Get ready to take a different perspective on your problems and your life--and the way you live it.
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a new, scientifically based psychotherapy that takes a fresh look at why we suffer and even what it means to be mentally healthy. What if pain were a normal, unavoidable part of the human condition, but avoiding or trying to control painful experience were the cause of suffering and long-term problems that can devastate your quality of life? The ACT process hinges on this distinction between pain and suffering. As you work through this book, you'll learn to let go of your struggle against pain, assess your values, and then commit to acting in ways that further those values.ACT is not about fighting your pain; it's about developing a willingness to embrace every experience life has to offer. It's not about resisting your emotions; it's about feeling them completely and yet not turning your choices over to them. ACT offers you a path out of suffering by helping you choose to live your life based on what matters to you most. If you're struggling with anxiety, depression, or problem anger, this book can help--clinical trials suggest that ACT is very effective for a whole range of psychological problems. But this is more than a self-help book for a specific complaint--it is a revolutionary approach to living a richer and more rewarding life.
- Learn why the very nature of human language can cause suffering
- Escape the trap of avoidance
- Foster willingness to accept painful experience
- Practice mindfulness skills to achieve presence in the moment
- Discover the things you really value most
- Commit to living a vital, meaningful life
This book has been awarded The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit -- an award bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives.
To be a human being (or indeed to be a primate) is to be attached to other fellow beings in relationships, from infancy on. This book examines what happens when the mechanisms of early attachment go awry, when caregiver and child do not form a relationship in which the child finds security in times of uncertainty and stress. Although John Bowlby, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, originally formulated attachment theory for the express purpose of understanding psychopathology across the life span, the concept of attachment was first adopted by psychologists studying typical development. In recent years, clinicians have rediscovered the potential of attachment theory to help them understand psychological/psychiatric disturbance, a potential that has now been amplified by decades of research on typical development.
Attachment Issues in Psychopathology and Intervention is the first book to offer a comprehensive overview of the implications of current attachment research and theory for conceptualizing psychopathology and planning effective intervention efforts. It usefully integrates attachment considerations into other frameworks within which psychopathology has been described and points new directions for investigation. The contributors, who include some of the major architects of attachment theory, link what we have learned about attachment to difficulties across the life span, such as failure to thrive, social withdrawal, aggression, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, dissociation, trauma, schizo-affective disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, eating disorders, and comorbid disorders. While all chapters are illuminated by rich case examples and discuss intervention at length, half focus solely on interventions informed by attachment theory, such as toddler-parent psychotherapy and emotionally focused couples therapy. Mental health professionals and researchers alike will find much in this book to stimulate and facilitate effective new approaches to their work.
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
The definitive work on the profound and surprising links between manic-depression and creativity, from the bestselling psychologist of bipolar disorders who wrote An Unquiet Mind.
One of the foremost psychologists in America, "Kay Jamison is plainly among the few who have a profound understanding of the relationship that exists between art and madness" (William Styron). The anguished and volatile intensity associated with the artistic temperament was once thought to be a symptom of genius or eccentricity peculiar to artists, writers, and musicians. Her work, based on her study as a clinical psychologist and researcher in mood disorders, reveals that many artists subject to exalted highs and despairing lows were in fact engaged in a struggle with clinically identifiable manic-depressive illness. Jamison presents proof of the biological foundations of this disease and applies what is known about the illness to the lives and works of some of the world's greatest artists including Lord Byron, Vincent Van Gogh, and Virginia Woolf.
From the author of "Man's Search for Meaning," one of the most influential works of psychiatric literature since Freud.
"Perhaps the most significant thinker since Freud and Adler," said "The American Journal of Psychiatry" about Europe's leading existential psychologist, the founder of logotherapy.
BRAIN PRESCRIPTIONS THAT REALLY WORK
In this breakthrough bestseller, you'll see scientific evidence that your anxiety, depression, anger, obsessiveness, or impulsiveness could be related to how specific structures in your brain work. You're not stuck with the brain you're born with. Here are just a few of neuropsychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen's surprising--and effective--"brain prescriptions" that can help heal your brain and change your life:
To Quell Anxiety and Panic:
, Use simple breathing techniques to immediately calm inner turmoil
To Fight Depression:
, Learn how to kill ANTs (automatic negative thoughts)
To Curb Anger:
, Follow the Amen anti-anger diet and learn the nutrients that calm rage
To Conquer Impulsiveness and Learn to Focus:
, Develop total focus with the "One-Page Miracle"
To Stop Obsessive Worrying:
, Follow the "get unstuck" writing exercise and learn other problem-solving exercises"
Taking a psychodynamic approach, Counselling Adults with Learning Disabilities describes current theoretical ideas in this area. Theories are described in an accessible way, with detailed examples given to demonstrate the translation from theory into practice. Common problems are considered within a 'life span' framework, with attention to specific difficulties such as bereavement, abuse and challenging behaviour. The wider context including relationships with families, groups and staff have also been given thoughtful consideration. Finally outcome evidence for counselling is explored.
"The dust jacket is missing, but the book has a pictorial cover.
