The ACT Workbook for OCD: Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Exposure Skills to Live Well with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

by Marisa T. Mazza PsyD, Lisa W. Coyne PhD (Foreword by)

Overview

Stand up to your OCD! The ACT Workbook for OCD combines evidence-based acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) with exposure and response prevention (ERP) for the most up-to-date, effective treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

If you’re one of millions of people who suffer from OCD, you may experience obsessive, intrusive, or even disturbing thoughts. You may engage in compulsive or ritualistic behaviors, such as checking to make sure you’ve locked the front door, or endlessly washing your hands for fear of germs or contamination. And you may be tempted to give up if treatment just doesn’t work for you.

Whether you’ve just received a diagnosis, or have suffered for years, this workbook can help. Using the powerful and proven-effective treatments in this guide, you’ll learn what type of OCD you suffer from (such as harm OCD), how to identify the underlying mechanisms of your OCD, move through triggering incidents while staying present and connected to your values, be more aware and flexible, tolerate uncertainty, and commit to behaviors that ultimately allow you to lead a full, rewarding life. Once you realize what really matters to you, you’ll find the motivation needed to start on the path to psychological well-being.

If you’re ready to be courageous, take a risk, and stand up to your OCD symptoms, this workbook can help guide you, every step of the way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684032891
Publisher:	New Harbinger Publications
Publication date:	06/01/2020
Edition description:	Workbook
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	162,171
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Marisa T. Mazza, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and founder of choicetherapy psychological services, inc. She has utilized evidence-based treatments to help people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety for over fifteen years. She created and operates an individual therapy practice and intensive outpatient program in San Francisco, CA. Mazza and her team integrate evidence-based treatments—such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), exposure response and prevention (ERP), and compassion-focused therapy (CFT)—to assist adults and adolescents in changing their relationship with obsessions and compulsions in order to live vitally. She is on the board of OCD SF Bay Area (the International OCD Foundation’s local affiliate), president of the San Francisco Bay Area Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, and faculty in the department of education at the University of San Francisco.

Foreword writer Lisa W. Coyne, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and researcher who has worked to improve the psychological well-being of children, teens, and families for more than twenty years. She is assistant professor at Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital in the division of child and adolescent psychiatry, where she specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders and OCD.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Introduction Living Fully and Freely with OCD 1

Chapter 1 What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? 13

Chapter 2 Clarifying Your Values 41

Chapter 3 Letting Go of Control 63

Chapter 4 Acceptance 81

Chapter 5 Mindfulness 87

Chapter 6 Hooked on Thoughts 99

Chapter 7 Unhooking from Your Thoughts and Making a Choice 129

Chapter 8 Cultivating Self-Compassion 137

Chapter 9 Getting to Know Your Core Fear 153

Chapter 10 Setting the Intention to Live Boldly 167

Chapter 11 Taking a Courageous Stance 179

Chapter 12 Living a Values-Based Life 197

Acknowledgments 201

Appendix Sample Exposure Exercises 203

References 209

Interviews

Mazza resides in San Francisco, CA.

Editorial Reviews

The ACT Workbook for OCD by Marisa Mazza is a gift to anyone who struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It addresses OCD in its depth, covering all forms of the disorder and illustrating them with multiple examples of personal stories, including rare subtypes that are often missed. It’s practical and easy to follow. Based on cutting-edge methods and steeped in ancient wisdom, this book will empower you to live your life fully, and show you step by step how to reclaim your life from OCD. Whether you work with a therapist or by yourself, this book is well worth reading.”
—Marina Bystritsky, PhD, is adjunct faculty in the department of psychiatry at UCSF, and a psychologist at the San Francisco Anxiety Treatment Center

Marina Bystritsky

Considerable effort has been devoted in recent years to improve the efficacy and accessibility of the gold standard of OCD treatment: an intervention called ERP. One promising source has been ACT. ACT does not represent an entirely new approach to OCD, per se, but it does contain components that may complement and facilitate ERP. For example, procedures like clarifying values and enhancing commitment are not traditional components of ERP. Mazza has produced a practical and useful workbook that infuses ERP with the complementary components of ACT. It is a valuable resource for those who suffer from OCD and the clinicians who treat them.”
—C. Alec Pollard, PhD, director of the Center for OCD and Anxiety-Related Disorders at Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute; professor emeritus of family and community medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine

C. Alec Pollard

The ACT Workbook for OCD is a valuable self-help book for those wishing to commit to life change while moving forward in meaningful ways. OCD’s debilitating grip is truly loosened through reading the information, completing the exercises, and practicing the evidence-based interventions presented within. Marisa Mazza has hit the target in combining acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), exposure and response prevention (ERP), and compassion-based work in assisting those who suffer from OCD and who wish to break free. I will heartily recommend to clients and clinicians alike!”
—Robyn D. Walser, PhD, codirector of Bay Area Trauma Recovery Clinic; assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley; author of The Heart of ACT and Learning ACT II; and coauthor of The Mindful Couple

Robyn D. Walser

The real strength of this book is that it goes further than just teaching you what OCD is or how to combat it—it also helps you to use your values and other meaningful aspects of your life as the anchors and motivation for treating your OCD. Exposure therapy can be really tough, and this book helps you to teach yourself to be more willing to tolerate the challenges, and more compassionate around your missteps, so that you can live the kind of life you want regardless of what thoughts pop into your head.”
—Ryan Vidrine, MD, director of the OCD program at TMS Health Solutions, and assistant professor at UCSF School of Medicine

Ryan Vidrine

In The ACT Workbook for OCD, Marisa Mazza does a superb job simplifying a complex treatment into an approachable and helpful guide to the treatment of OCD. The workbook is written in a way that provides the reader with the experience of being in front of an understanding and wise clinician; gently guiding you through clearly stated clinical instruction. The workbook addresses a wide range of OCD manifestations which are at times overlooked in self-help literature. I look forward to using this workbook within my clinical practice treating OCD.”
—Elliot Kaminetzky, PhD, licensed clinical psychologist, founder and clinical director of My OCD Care, and adjunct clinical supervisor at Pace University

Elliot Kaminetzky

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