The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Workbook: A Comprehensive CBT Guide for Coping with Uncertainty, Worry, and Fear

by Melissa Robichaud PhD, Michel J. Dugas PhD, Martin Antony PhD (Foreword by)

Overview

The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Workbook offers a powerful, comprehensive new approach to treating generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

If you have GAD, you may experience excessive and uncontrollable worry about daily life events, including your finances, family, health, future, and even minor concerns like traffic, work, or household issues. You aren’t alone. GAD is one of the most commonly diagnosed mental health issues facing our society today. Unfortunately, this chronic condition can cause such excessive worrying that it can be difficult to live your life—and can even manifest in a number of physical symptoms, including sleep and concentration problems, fatigue, irritability, and feelings of restlessness. So, how can you take charge of your anxiety before it takes over your life?

Based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), this book provides real, proven-effective solutions. Written by three renowned anxiety experts, the book offers practical exercises and strategies to help soothe your worst worries, fears, and panic. The book focuses on what most often leads you to worry—the fear of uncertainty. In a nutshell, people with GAD worry as a way of mentally planning and preparing for any outcome that life throws their way. With this book, you’ll learn to stop seeing uncertainty as threatening—which will in turn, reduce your anxiety and instill a sense of calm.

If you’re ready to stop letting your worries get the better of you, this easy-to-use workbook will help you—one step at a time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626251519
Publisher:	New Harbinger Publications
Publication date:	12/01/2015
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	392,938
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Melisa Robichaud, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and cofounder of the Vancouver CBT Centre. She holds adjunct clinical faculty and clinical associate positions in psychology and psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. Robichaud specializes in the treatment of anxiety with an emphasis on generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and is on the scientific advisory board of AnxietyBC, as well as current president of the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies. For over a decade, she has provided workshops and training to both mental health professionals and the public on the treatment of GAD, and has published numerous book chapters and scientific articles on the subject.


Michel J. Dugas, PhD, is professor of psychology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, and affiliate professor of psychology at Concordia University. Over the past two decades, he has conducted research on the etiology and treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) with a specific focus on intolerance of uncertainty. He has published over ninety scientific articles and made more than 250 conference presentations on the topic of GAD. Dugas is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association and the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies.



Martin M. Antony, PhD, is professor in the department of psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto, ON, Canada, where he also served as department chair and graduate program director. Previously, he was founding director of both the Anxiety Treatment and Research Clinic and the Psychology Residency Program at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. He is also past president of the Canadian Psychological Association. Antony has published thirty books, and more than 225 scientific articles and book chapters, mostly in areas related to cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, specific phobia, and perfectionism. He has received a number of prestigious awards, and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the American and Canadian Psychological associations, the Association for Psychological Science, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies. Antony has trained and supervised numerous students in psychology, psychiatry, social work, and other disciplines. He has given more than 300 workshops and presentations to professionals across four continents. He has also been interviewed, featured, or quoted more than 450 times in various print, radio, television, and online media outlets, including CBC, CNN, CTV, The Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chatelaine, O, The Oprah Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Prevention, Scientific American Mind,and many others.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Introduction 1

1 Worry, Anxiety, and GAD 5

2 CBT for GAD 29

3 Is Worry Helpful? 51

4 Positive Beliefs about Worry: Examining the Evidence 71

5 Worry and the Threat of Uncertainty 103

6 Intolerance of Uncertainty in Action: Identifying Safety Behaviors 117

7 Tolerating Uncertainty: Testing Out Beliefs about Uncertainty 133

8 Moving Toward Embracing Uncertainty 149

9 Coping with Worries about Current Problems 167

10 Coping with Worries about Hypothetical Situations 195

11 Building on Gains: Managing Worries over Time 213

12 Bumps in the Road: Coping with Lapses and Relapses 227

Acknowledgments 243

References 247

Interviews

The authors reside in Gatineau, Québec, Canada (greater Ottawa area).

Editorial Reviews

If you have ever engaged in excessive worry, you will find value in TheGeneralized Anxiety Disorder Workbook. This volume introduces the concepts of intolerance of uncertainty and the search for safety as key aspects of the worry cycle to explain the core processes involved in unwarranted worry. The real jewels of this book, however, are the very many concrete and applicable tools that it provides to readers, to help them both understand their worry and to correct their concerns, if necessary. This workbook is based on solid research as well as the framework of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and is written in an accessible and practical manner by two of the world’s leading authorities. I recommend it with no uncertainty.”
—Keith S. Dobson, PhD, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Calgary, Canada; past president of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy; and past president of the International Association for Cognitive Psychotherapy


“This is a fantastic workbook for several reasons: it is based on a treatment that has strong scientific support from multiple trials; it is brilliantly written, and is highly practical. The downloadable worksheets and exercises, clear examples, and obvious expertise of the authors make this an invaluable resource for people suffering from excessive worry, as well as health professionals.”
—Roz Shafran, PhD, clinical psychologist and professor of translational psychology at the University College London Institute of Child Health



“The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Workbook provides a thorough, engaging, and accessible guide for managing worry. The CBT-based approach is comprehensive, starts from basics, and should have something of value for everyone who struggles with uncontrollable and distressing worry.”
—Graham C. L. Davey,PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Sussex, United Kingdom



“Everyone who suffers from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or has any difficulties with worry should read this book. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Workbook provides an outstanding step-by-step guide to understanding and overcoming worry and anxiety, utilizing scientifically proven techniques and strategies. Robichaud and Dugas are internationally recognized experts who so aptly translate the research findings and practical skills into a workbook that is reader friendly, engaging, and easy to understand. This book should also be required reading for professionals and students interested in the treatment of anxiety.”
—David J. A. Dozois, PhD, professor and director of the clinical psychology graduate program in the department of psychology at the University of Western Ontario



“Building on decades of research and their own extensive clinical expertise, Robichaud and Dugas provide easy-to-follow, useful steps that will help people struggling with worry to cope more effectively with those challenges. I highly recommend this book for anyone who feels anxiety is interfering with their lives, and for the therapists who are helping them.”
—Lizabeth Roemer, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and coauthor of The Mindful Way Through Anxiety



“Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) continues to be one of the hardest-to-treat psychological conditions. Further, few people seek help for it, despite a multitude of findings that speak to its associated distress, difficulty functioning, loss of work, and relationship challenges. Robichaud and Dugas are experts in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder, and this workbook benefits greatly from their wisdom. They have put together a clear and cogent guide for those suffering with chronic worry and uncertainty. The explanations and interventions outlined in this workbook are well supported, and will undoubtedly provide a vital source of help to those suffering with this debilitating condition.”
—Douglas Mennin, professor of psychology at Hunter College and The Graduate Center at the City University of New York in New York, NY

From the Publisher