Rewire Your Anxious Brain

Do you ever wonder what is happening inside your brain when you feel anxious, panicked, and worried? In Rewire Your Anxious Brain, psychologist Catherine Pittman and author Elizabeth Karle offer a unique, evidence-based solution to overcoming anxiety based in cutting-edge neuroscience and research. In the book, you will learn how the amygdala and cortex (both important parts of the brain) are essential players in the neuropsychology of anxiety. The amygdala acts as a primal response, and oftentimes, when this part of the brain processes fear, you may not even understand why you are afraid. By comparison, the cortex is the center of “worry.” That is, obsessing, ruminating, and dwelling on things that may or may not happen. In the book, Pittman and Karle make it simple by offering specific examples of how to manage fear by tapping into both of these pathways in the brain. As you read, you’ll gain a greater understanding how anxiety is created in the brain, and as a result, you will feel empowered and motivated to overcome it. The brain is a powerful tool, and the more you work to change the way you respond to fear, the more resilient you will become. Using the practical self-assessments and proven-effective techniques in this book, you will learn to literally “rewire” the brain processes that lie at the root of your fears.

It’s time to retrain your brain! In this go-to guide for teens, four anxiety experts offer tangible tips and tools you can use every day to rewire your anxious brain; manage fears, stress, and worry; and get back to living your life. When you’re feeling anxious, it can seem like the whole world is crashing in around you. Your heart starts racing, your thoughts feel jumbled, and you may feel like something terrible is going to happen, or worse. You aren’t alone. In fact, millions of teens experience anxiety. The good news is that there are proven-effective tools you can use now to take control of your anxiety so you can focus on the stuff you love. This book will guide the way. Drawing on powerful cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), neuroscience, mindfulness, and acceptance commitment therapy (ACT), this book will show you the ten most effective methods for “rewiring” your anxious brain. You’ll learn: How to calmly observe your anxiety What feeds your anxiety, and how you can “starve” it instead Guided meditations for overcoming anxious thoughts Strategies to help you balance your emotions when fears and worries show up How to deal with uncertainty, perfectionism, and procrastination Most importantly, you’ll learn that you are stronger than your anxiety, and you have the power to take control of your fears. Let’s face it—being a teen today is stressful and sometimes scary. But if you’re ready to put anxiety in its place and start focusing on the things that matter to you the most, this much-needed guide can help get you started.

How to rewire your brain to improve virtually every aspect of your life-based on the latest research in neuroscience and psychology on neuroplasticity and evidence-based practices Not long ago, it was thought that the brain you were born with was the brain you would die with, and that the brain cells you had at birth were the most you would ever possess. Your brain was thought to be “hardwired” to function in predetermined ways. It turns out that's not true. Your brain is not hardwired, it's "softwired" by experience. This book shows you how you can rewire parts of the brain to feel more positive about your life, remain calm during stressful times, and improve your social relationships. Written by a leader in the field of Brain-Based Therapy, it teaches you how to activate the parts of your brain that have been underactivated and calm down those areas that have been hyperactivated so that you feel positive about your life and remain calm during stressful times. You will also learn to improve your memory, boost your mood, have better relationships, and get a good night sleep. Reveals how cutting-edge developments in neuroscience, and evidence-based practices can be used to improve your everyday life Other titles by Dr. Arden include: Brain-Based Therapy-Adult, Brain-Based Therapy-Child, Improving Your Memory For Dummies and Heal Your Anxiety Workbook Dr. Arden is a leader in integrating the new developments in neuroscience with psychotherapy and Director of Training in Mental Health for Kaiser Permanente for the Northern California Region Explaining exciting new developments in neuroscience and their applications to daily living, Rewire Your Brain will guide you through the process of changing your brain so you can change your life and be free of self-imposed limitations.

Rewire the brain processes that cause obsessions and compulsions—and take back your life! If you’ve ever wondered why you seem to get trapped in an endless cycle of obsessive, compulsive thoughts, you don’t have to wonder anymore. Grounded in cutting-edge neuroscience and evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Rewire Your OCD Brain will show you how and why your brain gets stuck in a loop of obsessive thinking, uncertainty, and worry; and offers the tools you need to short-circuit this response and get your symptoms under control—for good. Written by clinical psychologist Catherine Pittman and clinical neuropsychologist William Youngs, this groundbreaking book will show how neurological functions in your brain lead to obsessions, compulsions, and anxiety. You’ll also find tons of proven-effective coping strategies to help you manage your worst symptoms—including relaxation, exercise, healthy sleep habits, cognitive restructuring, cognitive defusion, distraction, and mindfulness. The brain is powerful, and the more you work to change the way you respond to obsessive thoughts, the more resilient you’ll become. If you’re ready to rewire the brain processes that lie at the root of your obsessive thoughts, this book has everything you need to get started today.

Anxiety can control your life with a tight grip. Get yourself free with these exercises and worksheets designed to help you identify, manage, and ultimately calm your anxiety, be it stress that ebbs and flows or constant, chronic panic. Work through this book either by itself or as a companion to Dr. Faith G. Harper's bestselling Unfuck Your Anxiety. Figure out the history of your anxiety and how and when it makes itself known, and learn basic tools for surviving moments of panic as well as longer-term problem solving.

Renowned therapist and anxiety expert John Tsilimparis, MFT, shares the groundbreaking program he's created to help hundreds of people free themselves from crippling anxiety and live healthier, happier lives.

A take-anywhere toolkit to short-circuit anxiety and rewire your brain for lasting calm. Do you struggle with anxiety? Has it taken over your life or affected your relationships? Do you feel like chronic worry and rumination are holding you back from being your best, achieving your goals, or just enjoying your day-to-day life? Get a crash course in neuroscience with this slimmed down guide—full of the actionable tools you need to face anxiety head on. In this practical yet powerful guide, psychologist and neuroscience expert Catherine Pittman—author of Rewire Your Anxious Brain—introduces 50 new ways to work with your brain’s neural connections to find lasting, effective relief from your worst anxiety symptoms. The chapters of this book can be used in any order, as needed, to give you the information you need to act now, whether you’re at home or on the go. Also included are quick skills to help you soothe an anxious or stressed-out brain through physical movement, identify what you care about, and banish toxic thinking before it leads to rumination. The brain is a powerful tool, and the more you work to change the way you respond to fear, the more resilient you will become. Using the practical and proven-effective techniques in this book, you will literally “rewire” the brain processes at the root of your fears!

It’s time to outsmart your worry and anxiety. Drawing on the same cutting-edge psychology presented in author David Carbonell’s The Worry Trick, this irreverent, on-the-go guide offers ten powerful "counter-intuitive" strategies to help you put worry in its place—anytime, anywhere. Anxiety is a powerful force. It makes us question our decisions and ourselves, worry about the future, and it fills our days with dread and emotional turbulence. But what if we understood that anxiety is merely a trick of the mind, trying to convince us we’re in danger? Anxiety is like a magician behind the curtain, playing subtle tricks on us to convince us that we're in danger when we’re not. When we understand this, we can observe our anxious feelings with some distance. Based on the author’s popular book, The Worry Trick, this helpful and humorous guide identifies the “trick” of chronic anxiety, and provides the ten most powerful techniques based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you respond differently to panic, anxiety, worry, and phobias. Once you learn to respond differently to the worry trick, you’ll be able to break the cycle of chronic anxiety for good. Instead of trying to “manage” your anxiety or push anxious thoughts away—techniques that you’ve probably already discovered don’t work—the ten powerful strategies outlined in this guide will empower you to actually change how you respond to worry and anxiety, so you can get your life back!