Stops losing head and relaxes (5)
I believe the answer is:
eases
'relaxes' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'stops losing head' is the wordplay.
'stops' becomes 'ceases' ('cease' can be a synonym of 'stop').
'losing head' means to remove the first letter.
'ceases' with its first letter removed is 'EASES'.
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for eases that I've seen before include "Relieves, loosens" , "Lessens tensions" , "Relieves, lightens" , "Makes less severe" , "Softens" .)