Anxiety and Avoidance

Do you suffer from panic, anxiety, and fear in your day to day life? Do you avoid social situations, activities like driving, or even going to the store because of a fear of being overwhelmed or tiggering a panic attack? You might be interested to know that anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorders in the United States.

In Anxiety and Avoidance, psychologist and anxiety disorder expert Michael Tompkins presents a universal protocol to help you cope with anxiety, panic, and fear, regardless of your particular mental health diagnosis. This universal protocol is based on David H. Barlow's 'unified protocol,' and is a cognitive behavioral approach. Tompkins also draws on mindfulness-based therapies such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) that have been used successfully in the treatment of anxiety disorders for years.

The book includes present-moment awareness (mindfulness) techniques, motivational tools for overcoming experimental avoidance, and cognitive tools for reframing anxiety and fear. In addition, you will learn how to use your personal values as a vehicle for lasting change. While most anxiety treatments have focused on symptom redcution, this book teaches you the skills needed to better handle the underlying emotional reactions that lead to anxiety and panic in the first place.

If you are ready to stop avoiding situations that cause you to panic and get back to living a full life, this book is a powerful resource that can help you make a lasting change using an innovative, transdiagnostic approach.

“"Tompkins has made a significant contribution to the anxiety self-help literature. His work integrates elements from several established cognitive and behavioral therapies and appropriately reflects the field's growing emphasis on producing a single, unified approach to all anxiety disorders. Most importantly, Tompkins has translated complex terms and concepts into a language that can be readily grasped by consumers. Individuals with a variety of disabling fears should benefit greatly from this user-friendly resource." --C. Alec Pollard, PhD, director at the Center for OCD and Anxiety-Related Disorders, Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute, and professor of family and community medicine, Saint Louis University”

"Anxiety and Avoidance is an excellent guide for anyone who is anxious. Filled with self-help forms and useful tools, readers can readily find relief by following this guide. Highly recommended."
--Robert L. Leahy, PhD, director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy, New York, and distinguished founding fellow and diplomate of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy

"I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone who experiences anxiety, panic, and fear to the extent that it has a detrimental impact on their lives. Experienced psychologist Tompkins has synthesized various approaches in an easy-to-read book, designed to help those with anxiety learn important strategies to overcome avoidance and feel more comfortable in anxious situations. In a compassionate style, he shows how to deal with the heart of the problem and how to maintain positive changes in the long term."
--Nikolaos Kazantzis, PhD, founder and director of the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Research Unit at La Trobe University, Australia

"In Anxiety and Avoidance, Tompkins describes tools and concepts for overcoming anxiety that are based on the latest scientific developments in the field, and on his many years of clinical experience working with adults, teens, and children suffering from anxiety's debilitating effects. Tompkins' deep understanding of anxiety and its effective treatment shines through on every page."
--Jacqueline B. Persons, PhD, director of the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy and clinical professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley

"In this user-friendly book, Tompkins helps the reader use scientifically proven strategies to overcome problems with anxiety. Readers will learn about how anxiety problems function, how to select appropriate treatment targets, and how to implement cognitive-behavioral strategies--the most effective interventions for getting out of the anxiety cycle. Complete with lots of worksheets and illustrative examples from beginning to end, this book is a must for sufferers and therapists alike."
--Jonathan S. Abramowitz, PhD, professor and associate chair of psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"Many of us have a tendency to avoid people and situations we find unpleasant and/or emotions and bodily sensations we find distressing. These habits of avoidance can inadvertently create many problems for us, contributing to negative vicious cycles, including escalations in anxiety and fluctuations in our mood. This incredible and most practical book helps us all to develop healthier habits and overcome avoidance, improve our motivation and more clearly identify our goals and values. By using the skills Tompkins provides, we can step out of the small box that many of us live in and enjoy living the biggest and fullest versions of our lives."
--Allison G. Harvey, PhD, professor of psychology and director of The Golden Bear Sleep and Mood Research Clinic, University of California

"Michael Tompkins has gathered the best of what works into a straightforward, no-nonsense guide that will help readers to understand why they are anxious and to develop a step-by-step plan to beat anxiety. People with a range of anxiety-related problems--from panic attacks to obsessive-compulsive disorder to phobias--will get tremendous benefit from this insightful, compassionate, and practical book."
--David F. Tolin, PhD, ABPP, author of Face Your Fears

"Research consistently shows that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is highly effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders. With the sensibility of an experienced clinician and the clarity of an excellent writer, Tompkins has distilled the wisdom of multiple CBT perspectives. Anxiety and Avoidance provides therapists and patients with a single resource that integrates empirically validated CBT treatments. Anxiety and Avoidance synthesizes practical and proven strategies and provides step-by-step instructions to lead a life less impacted by fear, apprehension, and worry."
--Dennis Greenberger, PhD, coauthor of Mind Over Mood

"This book provides a refreshingly modern perspective on anxiety, panic, and fears. Packed with valuable exercises and drawing on strategies from three evidence-based therapies, the book provides readers with a variety of tools to address their difficulties in a more effective way."
--James Bennett-Levy, associate professor at the University of Sydney; coeditor of the Oxford Guide to Behavioral Experiments in Cognitive Therapy and Oxford Guide to Low Intensity CBT Interventions; and coauthor of the Oxford Guide to Imagery in Cognitive Therapy

"Tompkins does it again! This is a wonderful book that explains the antecedents of anxiety in clear, straightforward terms, and then walks the reader, step-by-step, through a series of exercises aimed at treating it. The exercises and worksheets are appropriate for all types of anxiety symptoms, and can be personalized to fit almost any situation. I will recommend it to all of my clients who struggle with anxiety."
--Carol A. Mathews, MD, director at the Obsessive Compulsive Disorders Clinic and co-director of the Anxiety Disorder Clinic in the department of psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco

"Tompkins has made a significant contribution to the anxiety self-help literature. His work integrates elements from several established cognitive and behavioral therapies and appropriately reflects the field's growing emphasis on producing a single, unified approach to all anxiety disorders. Most importantly, Tompkins has translated complex terms and concepts into a language that can be readily grasped by consumers. Individuals with a variety of disabling fears should benefit greatly from this user-friendly resource."
--C. Alec Pollard, PhD, director at the Center for OCD and Anxiety-Related Disorders, Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute, and professor of family and community medicine, Saint Louis University

Michael A. Tompkins, PhD, ABPP, is a licensed psychologist who is board certified in behavioral and cognitive psychology. He is codirector of the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy

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