The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques: Understanding How Your Brain Makes You Anxious and What You Can Do to Change It

by Margaret Wehrenberg Psy.D.

Overview

A much-anticipated update to the classic personal road map, full of strategies to understand, manage, and conquer your stress.

Do you feel a tightness in your chest and a racing heart anytime you have to speak up for yourself, whether in a large group or small? Does the very idea that others could perceive you as looking uncomfortable or frightened make those symptoms even worse? Do you vigilantly avoid potential panic triggers, and always think the worst is bound to happen?

If so, you may be one of the 40 million Americans who suffer from anxiety. Symptoms run the gamut from mildly embarrassing but tolerable to persistent and debilitating. While feelings of worry, dread, panic, social unease, and general anxiety are common, their impact is insidious, leaving sufferers feeling worn out and often hopeless.

This book is your answer. Drawing on fresh insights into the anatomy of the anxious brain, Dr. Wehrenberg gets to the biologically based heart of the problem and offers readers practical, effective tips to manage their anxiety on a day-to-day basis. From diaphragmatic breathing and self-talk, to mindfulness, muscle relaxation, and "plan to panic" strategies, you can learn to train your brain, conquer your stress and anxiety, and regain control of your life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393712148
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	02/27/2018
Edition description:	Second
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	395,251
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Margaret Wehrenberg, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist in private practice, a popular public speaker, and international anxiety coach. She is the author of numerous books, including The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques. She lives in Naperville, IL.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Preface 1

Part I Understanding Your Brain

1 How Your Brain Makes You Anxious 5

2 Managing Your Brain With Medication 34

Part II Managing Your Anxious Body

3 Technique #1: Change Your Intake 49

4 Technique #2: Breathe 63

5 Technique #3: Practice Mindfulness 76

6 Technique #4: Rest and Relax 87

Part III Managing Your Anxious Mind

7 Technique #5: Stop Catastrophizing 123

8 Technique #6: Stop Anxious Thoughts 140

9 Technique #7: Contain Your Worry 158

Part IV Managing Your Anxious Behavior

10 Technique #8: Control TMA (Too Much Activity) 189

11 Technique #9: Talk Yourself Into Changing Your Behavior 216

12 Technique #10: Implement a Plan and Practice the 3 C's 235

References 253

Resources 261

Index 265

Editorial Reviews

"This excellent book brings Dr. Wehrenberg's expert knowledge and clinical wisdom to anxiety suffered with clarity and compassion. Comprehensive and easy to read, she emphasizes the role the brain plays in anxiety, and more importantly, how one can then 'use the brain to change the brain.' This practical, mind-body focus will be immensely helpful to those who are tormented by anxiety. I recommend it with great enthusiasm!"

Aureen Wagner

"Ideal for the non-specialist general reader seeking to successfully deal with the enervating, disabling, devitalizing, injurious effects of untreated anxiety, The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques and its accompanying workbook are impressively 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, making it unreservedly recommended for personal self-help/self-improvement collections."

The Midwest Book Review

"This book offers the key to unlocking the complex biochemistry of your brain and reversing your anxiety-inducing habits. Dr. Wehrenberg has done the work for you to create the right learning environment and organize the needed tools. Follow her lead and your body and mind will thank you with the peace and quiet you deserve."

Reid Wilson

"Although her book and workbook are written for the lay reader, they are good resources for clinicians to have on hand. . . . Because both the book and workbook are user-friendly, this is not something that is going to make anxious people more anxious. . . . The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques is a realistic guide to help people work through anxiety provoking thoughts, feelings, and experiences."

Psych Central

"[O]ffers thorough explanations of the many facets of anxiety conditions and ways to cope with them….Presenting anxiety as manageable, prevalent, and treatable in a variety of ways offers a true sense of comfort to those afflicted."

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