Matthew McKay - The CBT Anxiety Solution Workbook: A Breakthrough Treatment for Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Panic

Anxiety, panic, and worries can have crippling and debilitating effects on a persons life. Fortunately, there are effective ways to deal with them. In this beautifully written workbook, McKay, Skeen, and Fanning offer concrete and effective instructions to overcome these problems. I highly recommend this book.

Stefan G. Hofmann, PhD, professor of psychology at Boston University

Combining the best approaches from all three generations of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) research and practice, this book is a reliable, evidence-based guide to expand your life when it is restricted by fear. Systematic, clear, and step-by-step, think of it as a roadmap for human liberationyour own, or one you love. Highly recommended.

Steven C. Hayes, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno,and author of GetOutofYourMindandIntoYourLife

This workbook beautifully integrates strategies from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) into practical solutions for a broad spectrum of anxiety problems. McKay, Skeen, and Fanning take readers through a step-by-step process explaining mechanisms underlying anxiety, helping individuals assess problematic coping patterns, and introducing values work to motivate them for the challenge of tackling anxiety in a meaningful and lasting way. Numerous real-life examples validate personal experiences and illustrate how to implement interventions to reduce suffering, which will resonate with clients and clinicians alike.

Rochelle I. Frank, PhD, assistant clinical professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and coauthor of TheTransdiagnosticRoadMaptoCaseFormulationandTreatmentPlanning

This workbook demystifies anxiety and teaches the nuts and bolts about using strategies from the most up-to-date anxiety protocols and treatments to face your specific fears and cope with fearful thoughts. Its informative, thorough, and easy to follow, with numerous examples to use as guidelines. Whether you suffer from anxiety or you help those who do, this resource offers the practical guidance you need.

Joan Davidson, PhD, codirector and founding partner of the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy, and assistant professor in the clinical sciences program at the University of California, Berkeley

This book is based on a number of proven approaches for treating and managing anxiety, including exposure to feared stimuli, mindfulness and acceptance, and cognitive reappraisal. Filled with helpful worksheets and illustrations, the books clear, practical, and accessible format is an excellent option for anyone struggling with anxiety.

Martin M. Antony, PhD, professor of psychology at Ryerson University, and coauthor of TheShynessandSocialAnxietyWorkbook and TheAnti-Anxiety Workbook

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.

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2017 by Matthew McKay, Michelle Skeen, and Patrick Fanning

New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

Cover design by Amy Shoup

Acquired by Catharine Meyers

Edited by Susan LaCroix

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

Fear is a natural and valuable emotion. It has great survival value for human beings, preparing us to fight for survival or run away quickly from a threat. But too much fear in the form of chronic anxiety is incredibly painful and debilitating.

Anxiety is prolonged fear that persists in the absence of a real threat: after a threat is over, during situations that arent actually very dangerous, or before a potential threat in the future. When anxiety becomes chronic and dominates your life, it morphs into an anxiety disorder.

Research consistently shows that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most effective anxiety treatment. It works better than drugs, psychoanalysis, hypnosis, and all the other ways we have tried to treat anxiety over the years.

Broadly speaking, two CBT approaches for treating anxiety have emerged: coping and exposure. Coping is changing how you think, evaluating threats more accurately, and building confidence in your ability to handle a threat so that you are gradually less afraid. Exposure is purposefully experiencing what you are afraid of, disproving your dire predictions of disaster, until your fear naturally subsides. The most recent data show that both approaches help, but exposure can work faster and results in larger, longer-lasting reductions in anxiety.

The first two-thirds of this book teach you everything you need to know to apply the latest and most effective protocol for exposure, called inhibitory learning. It was developed by a team of therapists and researchers (Craske, Treanor, Conway, Zbozinek, and Vervliet) who published their results in 2014. This special exposure process will help you overcome anxiety as rapidly and completely as possible.

This book also covers the most effective coping strategies used in CBT and related therapies: coping planning, defusion, cognitive flexibility, and distress tolerance. They are research-tested, highly effective techniques that will augment and strengthen your anxiety recovery program.

Using this book is simple: continue reading, working through the first six chapters in order. Do the exercises as you come to them, thoroughly and diligently, before going on to the next section or skipping ahead. Along the way, you may be advised to also work in chapters 710. Finally, read the final chapter on relapse prevention.

You are about to start a challenging but very rewarding journey. Here is a preview of the main attractions:

Chapter 2 goes into the details of the alarm response, how we perceive and appraise threats, the fight/flight reaction, and typical behavioral responses. It allows you to compare your symptoms to the six most commonly diagnosed anxiety disorders:

1. Generalized anxiety disorder
2. Social anxiety disorder
3. Obsessive-compulsive disorder
4. Panic disorder
5. Specific phobia
6. Post-traumatic stress disorder

You will begin making a list of feared situations that you will carry forward into future chapters. At the end of the chapter is an exercise to help you identify your particular fear response and begin to shape your treatment plan.

Chapter 3 is all about assessment. You will begin an inventory of your feared situations, your level of distress for each, and which of several safety behaviors you tend to use:

• Avoiding whats making you anxious
• Seeking reassurance from others
• Distraction
• Procrastination