The Worry Workbook: CBT Skills to Overcome Worry and Anxiety by Facing the Fear of Uncertainty

by Melisa Robichaud PhD, Kristin Buhr PhD, Martin M. Antony PhD (Foreword by)

Overview

Written by two psychologists and experts in anxiety, The Worry Workbook provides powerful, evidence-based tips and tools to help you challenge your fears, build a tolerance for uncertainty, and find relief from worry.

Are you plagued by persistent worry? Do you have trouble making everyday decisions? Are you a perfectionist exhausted from trying to meet unreasonably high standards? Do you procrastinate important tasks? All of these problems could be caused by the same thing: an intolerance for uncertainty in the face of new challenges or unpredictable outcomes.

Everyone worries from time to time—it’s unavoidable. But chronic worrying, anxiety, and fear can also take a hefty toll on your health, happiness, and relationships. If you’re someone who worries about what might happen if you try something new, you aren’t alone! Many people lose sleep over “what ifs”—leading to difficulty making decisions, avoiding new situations, trouble with relationships, and missing out on life’s adventures! So, how can you overcome this fear and start living your best life?

While there are many self-help books and workbooks that tackle worry and anxiety, The Worry Workbook is the first to provide guidance for overcoming the fear of uncertainty. With this guide, you’ll find concrete exercises and step-by-step instructions to help you identify your fear of uncertainty—whatever it is—and challenge it using powerful cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) practices like self-assessment, self-monitoring, and behavioral experiments.

Chronic worrying can affect all aspects of your life. This book will help you target your fears and worries, tolerate uncertainty, and trust your own judgment and abilities in the face of doubt.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684030064
Publisher:	New Harbinger Publications
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	758,401
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.46(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.


Kristin Buhr, PhD, is a registered psychologist and director at the North Shore Stress and Anxiety Clinic in North Vancouver, BC, Canada. She is a lead consultant for AnxietyBC, where she has developed numerous self-help resources for adults, parents, and teens coping with worry and anxiety, including MindShift, an anxiety management app for youth and young adults. Buhr specializes in the evidence-based treatment of anxiety and mood disorders in adolescents and adults, and regularly provides training and educational workshops on mental health issues.


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 Martin M. Antony, PhD vii

Introduction 1

1 The Problem with Worry 5

What Is Worry? 5

Understanding the Worry Cycle 7

Identifying Your Worry Fingerprint 12

When Is Worry a Problem? 15

2 Why Do We Worry? 19

Understanding the Fear of Uncertainty 19

The Influence of Beliefs About Uncertainty 22

Understanding Intolerance of Uncertainty Triggers 26

Deciding When to Take Risks in Life 29

3 Safety Behaviors: Fear of Uncertainty in Action 33

Understanding Safety Behaviors 33

Identifying Your Own Safety Behaviors 35

4 Is Uncertainty Dangerous? Testing It Out 47

Testing Out the Dangers of Uncertainty 47

Conducting Behavioral Experiments 49

5 Strengthening Your Tolerance for Uncertainty 65

Uncertainty Experiments 65

Tolerating Uncertainty Workouts 73

6 Facing the Uncertainty in Perfectionism 81

What Is Perfectionism? 81

The Problem with Perfectionism 83

Behavioral Experiments Targeting Perfectionism 90

Developing Healthy High Standards 102

Learning to Be "Good Enough" 105

7 Facing the Uncertainty in Decision Making 109

The Challenge of Decision Making 109

Behavioral Experiments Targeting Decision Making 117

Becoming a Good Decision Maker 133

8 Facing the Uncertainty in Anxiety Disorders 135

Uncertainty in Anxiety Disorders 135

Generalized Anxiety Disorder 137

Social Anxiety Disorder 141

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder 146

Illness Anxiety Disorder 151

When to Seek Professional Help 169

9 Inviting Uncertainty into Your Life: Accepting Risk and Building Self-Confidence 171

Facing Uncertainty in the Long Term 171

Embracing Uncertainty: Risk and Rewards 179

Learning to Trust Yourself 184

Acknowledgments 187

References 189

Interviews

Robichaud resides in Vancouver, Canada; Buhr resides in North Vancouver, Canada.

