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, 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 charts and patient assignments 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, Morgan Firestone Chair in Psychotherapy, head of the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Unit at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, all at the University of Toronto, and author of
The Mindful Way Through DepressionIf you suffer with anxiety, Forsyth and Eifert have given you a gift. It is not a structured manual for how to get over your anxiety as much as it is a book of wisdom. They raise the inevitable truth that anxiety is a part of all of us, and they show us the way, through willingness, compassion, mindfulness, and acceptance of ourselves and others, to live a life worth the living, to understand our important values and to live in concert with them. This is a book well worth the reading, and its message is worth keeping close to your heart.
—Richard G. Heimberg, PhD, professor of psychology and director of the Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple University
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, joining other evidence-based approaches as a major tool for treating the disabling symptoms that accompany anxiety.
—Terence M. Keane, PhD, chief of psychology service at the VA Boston Healthcare System, director of the Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD, and professor and vice-chair for research of the Division of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine
In this impressive 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. This clearly written book is packed with helpful suggestions. I will definitely use it with my own clients and students, and I recommend it highly for anyone who struggles with anxiety.
—Martin M. Antony, PhD, ABPP, professor and director of graduate training in the Department of Psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto, ON, Canada
Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
First off, I usually hate workbooks. I can't stand to pay money for a bunch of pages filled with lines that I'm supposed to fill in, as if I am writing the book myself. THIS BOOK IS NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL. It's brief but thorough, with great ideas on every page. It takes you by the hand and explains in detail, but does it in a way that you don't feel talked down to.
Second, about half the people out there touting acceptance these days don't have any idea what they're talking about. There are a bunch of psychobabblers who go to one Steve Hayes workshop and think that since they read some Zen twenty years ago they know the whole ACT paradigm. John and Georg are really immersed in this work, and it shows up in the gentle way that they explain the key concepts. The subtle way they frame examples also shows their deep understanding of what this framework is all about. Because they understand it so well, the exercises flow from the central themes, so you can see how they build to an understanding of emotion. Readers will find themselves more forgiving of themselves and their own feelings. It's not a bunch of cognitive hoop-jumping that you see from other books that don't really understand this paradigm. Instead, you finish with the sense that this is really a way of life.
Last, you don't have to be anxious to benefit from reading this book! Much as I would love to pretend that I picked it up just to help clients and supervisees, I get wound up and freaked out like the next person. This book helps me identify moments of willingness, however brief and infrequent, and gets me to cultivate mindfulness throughout the day.
