Doing What Matters in Times of Stress

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · Russ Harris, Mark van Ommeren · 2020

What it is

Doing What Matters (DWM) is a WHO self-help book for stress management. It has short text, many illustrations and optional audio. It is written for anyone under stress, from everyday problems to war and displacement, including carers and health workers. It is not a therapy a clinician delivers…

Format

• Pacing as published. Read one section every few days and practise in between. Alternatively, read the whole book once and then again more slowly. Practise a few minutes a day: at home, on breaks or before sleep. Use both brief practices (1–2 minutes) and longer ones (5–10 minutes), planned in…
• Formats and dose

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Delivering under the SH+ name: training and fidelity. The book is free under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO licence, which allows non-commercial copying and adaptation with attribution. No certification is needed to hand it out. For SH+, published partner and trial models include:
• a 4–5-day facilitator training;
• 5-day training-of-trainers and 2-day supervision trainings for scale-up;

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Storms that do not settle and come with risk. Move to risk assessment (Section 5).
• Idealising the model into impossible standards. Keep it to qualities, not achievements.
• Practice only at bad moments. Encourage practice at neutral times too, so the skill is ready.
• Clients hearing "away moves" as blame. Frame them as normal and understandable. Working: the client starts spontaneously naming hooks and away moves from their week.
• Values written as feelings ("to be happy") or as other people's behaviour. Steer them back to the client's own actions. Working: the client names 2–3 values in their own words.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.