The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety: A Guide to Breaking Free from Anxiety, Phobias, and Worry Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

After years of struggling with stress and anxiety, trying everything under the sun to fix my problems (with some stuff making things distinctly worse!), the message behind ACT was like a breath of fresh air. My problem wasn't the anxiety itself - it was with my struggles and ineffective coping methods. After some good work and reading books like this one, I can happily say that I am living a meaningful live in the service of what matters most to me. I've been a member of the ACT community going on four years now. I've read several of the books, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety Disorders so I eagerly anticipated the arrival of this new workbook. It's safe to say I wasn't disappointed. I can say hands down this is the most powerful and useful self-help book out there for people who are struggling with anxiety. Period. The authors approach this work with gentleness, humility, and compassion. If you're like many people who have been suffering from excessive stress, fear, or anxiety, you don't need more information or knowledge. You need something that works, and that's just what they're offering in this new workbook. The emphasis is on finding workable ways of living a more valued and meaningful life. Here it is in plain English. If you're struggling with worry, fear, stress, or anxiety, and what you've been doing to control or manage your problems isn't working, get this workbook. It might just change your life.

I've enjoyed integrating ACT into my practice. I feel it is a solid approach and frankly haven't had much luck with other approaches. I do not believe that this or any other form of therapy is the be all and end all, however for clinicians and patients who are unfamiliar with the ACT philosophy, this book is practical and accessible.

I have been to therapy in the past (for childhood abuse issues and anxiety) and read other material on anxiety, and it truly did give me significant relief from my symptoms, and helped my life overall. But the goal was to totally get rid of anxiety for me. So I was always left with the hang ups that came when I had anxiety, which every human has, and is unavoidable. I would see the anxiety as proof that something was wrong with me, I wasn't coping well, etc. It fed into negative thoughts about life and myself. So I had obsessions and hangups surrounding the residual anxiety itself. In the past several months I had started coming to some of the viewpoints in the workbook on my own, so when I found out about it, it just clicked with me on a deep level. It has been so helpful already to me, and enriched my life. When I started identifying my values (an important step in the workbook), I realized for the first time that a lot of what I have tried to do with my life, was about things other people cared about and not me. I finally saw what *I* cared for. It has already shifted the focus of my life. For instance, I'm 29 years old tomorrow, and I always thought I "should" be going out and having drinks with friends periodically. Or doing the things people my age "should" do. But I never really cared about that, OR got any real enjoyment out of it. That's just a small example, but to me was a big epiphany. The things I care about are my children, raising them WELL. My marriage, my family, learning, doing something meaningful with my life that helps others...etc. So I kind of found myself in this book, and I'm not apologizing for who I am anymore. I always felt "too serious". But I was judging by someone else's standards. In the realm of anxiety, I have been practicing mindfulness and acceptance, and I keep getting these just awe inspiring moments. Where you just think, Wow! I feel like I'm getting in touch with something much bigger than myself, a place much bigger than me, where anxiety, worries, and fears are a very small and inconsequential thing. Another thing that has really changed my perception of anxiety and worries is the realization that there is much more "space" in me than just what I'm feeling at a particular time. There is "room" for a lot more in me than I thought. Room for the anxiety or fear to be there, and room for me to bring acceptance to them at the same time, and then peace. And no matter what, my values are always there, they are a constant. And they have within them much more energy than my fears to tap into. I've been feeling very spiritually peaceful and joyous at random times throughout the day since practicing this workbook. Even my dreams have changed. Like last night I dreamt of riding an airplane and looking down at the world, viewing a beautiful sunrise, etc. It's a dream I've never had. I'm very hopeful and excited about living life this way, in acceptance. Something I've never been able to ac

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.

I am a psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety. I found this to be a highly effective program for my anxious teens and adults. For many, it is life changing, liberating, and results in a level of peace they have not accessed before. I especially welcomed alternative ways of addressing and conceptualizing anxiety. I have found the approaches and philosophies outlined in this program to be well-received by patients. It is a great stand-alone program but is also a great adjunct to more traditional CBT approaches. The book is well written and easy to read, the illustrations are powerful, and the CD allows forms to be printed and contains excellent guided meditation exercises. What a great addition to the field of workbooks for anxious individuals!