Home builder Carl Weissensee used to be "addicted to stress, " he says.

WSJ: When Stress Is Good for You

After seeing Dr. Rossman, reading his book and doing one of his relaxation CDs daily, Mr. Weissensee learned to acknowledge his worries instead of recycling them in his head, then practice "skipping over" them and telling himself that "everything works out in the end, " he says.

WSJ: When Stress Is Good for You

Managing thousands of details and multiple risks for each of the multimillion-dollar houses he builds, he spent years rushing around with "one foot off the ground 20 hours a day, running the same scenarios through my mind time and time again, and being unable to put it aside, " says Mr. Weissensee, 58, of Mill Valley, Calif.

WSJ: When Stress Is Good for You