The Intrusive Thoughts Toolkit: Quick Relief for Obsessive, Unwanted, or Disturbing Thoughts

Quiet your noisy mind--and find peace of mind--with fast-acting, on-the-spot relief for persistent, painful, and intrusive thoughts.

Do you have unwanted, repetitive, negative, or intrusive thoughts that are getting in the way of your life, keeping you up at night, or making you downright miserable? If so, you need quick tools you can use right now--whenever and wherever you are--to soothe the disruption of intrusive thoughts. This emergency toolkit has you covered.

Written by a team of mental health experts and grounded in evidence-based therapy, Intrusive Thoughts Toolkit provides fast-acting tools for soothing distressing thoughts in the moments when you need it most. With this take-anywhere guide, you'll learn proven techniques to get unstuck from negative thoughts and feelings, adopt healthier thinking habits, and increase overall well-being. You'll also find easy and doable ways to help you press pause on spiraling thinking, and in-the-moment interventions to help you quiet your mind before your thoughts get out of control.

If you're looking for quick solutions to help you move beyond intrusive thoughts and improve your mental health, this powerfully effective pocket guide has everything you need to find lasting peace of mind.

ISBN-13: 9781648481390

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Publication Date: 12-01-2022

Pages: 128

Product Dimensions: 5.80(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.30(d)

Jon Hershfield, MFT, is director of The Center for OCD and Anxiety at Sheppard Pratt in Towson, MD. He specializes in the use of mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders. Jon is a member of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation, and is on the faculty of their Behavioral Therapy Training Institute. He is author of Overcoming Harm OCD, When a Family Member Has OCD, and The OCD Workbook for Teens; and coauthor of The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD and Everyday Mindfulness for OCD. Tom Corboy, MFT, is executive director of the OCD Center of Los Angeles, which he founded in 1999. He is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in MBCBT for the treatment of OCD and related anxiety-based conditions. In addition to his work with individual clients, he has trained and mentored many postgraduate interns, has presented at numerous conferences held by the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF), and has facilitated weekly therapy groups for adults with OCD since 1997. You can find out more about him at www.ocdla.com. 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. Catherine M. Pittman, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in the treatment of anxiety disorders and brain injuries. She is professor of psychology at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN, where she has taught for more than thirty years. Pittman is author of Taming Your Amygdala, and coauthor of Rewire Your Anxious Brain. Elizabeth M. Karle, MLIS, is collection management supervisor at the Cushwa-Leighton Library at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN. In addition to supplying research for this book, she has personal experience with anxiety disorders—providing a first-hand perspective that focuses the book on what is most useful for the anxiety sufferer. Originally from Illinois, she currently resides in South Bend, IN, and holds degrees or certificates from the University of Notre Dame, Roosevelt University, and Dominican University. She is author of Hosting a Library Mystery. William J. Knaus, EdD, is a licensed psychologist with more than forty-six years of clinical experience working with people suffering from anxiety, depression, and procrastination. He has appeared on numerous regional and national television shows, including The Today Show, and more than one hundred radio shows. His ideas have appeared in national magazines such as U.S. News & World Report and Good Housekeeping, and major newspapers such as The Washington Post and Chicago Tribune. He is one of the original directors of postdoctoral psychotherapy training in rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). Knaus is author or coauthor of more than twenty-five books, including The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Anxiety, The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Depression, and The Procrastination Workbook. Jennifer Shannon, LMFT, is a psychotherapist, and author of Don’t Feed the Monkey Mind, The Anxiety Survival Guide for Teens, and A Teen’s Guide to Getting Stuff Done. She is a diplomate of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. David A. Carbonell, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating anxiety in all its forms. He is author of Panic Attacks Workbook, The Worry Trick, and Fear of Flying Workbook. He is “coach” of the popular self-help site www.anxietycoach.com, and has taught workshops on the treatment of anxiety disorders to more than 9,000 professional psychotherapists in the U.S. and abroad. He is a long-standing member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, and a frequent presenter at their annual conferences. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from DePaul University in 1985, and has maintained a practice devoted to the treatment of anxiety disorders since 1990. He lives in Chicago, IL, with his wife and a pair of rescue dogs. In his spare time, he is founding member of The Therapy Players, an improvisational comedy troupe of professional psychotherapists which performs at clubs, theaters, and mental health conferences throughout the Chicago area. Amy Johnson, PhD, is a coach, author, and speaker who shares a new paradigm for how our mind works that leads to lasting freedom from anxiety, depression, insecurity, and unwanted habits. She is author of Being Human and The Little Book of Big Change, and has been a regularly featured expert on The Steve Harvey Show and in The Wall Street Journal.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 What Are Intrusive Thoughts?

1 Understanding Intrusive Thoughts 6

2 You Are Not Alone 8

3 Thoughts That Get Stuck 10

4 Thoughts Are Thoughts, Not Threats 12

5 Intrusive Thoughts Are Normal 15

Part 2 Stop Fighting

6 The Broken Dam 18

7 Thoughts Just Happen 20

8 Why Can't You Just Control Your Thoughts? 24

9 Turn Off the Alarm in Your Amygdala 26

10 Cultivate Acceptance 28

11 Accommodate Your Intrusive Thoughts 30

Part 3 Becoming Comfortable with Discomfort

12 Get Discomfortable 34

13 You Don't Decide What Happens Inside 36

14 Facing Stuck Thought Obsessions 39

15 Feelings Aren't Facts 42

16 Thank Your Thoughts 43

Part 4 Common Thinking Traps

17 All-Or-Nothing Thinking 46

18 Catastrophizing 47

19 Overestimating Responsibility 48

20 Checking and Rechecking 50

21 Magical or Superstitious Thinking 52

22 Fear of Contamination 54

23 Everything Needs to Be Just Right 57

24 Tunnel Vision 60

25 "Should" Statements 61

26 Rumination 63

Part 5 Intrusive Thoughts and Anxiety

27 Identify Your Anxiety-Igniting Thoughts 66

28 Control Your Anxiety-Igniting Thoughts 68

29 Stop Feeding Intrusive Thoughts 70

30 Welcoming Anxiety with Breathing 73

31 Preventing Anxiety from Coming Back 75

Part 6 Intrusive Thoughts and Worry

32 It's Worry Time 78

33 Humoring the Worry 80

34 Repeating the Worry Can Reduce Its Power 83

35 Take Your Worries for a Walk 86

36 Watch Yourself Worry 88

Part 7 More Tools for the Toolkit

37 Change Your Interpretations 92

38 Replace the Thought 94

39 Assess Your Cognitive Fusion 97

40 Discover Cognitive Defusion 100

41 Dealing with Catastrophic Thinking 103

42 Positive Focus 105

43 Defusing "Hot Button" Words 107

44 Deal with Social Anxiety 109

Further Reading 115

References 117