Overcoming Anticipatory Anxiety: A CBT Guide for Moving past Chronic Indecisiveness, Avoidance, and Catastrophic Thinking

by Sally M. Winston PsyD, Martin N. Seif PhD

Overview

Get ahead of your anticipatory anxiety, and start living with flexibility and peace of mind.

Do you automatically assume the worst-case-scenario when faced with difficulty? Do you stress about situations that haven’t happened yet, or find yourself anticipating disaster around every corner? Does the prospect of making a decision leave you feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed? From subtle avoidance behaviors to the most nightmarish terrors, anticipatory anxiety is the engine that drives it all. Understanding how this hidden enemy tricks you, and, most importantly, how to overcome it, will liberate you to live a more flexible and joyful life.

In Overcoming Anticipatory Anxiety, two anxiety experts team up to teach you how to manage your overactive imagination, limit future-based thinking, face your fears, make decisions, and live with more freedom and joy. This must-have guide is grounded in the authors' innovative and easy-to-remember DANCE model:

• Discern your anticipatory anxiety
• Accept doubts and discomfort
• No struggling or avoiding
• Commit to proceed
• Embrace the present as it is, so you can get on with your life

 

Your relationship with your worries and imagination will shift, so that you can focus on what is genuinely important.

It’s time to stop worrying about what might happen, start facing your fears, rein in your self-defeating imagination, and live fully in the moment. Get this book and discover the motivation and skills needed to take charge of your anticipatory anxiety.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684039227
Publisher:	New Harbinger Publications
Publication date:	05/01/2022
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	168,144
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

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 Anticipatory Anxiety: Bleeding Before You Are Cut 5

2 Chronic Indecisiveness: Between a Rock and a Hard Place 31

3 The Biology of Anxious Bodies and Sticky Minds 43

4 Avoidance: How Anticipatory Anxiety and Chronic Indecisiveness Get Stuck 67

5 Getting Hijacked by Your Imagination 79

6 Fueling Indecisiveness: Perfectionism, Desire for Certainty, and Fear of Regret 91

7 The Therapeutic Attitude: A Metacognitive Perspective 107

8 Surrender and Commit: The Antidote to Avoidance 127

9 Troubleshooting: Common Questions Answered 149

10 What Recovery Looks Like 159

Acknowledgments 167

References 169

Interviews

Winston resides in Towson, MD; Seif resides in Greenwich, CT.

Editorial Reviews

Two consummate clinicians, Winston and Seif, put anticipatory anxiety under the microscope in their latest offering, placing it front and center among anxiety phenomena. Anticipatory anxiety is conceptualized as a transdiagnostic feature associated with virtually all anxiety disorders, and therefore warranting a targeted therapeutic focus. The authors offer and deliver a systematic, and well-conceived, approach built upon traditional CBT and Buddhist principles and practices, and guided by biological science. All are integrated seamlessly into an effectively communicated method filled with diverse examples to drive their points home. I will highly recommend this book to individuals who suffer from the potentially crippling effects of anxiety, avoidance, imagined catastrophes, and pervasive indecisiveness—and to fellow therapists alike, who will benefit from the authors’ fresh perspectives.”
—Charles S. Mansueto, PhD, founder and director of the Behavior Therapy Center of Greater Washington, and coauthor of Overcoming Body-Focused Repetitive Disorders

Charles S. Mansueto

Sally Winston and Martin Seif have written another excellent book—Overcoming Anticipatory Anxiety. Traditional efforts to ‘cope with anxiety’ often mean ‘how to get rid of anxiety,’ which paradoxically leads to more anxiety. They suggest that allowing and accepting anxiety is a more helpful approach—and I completely agree! I’m thrilled Winston and Seif have written this new book, and I look forward to being able to give it to my patients.”
—Robert W. McLellarn, PhD, founder and director of Anxiety and Panic Treatment Center, LLC

