The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety: A Guide to Breaking Free From Anxiety, Phobias, and Worry Using Acceptance

Description

Stop avoiding anxiety and start showing up to your life! Now in its second edition, The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety offers new, step-by-step skills based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you get started today. This edition features new chapters on trauma, self-as-context, and painful pasts. Do you try to control your worry, fear, and panic, only to fail and end up feeling frustrated and powerless? Unfortunately, you cannot simply turn off anxious thoughts and feelings like a light switch. But there are ways you can take back your life and stop avoiding the things that cause you anxiety. This book has one purpose: to help you live better, more fully, and more richly. Your life is calling on you to make that choice, and the skills in this workbook can help you make it happen.This fully revised and updated second edition offers compelling new ACT exercises to help you finally conquer your anxiety. You ll learn how your mind can trap you, keeping you stuck and struggling in anxiety and fear. You ll also discover ways to nurture your capacity for acceptance, mindfulness, kindness, and compassion, and use these qualities to shift your focus away from anxiety and onto what you really want your life to be about. Finally, you ll learn how to let go of the trauma and painful past experiences that can fuel your anxiety.No matter what kind of anxiety problem you're struggling with, this workbook can guide you toward a more vibrant and purposeful life. This book has been awarded The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit an award bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives

John P. Forsyth, PhD, is a scientist, writer, and licensed clinical psychologist in upstate New York. He has traveled the world giving talks and workshops to the public and professionals about the benefits of mindful acceptance, kindness and compassion, and how to live a valued life using a new approach to psychological health and wellness called acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). He is associate professor of psychology, director of the doctoral training program in clinical psychology, and director of the Anxiety Disorders Research Program at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He has published many articles about how excessive struggle with unpleasant thoughts and emotions feeds human suffering, and what mindfulness and acceptance can offer as a solution. He is coauthor of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety Disorders, ACT on Life, Not on Anger, and The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety. His work has helped foster growing international interest in acceptance and mindfulness approaches in psychology, mental health care, medicine, and society. Georg H. Eifert, PhD, was ranked among the top thirty researchers in behavior analysis and therapy in the 1990s, and has authored over 100 publications on psychological causes and treatments of anxiety and other emotional disorders. He is clinical fellow of the Behavior Therapy and Research Society, a member of numerous national and international psychological associations, and serves on several editorial boards of leading clinical psychology journals. He is also a licensed clinical psychologist. He is coauthor of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety Disorders and ACT on Life, Not on Anger.

"The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety combines the accumulated wisdom of the ages with up-to-date, cutting-edge developments in scientific psychology. In an easy-to-read and fun format, those suffering from anxiety in all of its guises will find the keys to breaking loose from its shackles. By emphasizing acceptance of toxic emotions (and illustrating ways to accomplish this) rather than struggling to overcome them, the person inside you may finally emerge to set your life on a new, productive, and valued course. Highly recommended for all those struggling with worry, anxiety, and fear." --David H. Barlow, PhD, founder and director emeritus of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Boston University, and author of Anxiety and Its Disorders "Ably surfing the dual currents of traditional exposure and acceptance-based treatments for anxiety, the authors of this resourceful workbook illustrate the synergies to be found in their combination. Carefully structured exercises and charts support the core message that taking action to face one's fears is most effective if acceptance informs our starting point, and values determine our destination. This book is a 'must-read' for anyone encountering anxiety as a barrier to leading a fuller life." --Zindel Segal, PhD, distinguished professor of psychology in mood disorders at the University of Toronto, Canada, and coauthor of The Mindful Way Workbook "Go into any large bookstore and you will find numerous self-help books, promising much. This one delivers. With a combination of sound theory, new research, deep professional involvement, clear values, and a joyful communicative style, this second edition of Forsyth and Eifert's highly acclaimed workbook is inspiring. Through principles of mindful self-reflection, acceptance, and compassion, the reader learns that the opposite of anxiety is not simply the absence of anxiety, but the experience of a more fulfilling life and a richer progression toward one's personal goals. At a time of much uncertainty, distress, and horror in today's world, this book offers a message to everyone, not simply those for whom fear is a specific barrier to personal happiness." --Ian M. Evans, professor emeritus of the school of psychology at Massey University, New Zealand, and author of How and Why Thoughts Change "If anxiety and fear is a major problem in your life, this book is for you. In this well-written and thoroughly researched workbook, John Forsyth and Georg Eifert will take you on a journey to regain your life. Using concrete exercises and examples, you will learn new skills to develop a different kind of relationship with your anxiety and fear. As a result, you will learn how to become more accepting and compassionate with yourself, and to eventually release the demons that have kept you from living a life worth living. Life is beautiful. Start this journey now." --Stefan G. Hofmann, PhD, professor of psychology at Boston University, and author of Emotion in Therapy "In this fully updated and expanded edition of their best-selling workbook, Forsyth and Eifert show how giving up your attempts to control anxiety and fear will help you to leave your anxiety problems behind and get on with your life. In the years since the first edition, a number of studies have demonstrated the benefits of the approach described in this practical and clearly written book. I recommend this new edition for anyone who struggles with anxiety." --Martin M. Antony, PhD, ABPP, professor of psychology at Ryerson University, Canada, and coauthor of The Shyness and Social Anxiety Workbook "Steeped in the rich tradition of psychological theory, The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety by Forsyth and Eifert represents a major advance for the practical treatment of anxiety and related conditions. This book will assist clinicians and patients in constructing a treatment plan that insures progress in overcoming the many obstacles associated with conquering fears. A major contribution to clinical care, this workbook will contribute to the growing knowledge base on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), joining other evidence-based approaches as a major tool for treating the disabling symptoms that accompany anxiety. This reference book belongs in every clinician's library." --Terence M. Keane, PhD, director of the behavioral science division of the National Center for PTSD, and professor of psychiatry and assistant dean for research at Boston University School of Medicine "This book presents a tried-and-true approach to turning your life in a new direction. If you want to stop running, hiding, struggling, or just waiting for your life to start, this book will help show you how to start living, now. Clear guidance, beautifully presented. Highly recommended." --Steven C. Hayes, codeveloper of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and author of Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life "This is the definitive handbook for how to reduce the suffering that stems from anxiety-related problems. More importantly, the authors offer readers a perfect blend of lucidity, kindness, research-based knowledge, and concrete strategies such that readers walk away with the skills to live a successful life." --Todd B. Kashdan, PhD, professor of psychology at George Mason University, and coauthor of The Upside of Your Dark Side "You have in your hands a wise and healing workbook that is based on a radical premise: fighting or resisting anxiety adds fuel to the fire; learning how to relate to it with mindful presence and compassion leads to true well-being. Filled with accessible, well-researched exercises and practices, this guide can free you to live from your full aliveness, heart, and potential." --Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge