Overcoming Avoidance Workbook

Stop avoiding and start living! Do you cope with anxiety by avoiding people, places, and situations that make you feel anxious? Do you deal with depression by isolating yourself from the people and activities that used to bring you joy? Do you avoid talking or thinking about the events that caused your post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? If so, you’re not alone. Changing behavior in an attempt to avoid thinking or confronting things that are uncomfortable is a common symptom of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and related conditions. With this guide, you’ll develop skills based in transdiagnostic behavior therapy (TBT), an evidence-based protocol designed to help you identify and overcome the avoidance and isolation issues associated with depression, anxiety, and PTSD. You’ll also learn how to safely and gradually implement therapeutic techniques that will result in reduced symptoms and improved confidence. If you’re tired of hiding from difficult thoughts, emotions, and situations, this book will help you break the avoidance cycle at the heart of your disorder. It’s time to stop running from the life you want and start developing the effective coping skills you need to face life’s challenges with courage and confidence.

Do you suffer from panic, anxiety, and fear in your day-to-day life? Do you often avoid social situations, activities like driving, or even going to the store because of a fear of being overwhelmed or triggering a panic attack? You might be interested to know that anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorders in the United States. In Anxiety and Avoidance, psychologist and anxiety disorder expert Michael Tompkins presents a universal protocol to help you cope with anxiety, panic, and fear, regardless of your particular mental health diagnosis. This universal protocol is based on David H. Barlow's "unified protocol," and is a cognitive behavioral approach. Tompkins also draws on mindfulness-based therapies such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) that have been used successfully in the treatment of anxiety disorders for years. The book includes present-moment awareness (mindfulness) techniques, motivational tools for overcoming experiential avoidance, and cognitive tools for reframing anxiety and fear. In addition, you will learn how to use your personal values as a vehicle for lasting change. While most anxiety treatments have focused on symptom reduction, this book teaches you the skills needed to better handle the underlying emotional reactions that lead to anxiety and panic in the first place. If you are ready to stop avoiding situations that cause you to panic and get back to living a full life, this book is a powerful resource that can help you make a lasting change using an innovative, transdiagnostic approach.

Emphasizing diagnosis, causality, and holistic treatment, this is the only book offering a full discussion of Avoidant Personality Disorder for therapists and sufferers. Avoidant Personality Disorder (AvPD) is an extremely widespread, devastating disorder that generally goes unrecognized or misrepresented by what little scientific literature there is on the topic. Therapists are left mystified about how to diagnose and treat it, and patients and other sufferers are at a loss as to what is wrong and how to go about correcting it. The Essential Guide to Overcoming Avoidant Personality Disorder is the only book available to guide both patients and those trying to help them. This thorough and much-needed volume explores the development of AvPD and presents a holistic view of its causes from the psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral, and interpersonal perspectives. It offers an extensive section on diagnostic criteria that will be useful to sufferers and therapists, and it discusses the various therapies for AvPD. Finally, and perhaps most critically, the book provides a section intended as a guide for psychiatrists—and a self-help guide for sufferers—including a day-by-day, one-step-at-a-time, monthly guide on how to overcome AvPD.

Get ahead of your anticipatory anxiety, and start living with flexibility and peace of mind. Do you automatically assume the worst-case-scenario when faced with difficulty? Do you stress about situations that haven’t happened yet, or find yourself anticipating disaster around every corner? Does the prospect of making a decision leave you feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed? From subtle avoidance behaviors to the most nightmarish terrors, anticipatory anxiety is the engine that drives it all. Understanding how this hidden enemy tricks you, and, most importantly, how to overcome it, will liberate you to live a more flexible and joyful life. In Overcoming Anticipatory Anxiety, two anxiety experts team up to teach you how to manage your overactive imagination, limit future-based thinking, face your fears, make decisions, and live with more freedom and joy. This must-have guide is grounded in the authors' innovative and easy-to-remember DANCE model: Discern your anticipatory anxiety Accept doubts and discomfort No struggling or avoiding Commit to proceed Embrace the present as it is, so you can get on with your life Your relationship with your worries and imagination will shift, so that you can focus on what is genuinely important. It’s time to stop worrying about what might happen, start facing your fears, rein in your self-defeating imagination, and live fully in the moment. Get this book and discover the motivation and skills needed to take charge of your anticipatory anxiety.