Editorial Reviews

This book will be a truly helpful resource for those who struggle with worry. Written by two seasoned experts on the topic in clear and practical terms, The Worry Workbook will guide you through a series of therapeutic exercises based in the latest theory and science of worry and anxiety. It is a book for doing, rather than just for reading; but it’s one that promises to provide relief from worry and anxiety to those who need it most.”
—Adam S. Radomsky, PhD, professor of psychology at Concordia University, and editor of Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry

Adam S. Radomsky

Finally! A self-help book targeting intolerance of uncertainty as a central focus. Melisa Robichaud and Kristin Buhr have written a comprehensive guide for managing problematic worry of any type or intensity. ... Throughout the book, the reader will find: information that is educational and corrective of myths; self-monitoring exercises to increase awareness of triggers and problematic patterns of thinking and acting; self-assessments to identify one’s ‘worry fingerprint,’ idiosyncratic areas of tolerance of uncertainty, safety behaviors, etc.; and sample behavior experiments for targeting different worry types, perfectionism worries, decision-making, and disorder-specific worries. ... After reading it, I am certain that it will quickly become a go-to resource for worriers and the professionals who treat them.”
—Simon A. Rego, PsyD, ABPP, chief psychologist at Montefiore Medical Center, and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, NY

Simon A. Rego

Drawn from strong scientific foundations, The Worry Workbook is a straightforward yet compelling tool for those suffering with worry and chronic anxiety. In prescribing experiments that paradoxically embrace uncertainty, Robichaud and Buhr provide a blueprint towards combating safety behaviors and promoting a fuller and more enriching life despite unpredictability in the world.”
—Douglas Mennin, PhD, professor in the department of counseling and clinical psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University

Douglas Mennin

Most people worry from time to time. But for some, worry is a constant companion. It makes mountains out of molehills. It screams ‘catastrophe!’ where others seem to brush things off. It turns simple matters into agonizing predicaments, keeps you up at night when others are soundly asleep, and turns a relaxing day into knotted muscles. But is does not have to be this way. Robichaud and Buhr take decades of the leading research and clinical insights, and present them in a clear, easy-to-understand program to help you understand and overcome your anxiety. Don’t worry!”
—Peter Norton, PhD, professor of clinical psychology at Monash University in Australia, and director of the Monash FEAR Clinic

Peter Norton

Why do some people worry more than others? In this book, Melisa Robichaud and Kristin Buhr present a clear and simple explanation of worry. Their theory is based on twenty-five years of research on worry, anxiety, and intolerance of uncertainty. To my knowledge, this is the first self-help book to systematically address the relationships between uncertainty, perfectionism, and problem solving, and to do so without referring to a particular mental health problem. Moreover, Robichaud and Buhr present well-defined and concrete self-help strategies that are closely tied to recent theories of learning. By pointing out the key role of safety behaviors in worry, they have really ‘hit the nail on the head.’ If you are someone who struggles with worry, it is almost impossible that you will not benefit from the countless examples of self-help strategies listed in this book.”
—Michel Dugas, PhD, clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais

Michel Dugas

The Worry Workbook is superb! Whether you wrestle with worry episodically or are gripped with intense and frequent anxiety, this book will help you identify and change the core beliefs and fundamental behaviors that reinforce and intensify worry and anxiety. Robichaud and Buhr provide an outstanding and practical step-by-step guide to understanding and overcoming worry, utilizing scientifically proven techniques and strategies. The workbook is reader-friendly, highly engaging, and easy to understand and use—the techniques presented in this book could dramatically change your life. I will recommend this book to my clients, and to students and professionals.”
—David J. A. Dozois, PhD, professor and director of the clinical psychology graduate program in the department of psychology at University of Western Ontario

David J. A. Dozois