the owner of Vibrant Health by Claudia LLC  and Virtual Health Coaches LLC. She studied Health and Wellness Coaching at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where she also completed courses in Gut Health, Hormone Health, and Advanced Coaching. She is a Havening TechniquesⓇ Certified Practitioner and certified 21-Day Sugar Detox Coach as well as a co-author of three Amazon Bestsellers “The Ultimate Guide to Creating Your Soul Aligned Business”,  “The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Successful Soul Professional” and “The Ultimate Guide To Leaving Your Legacy.”

To schedule a time for a free information call click here or join her Vibrant Health Power Community - a free Facebook Group - here. 
 
Sources:
Become a Certified Practitioner. www.havening.org/about-havening/become-a-certified-practitioner.
 
DiMenichi, Brynne C., et al. “Writing About Past Failures Attenuates Cortisol Responses and Sustained Attention Deficits Following Psychosocial Stress.” Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, vol. 12, Mar. 2018, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00045.
 
Haller, Claudia. “Multiple Paths, One Destination: A Comparative Look at Meditation Practices — Vibrant Health by Claudia.” Vibrant Health by Claudia, 19 Mar. 2024, www.vibranthealthbyclaudia.com/blog/multiple-paths-one-destination-a-comparative-look-at-meditation-practices?rq=mindfulness.
 
Hölzel, Britta K., et al. “Mindfulness Practice Leads to Increases in Regional Brain Gray Matter Density.” Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging, vol. 191, no. 1, Nov. 2010, pp. 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006.
 
Mazzarisi, Alex. “Beyond the Mood Boost: How Journaling Rewires Your Brain for Resilience.” Child Mind Institute, 13 Mar. 2025, childmind.org/blog/how-journaling-rewires-your-brain-for-resilience.
 
“Metamorphosis Havening.” theMetamorphosisBlog, www.metamorphosishavening.com.
 
Walton, Alice G., PhD. “7 Ways Meditation Can Actually Change the Brain.” Forbes, 9 Feb. 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2015/02/09/7-ways-meditation-can-actually-change-the-brain.
 
“What Is Mindfulness?” Mindful, 14 Mar. 2025, www.mindful.org/what-is-mindfulness.

Claudia Haller is a certified practitioner of Havening Techniques. Havening Techniques is a registered trademark of Ronald Ruden, 15 East 91st Street, New York.