Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts: A Cbt-Based Guide to Getting Over Frightening, Obsessive, or Disturbing Thoughts

You are not your thoughts In this powerful book, two anxiety experts offer proven-effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) skills to help you get unstuck from disturbing thoughts, overcome the shame these thoughts can bring, and reduce your anxiety.

If you suffer from unwanted, intrusive, frightening, or even disturbing thoughts, you might worry about what these thoughts mean about you. Thoughts can seem like messages--are they trying to tell you something? But the truth is that they are just thoughts, and don't necessarily mean anything. Sane and good people have them. If you are someone who is plagued by thoughts you don't want--thoughts that scare you, or thoughts you can't tell anyone about--this book may change your life.

In this compassionate guide, you'll discover the different kinds of disturbing thoughts, myths that surround your thoughts, and how your brain has a tendency to get "stuck" in a cycle of unwanted rumination. You'll also learn why common techniques to get rid of these thoughts can backfire. And finally, you'll learn powerful cognitive behavioral skills to help you cope with and move beyond your thoughts, so you can focus on living the life you want. Your thoughts will still occur, but you will be better able to cope with them--without dread, guilt, or shame.

If you have unwanted thoughts, you should remember that you aren't alone. In fact, there are millions of people just like you--good people who have awful thoughts, gentle people with violent thoughts, and sane people with "crazy" thoughts. This book will show you how to move past your thoughts so you can reclaim your life

ISBN-13: 9781626254343

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Publication Date: 03-01-2017

Pages: 192

Product Dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.60(d)

Sally M. Winston, PsyD, is founder and executive director of the Anxiety and Stress Disorders Institute in Baltimore, MD. She is a founding clinical fellow of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), winner of the inaugural ADAA Jerilyn Ross Award, and was previously awarded the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) book award. She has over forty years of clinical practice and training specializing in anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). She is coauthor, with Martin Seif, of What Every Therapist Needs to Know About Anxiety Disorders, Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts, and Needing to Know for Sure. Martin N. Seif, PhD, is cofounder of the ADAA, and was a member of its board of directors for fourteen years. Seif was associate director of The Anxiety and Phobia Treatment Center at White Plains Hospital, a faculty member of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and is board certified in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) from the American Board of Professional Psychology. He was previously awarded the ABCT book award, and maintains a private practice in Greenwich, CT. He is coauthor, with Sally Winston, of What Every Therapist Needs to Know About Anxiety Disorders, Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts, and Needing to Know for Sure.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Recovering from Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts 7

2 Varieties of Intrusive Thoughts 25

3 What Thoughts Mean: Myths and Facts 49

4 Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts Q and A 63

5 How the Brain Creates Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts 75

6 Why Nothing Has Worked 91

7 How to Handle Thoughts When They Happen 113

8 Getting Over Unwanted Thoughts for Good 137

9 What Does Recovery Mean? 155

10 When to Seek Professional Help 163

Acknowledgments 169

Appendix: A Recipe for Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts (What Not to Do) 171

Bibliography 179