Robert W. McLellarn

Winston and Seif have written another excellent book for people suffering with anxiety and worry! This one offers a terrific explanation of the inner workings of anticipatory anxiety and avoidance, and shows you how to make changes that empower you to live—and thrive—with life’s uncertainties. Their description of what anxiety recovery is really like, and answers to common questions, help make it clear how you can change your relationship with anxiety and live the life you want.”
—David Carbonell, PhD, Chicago, IL-based psychologist specializing in treating chronic anxiety for over thirty years; author of Panic Attacks Workbook and The Worry Trick; and “coach” at www.anxietycoach.com

David Carbonell

In their fourth book, Winston and Seif combine their expertise in anxiety treatment to offer insight about the inner workings of the mind. They masterfully identify and describe the phenomenon of anticipatory anxiety which underlies many forms of avoidance and leads to increased anxiety and suffering. What separates Winston and Seif’s book is the applicability to not just those suffering from OCD and anxiety, but also to anyone who experiences anticipatory anxiety, difficulty with decision-making, or perfectionism. Their insight may very well provide the key to breaking free from the musings of an anxious mind and offer a guide to leading a more joyful life.”
—Molly B. Schiffer, LCPC, psychotherapist at The Center for OCD and Anxiety at Sheppard Pratt, and the OCD program at The Retreat

Molly B. Schiffer

Anxiety can be an uncontrollable, bewildering form of emotional distress that diminishes life satisfaction for millions. Now in this illuminating self-help manual, Winston and Seif unravel the mysteries of anxiety, giving the reader a rare insight into the core processes that drive this unrelenting emotional disturbance. The insights gained from Overcoming Anticipatory Anxiety will supercharge the therapeutic strategies of those experiencing or treating anxiety, so they are better able to subdue the debilitating effects of anxiety.”
—David A. Clark, PhD, professor emeritus at the University of New Brunswick; and author of The Anxious Thoughts Workbook, The Negative Thoughts Workbook, and The Anxious Thoughts Workbook for Teens

David A. Clark

Can you learn to manage your anxiety without practicing hours of exercises? Absolutely! Winston and Seif will persuade you to adopt a simple, powerful mindset that releases you from anxiety’s hold. You’ll learn as you follow along, and then you’ll be rewarded with the life you want and love.”
—Reid Wilson, PhD, author of Stopping the Noise in Your Head

Reid Wilson

Another fantastic book from Winston and Seif! If you have an active imagination and a nervous system wired for anxiety, you will learn from their eighty collective years of expertise the mindset and strategy for conquering worry and fear. Their book perfectly captures the inner dialogue of the chronic worrier and explains how to retrain the anxious brain to live a life focused on the present; not the past or future.”
—Ken Goodman, LCSW, Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) board member, and creator of The Anxiety Solution Series

Ken Goodman

Sally Winston and Martin Seif have written another compelling and informative book that should be essential reading for those suffering from anticipatory anxiety and chronic indecisiveness. Using evidence-driven principles, the authors provide a unique and clear road map to help people fundamentally change their relationship with anxiety—rather than just managing it—so that they can live fuller, happier, and more meaningful lives.”
—Stacia Casillo, PsyD, psychologist; and director of The Ross Center in New York, NY

Stacia Casillo

Do you struggle with indecisiveness, catastrophic thinking, or avoidance? Then Overcoming Anticipatory Anxiety was written for you. Winston and Seif leverage forty years of expertise empowering all of us into the ‘therapeutic attitude,’ becoming more observational and metacognitive so we better separate ourselves from our emotional pitfalls. The road map is clear: make cognitive shifts, break the cycle of paralysis through analysis, and you’ll no longer fall victim to anticipatory anxiety.”
—Josh Spitalnick, PhD, ABPP, licensed psychologist, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) specialist board certified in behavioral and cognitive psychology, and practice owner/CEO of Anxiety Specialists of Atlanta

Josh Spitalnick

Winston and Seif have once again contributed a great deal of wisdom to the community of anxiety sufferers. Here, they have teased apart an aspect of the experience that too often gets lumped in with the whole. By singling out ‘anticipatory anxiety,’ they will surely help the anxious among us understand the role it plays in continuing to feed our worries.”
—Josh Malina, host of the Anxiety Book Club podcast

Josh Malina