Researchers estimate that 18 million Americans will suffer from generalized anxiety disorder during their lifetime. This book is the first to adapt the principles of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a revolutionary new psychological approach, for a general audience.
A guide to ACT: the revolutionary mindfulness-based program for reducing stress, overcoming fear, and finding fulfilment – now updated. International bestseller, 'The Happiness Trap', has been published in over thirty countries and twenty-two languages. NOW UPDATED. Popular ideas about happiness are misleading, inaccurate, and are directly contributing to our current epidemic of stress, anxiety and depression. And unfortunately, popular psychological approaches are making it even worse! In this easy-to-read, practical and empowering self-help book, Dr Russ Harries, reveals how millions of people are unwittingly caught in the 'The Happiness Trap', where the more they strive for happiness the more they suffer in the long term. He then provides an effective means to escape through the insights and techniques of ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), a groundbreaking new approach based on mindfulness skills. By clarifying your values and developing mindfulness (a technique for living fully in the present moment), ACT helps you escape the happiness trap and find true satisfaction in life. Mindfulness skills are easy to learn and will rapidly and effectively help you to reduce stress, enhance performance, manage emotions, improve health, increase vitality, and generally change your life for the better. The book provides scientifically proven techniques to: reduce stress and worry; rise above fear, doubt and insecurity; handle painful thoughts and feelings far more effectively; break self-defeating habits; improve performance and find fulfilment in your work; build more satisfying relationships; and, create a rich, full and meaningful life.
Wilson and Dufrene help readers foster the flexibility they need to keep from succumbing to the avoidable forces of anxiety, and open themselves to the often uncomfortable complexities and possibilities of life.
Are you truly in danger or has your brain simply "tricked" you into thinking you are? In The Worry Trick, psychologist and anxiety expert David Carbonell shows how anxiety hijacks the brain and offers effective techniques to help you break the cycle of worry, once and for all. Anxiety is a powerful force. It makes us question ourselves and our decisions, causes us to worry about the future, and fills our days with dread and emotional turbulence. Based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), this book is designed to help you break the cycle of worry. Worry convinces us there's danger, and then tricks us into getting into fight, flight, or freeze mode—even when there is no danger. The techniques in this book, rather than encouraging you to avoid or try to resist anxiety, shows you how to see the trick that underlies your anxious thoughts, and how avoidance can backfire and make anxiety worse. If you’re ready to start observing your anxious feelings with distance and clarity—rather than getting tricked once again—this book will show you how.
THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER Do you ever feel worried, miserable or unfulfilled - yet put on a happy face and pretend everything's fine? You are not alone. Stress, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem are all around. Research suggests that many of us get caught in a psychological trap, a vicious circle in which the more we strive for happiness, the more it eludes us. Fortunately, there is a way to escape from the 'Happiness Trap' in this updated and expanded second edition which unlocks the secrets to a truly fulfilling life. This empowering book presents the insights and techniques of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), covering more topics and providing more practical tools than ever before. Learn how to clarify your values, develop self-compassion and find true satisfaction with this bigger and better guide to: · Reducing stress and worry · Handling painful thoughts and feelings more effectively · Breaking self-defeating habits · Overcoming insecurity and self-doubt · Building better relationships · Improving performance and finding fulfilment at work The Happiness Trap is for everyone. Whether you're lacking confidence, facing illness, coping with loss, working in a high-stress job, or suffering from anxiety or depression, this book will show you how to build authentic happiness, from the inside out.
A unique collaboration between cartoonist/author Bev Aisbett and Dr Russ Harris, this is an illustrated, simplified pocketbook version of Russ’s original, international bestseller 'The Happiness Trap'. It’s an easy-to-read introduction to all those powerful life-changing ideas or a great refresher course for those already familiar with the approach.Commonplace ideas about happiness are often misleading, inaccurate and likely to make you miserable in the long term. For example, positive thinking often does not work — and research shows it actually makes some people feel worse! So open 'The Happiness Trap Pocketbook' and learn how a new scientifically proven, mindfulness-based approach called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (better known as ACT) can help you find genuine wellbeing and fulfilment.Whether you’re lacking confidence, facing illness, stressed at work, struggling with low self-esteem, trying to lose weight or quit smoking, or just wanting to be happier, healthier, and more fulfilled — in this book you will learn effectivetechniques to:• reduce stress and worry• rise above fear, doubt and insecurity• handle painful thoughts and feelings more effectively• break self-defeating habits• develop self-acceptance and self-compassion• let go of inaccurate and misleading (but very popular)ideas about happiness, and• create a rich, full and meaningful life.