At last, a guide for adults who struggle with picky eating, fears of choking or vomiting, or lack of interest in eating. With real-life examples, practical tips, quizzes, worksheets, and structured activities, this engaging book takes you step-by-step through the latest evidence-based techniques to improve your relationship with food.

“Just what the doctor ordered! A clear, concise, and practical guide to help parents help their children master their anxieties.” —Laurel J. Schultz, MD, MPH, community pediatrician at Golden Gate Pediatrics If you have a child with anxiety, you need quick, in-the-moment solutions you can easily use now to help your child face their fears and worries. Written by a psychologist and expert in childhood anxiety, this easy-to-use guide offers proven-effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure skills you can use at home, in social settings, or anywhere anxiety takes hold. Anxiety Relief for Kids provides quick solutions based in evidence-based CBT and exposure therapy—two of the most effective treatments for anxiety disorders. You’ll find a background and explanation of the different types of anxiety disorders, in case you aren’t sure whether or not your child has one. You’ll also learn to identify your child’s avoidant and safety behaviors—the strategies your child uses to cope with their anxiety, such as repeatedly checking their homework or asking the same questions repeatedly—as well as anxiety triggers that set your child off. With this book, you’ll find a wealth of information regarding your child’s specific anxiety disorder and how to respond to it. For example, if your child has obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), the skills you use to help them are different than other anxiety disorders. No matter your child’s specific symptoms or diagnosis, you’ll discover tailored interventions you can use now to help your child thrive. If your child has an anxiety disorder, simple, everyday activities can be a real challenge. The practical solutions in this book will help you deal with your child’s anxiety when it happens and restore balance and order to both your lives. What readers are saying: “I was surprised to learn how much of what I was doing as a parent was exacerbating (and not helping) our son's anxiety.” — Kath “This book does such a great job of explaining what anxiety is, the range of ways it can show up in kids (and/or adults) and how you can get it under control. ... The guidance laid out is priceless and will be beneficial to anyone suffering from anxiety.” — Jennifer “This is a very practical and informative book that will guide parents in helping their children suffering from anxiety or worry. ... Cognitive behavioral therapy is the backbone of Dr. Walker's approach and she makes the approach clear and accessible to non-professionals. A great addition to any parent’s bookshelf!” — Michael This book has been selected as an Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Book Recommendation— an honor 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.

You are stronger than your anxiety! In this important workbook, best-selling authors Matthew McKay, Patrick Fanning, and Michelle Skeen offer a breakthrough anxiety solution based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you understand and overcome your fears and worries, rather than try to avoid them. If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, you may try to avoid situations that cause you to feel worry, fear, or panic. You may even believe that terrible things will happen to you if you face the things that make you anxious. But avoidance isn’t a long-term solution, and in the end it may result in more anxiety. This book shows you how the simple belief that you can endure your worries and fears—both mentally and physically—can be an extremely powerful treatment. Using a breakthrough approach combining proven-effective CBT and exposure therapy, this workbook helps you understand how worry and rumination drive anxiety, and offers practical exercises to help you adopt new habits of observing your thoughts, rather than accepting them as the “ultimate truth.” You’ll also develop mindfulness and self-soothing coping skills to help you manage anxiety in the moment, rather than avoid it. Over time these practices will show you that you are more powerful than your anxiety. If you’ve been stuck in a cycle of anxiety and avoidance, this workbook will help you make the changes you need to get your life back. This book has been selected as an Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Book Recommendation—an honor 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.

Overcome anxiety, fear, and worry—and start living the life you want. If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, you aren’t alone. Anxiety is at epidemic levels. Fortunately, there are effective—and fast—techniques you can use to break free from worry and get back to the things that matter to you. This workbook offers a comprehensive collection of simple treatment strategies to help get you started. In The Anxiety Skills Workbook, you’ll find tons of tips and tricks for managing your anxiety and worry using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness. Based on the evidence-based treatment model developed at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University—one of the premier anxiety centers in the world—this book will help you understand and effectively deal with anxiety and worry anytime, anywhere. The unique “module” format of this workbook allows you to focus on your own individual anxiety and worry patterns. While it is recommended that you take a chronological path through the material, the pacing and length of each module allows for flexibly adapting to your individual needs. In other words, you can use this book however you like—whether that means starting at the beginning, middle, or end. Choose what works for you. With this unique workbook, you’ll learn better ways to cope with your anxiety, so you can get back to living your life.