How To Control Your Anxiety Before It Controls You

by Albert Ellis, Kristene Doyle (Foreword by)

Overview

“No individual—not even Freud himself—has had a greater impact on modern psychotherapy.” —Psychology Today

CLASSIC SELF-HELP FROM A RESPECTED PIONEER OF PSYCHOTHERAPY
 
From social anxiety to phobias to post-traumatic stress disorder, sources of anxiety in daily life are numerous, and can have a powerful impact on your future. By following the rules of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), created by world renowned therapist Dr. Albert Ellis, you can stop anxiety in its tracks if you will admit this important fact: Things and people do not make you anxious. You do. Your unrealistic expectations produce your needless anxiety. Yet not all anxiety is needless…
 
Healthy anxiety can ward off dangers and make you aware of negative things that you can change. Unhealthy anxiety inhibits you from enjoying everyday activities and relationships, causes you to perform poorly, and blocks your creativity. Using the easy-to-master, proven precepts of REBT, this classic book not only helps you distinguish between healthy and unhealthy anxiety, but teaches you how to:
 
•Understand and dispute the irrational beliefs that make you anxious
•Use a variety of exercises, including rational coping self-statements, reframing, problem-solving methods, and Unconditional Self-Acceptance (USA), to control your anxiety
•Apply over 200 maxims to control your anxious thinking as well as your bodily reactions to anxiety
 
…and much more, including examples from dozens of cases Dr. Ellis treated successfully. Now you can overcome the crippling effects of anxiety—and increase your prospects for success, pleasure, and happiness at home and in the workplace.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780806538037
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	06/28/2016
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	386,303
Product dimensions:	6.04(w) x 8.94(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

Albert Ellis, Ph.D. founded Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), the pioneering form of the modern Cognitive Behavior therapies. In a 1982 professional survey, Dr. Ellis was ranked as the second most influential psychotherapist in history. His name is a staple among psychologists, students, and historians around the world. He published over seven hundred articles and more than sixty books on psychotherapy, marital and family therapy, and sex therapy. Until his death in 2007, Dr. Ellis served as President Emeritus of the Albert Ellis Institute in New York, which provides professional training programs and psychotherapy to individuals, families and groups. To learn more, visit www.albertellis.org.
 
Kristene A. Doyle, Ph.D., Sc.D. is the Director of the Albert Ellis Institute. Dr. Doyle is also the Director of Clinical Services, founding Director of the Eating Disorders Treatment and Research Center, and a licensed psychologist at the Institute. She is a Diplomate in Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and serves on the Diplomate Board. In addition, Dr. Doyle conducts numerous workshops and professional trainings throughout the world and has influenced the growth and practice of Rational Emotive and Cognitive Behavior Therapy in countries spanning several continents. Dr. Doyle is co-author of A Practitioner’s Guide to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, 3rd edition, and co-editor of The Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy. She has served as an expert commentator for ABC’s 20/20, Access Hollywood, Channel 2 and Channel 11 News. Dr. Doyle has also been quoted in prestigious publications including The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, and The Wall Street Journal.

Table of Contents

Foreword Kristene A. Doyle, Ph.D., Sc.D. ix

Acknowledgments xi

1 Why I Am Convinced That You Can Control Your Anxiety Before It Controls You 1

2 What Anxiety Is and How It Often Controls You 13

3 Luckily, Most of Your Anxiety Is Self-Created and Can Be Uncreated 23

4 Irrational Beliefs That Make You Anxious 32

5 Disputing Your Anxiety-Creating Irrational Beliefs 46

6 Using Rational Coping Self-Statements 61

7 Using Positive Visualization and Modeling 66

8 Using Cost-Benefit Analysis to Control Your Anxiety 69

9 Using Educational Methods to Control Your Anxiety 72

10 Using Relaxation and Cognitive Distraction Methods 75

11 Using Reframing Methods 77

12 Using Problem-Solving Methods to Control Your Anxiety 80

13 Using Unconditional Self-Acceptance (USA) 83

14 Using Unconditional Acceptance of Others to Control Your Anxiety 94

15 Using Rational Emotive Imagery 107

16 Using Shame-Attacking Exercises to Control Your Anxiety 112

17 Some Forceful and Dramatic Methods of Controlling Your Anxiety 122

18 Firmly Convincing Yourself of Your Rational and Self-Helping Beliefs 133

19 Using a Sense of Humor to Control Your Anxiety 139

20 Using Exposure and Behavioral Desensitization 149

21 Tolerating and Staying in Anxiety-Provoking Situations 159

22 Using Reinforcement Methods to Control Your Anxiety 164

23 Using Penalties to Control Your Anxiety 170

24 Using the Method of Fixed Role-playing to Control Your Anxiety 173

25 What About Biology and the Use of Medications? 177

26 A Remarkably Efficient Way to Control Your Anxiety Before It Controls You 181

27 104 Rational Maxims to Control My Anxious Thinking 189

28 62 Rational Maxims to Control My Anxious Feelings and My Bodily Reactions to Anxiety 206

29 65 Rational Maxims to Help Me Act Against My Discomfort Anxiety and My Irrational Fears 217

Selected References 226

Index 237