Build more compassionate, accepting, and loving relationships with acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Let’s face it: Picture-perfect storybook romances don’t exist in real life. Couples fight. Feelings of love wax and wane through the years. And the stress and tedium of everyday life and work can often drive a wedge between even the most devoted couples. So, how can you reignite passion and intimacy in your relationship, cultivate greater understanding and compassion between yourself and your partner, and bring the joy back to your love life? In this fully revised and updated edition of ACT with Love, therapist and world-renowned ACT expert Russ Harris shows how developing psychological flexibility—the ability to be in the present moment with openness, awareness, and focus, and to take effective action in line with one's values—can help you and your partner strengthen and deepen your relationship. Also included is new information on attachment theory, powerful mindfulness and self-compassion techniques, and assertiveness and boundary-setting skills. ACT with Love will show you how to: Let go of conflict, open up, and live fully in the present Use mindfulness to increase intimacy, connection, and understanding Resolve painful conflicts and reconcile long-standing differences Act on your values to build a rich and meaningful relationship If you’re looking to increase feelings of intimacy, love, and connection with your partner, this book has everything you need to get started—together.
Are you tired of casual relationships and playing 'the game'? Do you want to settle down, but can't seem to be able to find the right person? Have you just come out of a long-term relationship, or had your heart badly broken? Do you worry that nobody will love you again? If any of this sounds familiar, you may have fallen into the Single Trap. You are not alone. For the first time ever, the number of single-person households in the UK is about to outnumber those with families. In this ground-breaking book, marital therapist Andrew G. Marshall diagnoses the underlying social trends and sets out his two-step guide to freeing yourself from the trap and finding lasting love. He explains: - The defences that stop us getting hurt but also serve as barriers to potential new relationships - How like attracts like, and how to work on balancing yourself to bring similarly balanced people into your life - New ways to search for a partner that encourage an open mind and more fulfilling emotional connections - How to tell if you and your new man or woman have the makings of a successful long-term partnership Marshall has spent nearly twenty-five years helping people untangle their love lives, communicate better and find true happiness. In this practical and thought-provoking book, he combines the latest research into relationships with years of counselling experience to design a programme that works.
Powerful skills based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you break free from the fear of uncertainty and put a stop to compulsive checking and reassurance seeking. “How do I know I made the right decision?” “What if I’m wrong?” “I need to know for sure.” Do you have thoughts like these—thoughts that cause you to second-guess yourself, and lead to anxiety, stress, and worry? Do you find yourself repeatedly checking your email for no reason, asking others for their opinions about something again and again, or lying awake at night overanalyzing and planning ahead in an attempt to feel less anxious? If so, you probably have a problem with compulsive reassurance seeking. The good news is that you can break free from this “reassurance trap”—this book will show you how. In this unique guide, you’ll find proven-effective tips and tools using CBT to help you tolerate uncertainty, face specific worrying scenarios, and gradually reduce the compulsion to incessantly seek reassurance. Most importantly, you’ll learn to deal with those pesky “doubt attacks” and trust your own judgment. Asking for reassurance is a self-reinforcing behavior—if you do it, you’re less likely to handle stressful situations without needing further reassurance. And so the cycle continues. The CBT skills in this book will help you break this exhausting and painful pattern, so you can build self-confidence and improve your life.
The Mindfulness Solution to Anxiety Drawing on techniques and perspectives from two seemingly different traditions, this second edition of the self-help classic Calming Your Anxious Mind offers you a powerful and profound approach to overcoming anxiety, fear, and panic. From the evidence-based tradition of Western medicine, learn the role your thoughts and emotions play in anxiety. And, from the tradition of meditation and the inquiry into meaning and purpose, discover your own potential for presence and stillness, kindness and compassion-and the tremendous power these states give you to heal and transform your life. Use this encouraging, step-by-step program to: •Learn about the mechanism of anxiety and the body's fear system •Develop a healing mindfulness practice-one breath at a time •Start on the path to presence, stillness, compassion, and loving kindness •Practice acceptance during mindfulness meditation •Feel safe while opening up to fearful and anxious feelings