Michael Tompkins - The Anxiety and Depression Workbook

This workbook could not be timelier as an invaluable resource for the growing number of people who struggle with anxiety and depressionespecially as we battle an unprecedented global health crisis. Michael Tompkins masterfully explains psychological theory and integrates evidence-based interventions into easily applied strategies for reducing emotional pain, improving functioning, and facilitating values-based living. Numerous real-life examples lend validation to reduce shame and illustrate effective implementation of skills.

Rochelle I. Frank, PhD , assistant clinical professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley; adjunct professor at The Wright Institute; and coauthor of The Transdiagnostic Road Map to Case Formulation and Treatment Planning

The main idea of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is that we can feel better by practicing new habits of thought and behavior, and there is a wealth of evidence to back up this idea. In The Anxiety and Depression Workbook , Michael Tompkins walks you through the steps of CBT, including challenging negative thoughts, mindfulness, reducing avoidant behavior, problem-solving, exposure, and self-compassion. Tompkins speaks to the reader in a manner that manages to be comprehensive yet also highly accessible. Its like having a master therapist at your side as you read. If you suffer from anxiety or depression, this is the book for you. Ill be recommending it to my clients for years to come.

David F. Tolin, PhD , director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Hartford HealthCare Institute of Living, president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), and coauthor of The Big Book of Exposures

If you are seeking evidence-based tools and strategies to help you cope with anxiety and depression, I urge you to read this book. Michael Tompkins is an experienced and talented clinician who has used these strategies to help thousands of individuals. If you read this book, he can help you too.

Jacqueline B. Persons, PhD , director of the Oakland Cognitive Behavior Therapy Center; and clinical professor in the department of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley

This excellent workbook contains a wealth of practical information, presented in easy-to-understand language, complete with graphs, worksheets, and practice exercises. All is designed to help distressed persons act in the face of their anxious and depressed feelings, rather than avoid them. Conceptually, the focus is on teaching a variety of skills to build emotional, cognitive, and behavioral flexibility. Learning these skills will enable the reader to create lasting change that will reduce distress and improve quality of life.

Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, PhD, ABPP , emerita professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, practicing geropsychologist, and internationally recognized researcher in dementia family caregiving

If you struggle with anxiety or depression, you should read The Anxiety and Depression Workbook . Written by a very seasoned clinician, it offers a coherent set of strategies for managing these emotional concerns that is based on contemporary clinical science.

R. Trent Codd III, EdS , executive director of the CBT Center of Western North Carolina, and coauthor of Socratic Questioning for Therapists and Counselors

Publishers Note

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

NEW HARBINGER PUBLICATIONS is a registered trademark of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2021 by Michael A. Tompkins

New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

Cover design by Amy Daniel

Acquired by Tesilya Hanauer

Edited by Marisa Solis

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Tompkins, Michael A., author. | Beck, Judith S., author.

Title: The anxiety and depression workbook : simple, effective CBT techniques to manage moods and feel better now / by Michael A. Tompkins, PhD, ABPP, Judith S. Beck.

Description: Oakland : New Harbinger Publications, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020038389 (print) | LCCN 2020038390 (ebook) | ISBN 9781684036141 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781684036158 (pdf) | ISBN 9781684036165 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Anxiety--Treatment. | Depression, Mental--Treatment. | Cognitive therapy. | Anxiety--Problems, exercises, etc. | Depression, Mental--Problems, exercises, etc.

Classification: LCC RC531 .T662 2021 (print) | LCC RC531 (ebook) | DDC 616.85/2206--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020038389

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020038390

For Lu

Contents

Foreword

Why should you read this workbook? If you suffer from anxiety or depression, or know someone who does, youll find it quite valuable. In the 1960s, my father, Dr. Aaron T. Beck, developed cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and since then, researchers, clinicians, and policy makers worldwide have recommended CBT as the psychological treatment of choice for anxiety and depressive disorders. At the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy, we have taught tens of thousands of clinicians how to improve their effectiveness by using the techniques in this workbook.

During the past ten years, researchers have studied what we have observed: emotional disorders share important core factors that maintain anxiety and depressive disorders, regardless of the disorder or the diagnosis. And one of the primary factors is emotion avoidance.

In The Anxiety and Depression Workbook, Dr. Michael A. Tompkins suggests that if you suffer with excessive anxiety or depression, the treatment is straightforward: decrease your emotion avoidance by enhancing your emotional flexibility. Greater emotional flexibility sets the stage for approaching rather than retreating from your anxious or depressed feelings, and thereby builds your tolerance to these uncomfortable emotions.

In this book, as in his other books, Dr. Tompkins translates complex psychological concepts into practical yet highly effective skills. Youll begin by learning to record your anxious and depressed experiences. In addition to identifying the thoughts and actions that maintain your emotion avoidance, youll identify the ongoing consequences of avoiding your anxious and depressed feelings.

Next, youll learn mindfulness and acceptance skills that will add flexibility to your attentional system. What you attend to and what you ignore contribute to your emotional inflexibility. This inflexibility makes it difficult for you to shift your attention in order to see situations and yourself as they really are.

Then, youll learn skills to think more flexibly. These cognitive change strategies are a core feature of cognitive behavioral therapy, and Dr. Tompkins describes several simple-to-use thinking skills that set the stage for the emotion exposures that follow.

Once youve loosened your emotional system through the application of the mindfulness and thinking skills, you will move to the essential step of building your emotion tolerance through emotion exposures. Although facing your emotions may seem counterintuitive, youll soon learn that approaching rather than retreating from your anxious and depressed feelings is the key to a fuller and more meaningful life. In this book, youll learn to do this.