Anyone tuning into NPR’s Morning Edition today, Sept. 30, will hear the launch of a new program titled “Stress Less: A quest to reclaim your calm,” aimed at helping listeners cope with life's challenges.
The five-week series incorporates Northwestern University’s Resilience Challenge and features experts in resilience research. Among these experts is Judith Moskowitz, vice chair for scientific and faculty development in the department of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Moskowitz has been studying positive-emotion skills to cope with stress for decades. She developed a toolbox containing eight skills such as self-compassion, noticing positive events, and savoring positive experiences like a good cup of coffee or a sunset. Her team has tested these skills in randomized controlled trials with various groups including people with serious illnesses, caregivers for dementia patients, individuals with depression, high school students, and violence interrupters.
“People can absolutely be taught to increase their positive emotions, even when things seem pretty bleak,” said Moskowitz, who is also the director of research at the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Feinberg. “We are so excited to be collaborating with NPR to bring these skills to their listeners to help them cope with any kind of stress they might be experiencing right now.”
NPR’s program will include stories about people successfully coping with challenges such as relationship and work stress, climate change worries, and political polarization. Listeners can sign up for weekly newsletters from NPR that explain the science behind stress and offer tips on practicing resilience skills.
During this period, anyone aged 18 years or older — whether an NPR listener or not — can enroll in Northwestern’s online “Resilience Challenge” course. Participants in this course will join a research study led by Moskowitz’s team.
NPR’s food and health correspondent Allison Aubrey describes Moskowitz's eight-skill positive-emotion course as “a masterclass in managing stress.”
“Moskowitz’s research really spoke to me,” said Aubrey, who is leading NPR’s “Stress Less” series. “Her studies show that the course helps people practice skills that can really help. What I love about her research is that it adds evidence to the simple strategies that we intuitively know might be helpful. And this elevates her course — and these strategies — to the next level.”
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