The Dutiful Worrier: How to Stop Compulsive Worry Without Feeling Guilty

by Elliot D. Cohen PhD

Overview

Do you feel it's your duty to worry?

If your answer to this question is "yes," you may be suffering from a type of compulsive behavior called dutiful worrying. On the positive side, dutiful worrying can make you feel as if you're actually doing something to improve or control your situation. But this unproductive habit eventually robs you of energy and peace of mind and can leave you feeling overwhelmed.

The Dutiful Worrier pinpoints why some of us become compulsive worriers and offers a four-step program to end this vicious circle. With this book, you'll:

•Identify and change the thoughts that propel your worry
•Learn to make decisions without ruminating about them
•Overcome feelings of guilt when you don't worry
•Let go and give up worrying once and for all

Complete with self-evaluations and exercises, this book offers guidance for keeping perspective and accepting that you are not responsible for preventing catastrophe. Without the burden of dutiful worrying, you will be able to enjoy life more freely and fully.

This book has received the prestigious accolade of being included in The Albert Ellis Tribute Book Series—created to honor the life and work of Albert Ellis, the founder of rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT). REBT is one of the most widely-practiced therapies throughout the world and is the foundation for cognitive-behavioral therapy and other evidence-based approaches. These books provide proven-effective treatments and tools to improve psychological well-being, while also supporting advancements in psychotherapy for the betterment of humanity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608824106
Publisher:	New Harbinger Publications
Publication date:	05/01/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	168
File size:	881 KB

About the Author

Elliot D. Cohen, PhD, is professor and chair of the department of humanities at Indian River State College, adjunct professor of clinical ethics at the Florida State University College of Medicine, and director of the Institute of Critical Thinking. The author of numerous books and articles, he is a principal founder of philosophical counseling in the United States and inventor of logic-based therapy. He writes a blog for Psychology Today and has been quoted in major media venues, including New York Times Magazine.

Elliot D. Cohen, PhD, is professor and chair of the department of humanities at Indian River State College, adjunct professor of clinical ethics at the Florida State University College of Medicine, and director of the Logic-Based Therapy & Consultation Institute. Author of numerous books and articles, he is a principal founder of philosophical counseling in the United States, and inventor of logic-based therapy. He writes a blog for Psychology Today, and has been quoted in major media venues, including New York Times Magazine.

What People are Saying About This

Janet L. Wolfe

"A unique book that gets at the meta-cognition underlying people's compulsive worry: the belief that they must keep obsessing about future possibilities so that somehow in their ruminating despair they will discover the perfect solution. In addition, Cohen's book provides one of the clearest and most succinct demonstrations I've ever seen of the four-step process for identifying and changing irrational beliefs—a great general introduction to CBT." --(Janet L. Wolfe, PhD, former executive editor of the Albert Ellis Institute)

Lazarus

"The Dutiful Worrier is an excellent self-help book. It provides extremely helpful strategies for leading a less anxious and more fulfilling life. Lucid and cleverly organized into sections that make it easy to read and understand, it draws on the thoughts and findings of outstanding clinicians and scholars. I enthusiastically endorse and recommend The Dutiful Worrier." --(Arnold A. Lazarus, PhD, ABPP, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University and executive director of The Lazarus Institute in Skillman, NJ)

Carlson

"Worry, no matter how good the reason, is not healthy. As Albert Ellis stated, ‘Worry is itself one of the most painful conditions.' Elliot Cohen shows how to use a four-step process to identify, refute, replace, and monitor well-meaning worry. I recommend you follow this four-step program and learn to concentrate on actual troubles and not the imaginary ones." --(Jon Carlson, PsyD, EdD, Distinguished Professor in psychology and counseling at Governors State University in University Park, IL)

Knaus

"If you are tired of sweating things that never happen, this highly informative book is for you. Use the exceptional ideas and exercises within to free yourself from worry and to unleash a happier, more productive you. This may be the last book you'll need on defeating worry." --(William J. Knaus, EdD, author of The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Anxiety and End Procrastination Now)

Editorial Reviews

A professor of humanities at Indian River State College and clinical ethics at Florida State University College of Medicine, Cohen offers a guide for those who compulsively worry. He notes that such "dutiful" worrying is based on the anxiety of losing control of a situation, self-damnation, and perfectionism. Dutiful worriers often develop a "worry chain" founded on each of these three elements. Through anecdotes, hypothetical examples, and exercises, Cohen helps these "dutiful worriers" through their psychocognitive prisons. His last two chapters, "Making Moral Decisions" and "Acting Instead of Worrying," are his most useful. In the former, he examines how a person might deal with the inevitably anxiety-producing need to tell her mother that she has terminal cancer; in the latter, he offers a helpful five-step process when dealing with a seemingly unresolvable dilemma. Unfortunately, Cohen seems to condemn all worrying, not distinguishing the dutiful worrying from the more creative, problem-solving kind. Also, as in too many other self-help books, his style is marred by clichés, and is repetitive. Still, Cohen, a blogger for Psychology Today, does share some accessible practical wisdom, though he might have done so more succinctly. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

“The Dutiful Worrier is an excellent self-help book. It provides extremely helpful strategies for leading a less anxious and more fulfilling life. Lucid and cleverly organized into sections that make it easy to read and understand, it draws on the thoughts and findings of outstanding clinicians and scholars. I enthusiastically endorse and recommend The Dutiful Worrier.“
—Arnold A. Lazarus, PhD, ABPP, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University and executive director of The Lazarus Institute in Skillman, NJ

“Worry, no matter how good the reason, is not healthy. As Albert Ellis stated, ‘Worry is itself one of the most painful conditions.’ Elliot Cohen shows how to use a four-step process to identify, refute, replace, and monitor well-meaning worry. I recommend you follow this four-step program and learn to concentrate on actual troubles and not the imaginary ones.”
—Jon Carlson, PsyD, EdD, Distinguished Professor in psychology and counseling at Governors State University in University Park, IL

“A unique book that gets at the meta-cognition underlying people’s compulsive worry: the belief that they must keep obsessing about future possibilities so that somehow in their ruminating despair they will discover the perfect solution. In addition, Cohen’s book provides one of the clearest and most succinct demonstrations I’ve ever seen of the four-step process for identifying and changing irrational beliefs—a great general introduction to CBT.”
--Janet L. Wolfe, PhD, former executive editor of the Albert Ellis Institute

“If you are tired of sweating things that never happen, this highly informative book is for you. Use the exceptional ideas and exercises within to free yourself from worry and to unleash a happier, more productive you. This may be the last book you’ll need on defeating worry.”
—William J. Knaus, EdD, author of The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Anxiety and End Procrastination Now

From the Publisher