In The ABCS of Coping with Anxiety: Using CBT to Manage Stress and
Anxiety, James Cowart offers a concise collection of tried-and-tested
strategies from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and makes them
accessible to people who are learning to cope with their anxiety on a
day-to-day basis.
Anxiety is a normal part of our human nature. For spurring you to make
decisions or perform, it can actually be helpful. However, an unchecked
pattern of intrusive negative thoughts can escalate the severity and
persistence of the level of anxiety experienced over time. As this
worsens, it is not uncommon to feel an increasing lack of control -
ultimately leading to a chain of self-defeating behaviors that may
negatively affect all aspects of your daily life. Yet, while it is not
possible to directly control our emotions (or what others think or do),
it is possible to learn and apply coping skills that can help you face
feared situations - rather than escape or avoid them.
James Cowart's aim in The ABCS of Coping with Anxiety is to share a
toolbox of CBT techniques garnered over 40 years' clinical practice that
will enable you to manage your anxiety on a sustainable path toward
taking back some of that control. These self-help strategies focus on
developing key coping skills designed to reduce fear and anxiety, and
are complemented by a user-friendly, step-by-step program of practical
exercises that can be personalized to meet each individual's unique
needs.
Informed by his extensive experience and therapeutic knowledge, and with
real-life case studies to guide you along your own journey, James's
easy-to-remember ABCS approach is as transformative as it is simple:
- A is for accepting the thoughts and feelings you can and can't
control.
- B is for breathing slowly and naturally to relieve and relax
muscle tension.
- C is for countering any unrealistic or catastrophic thoughts with
truth and logic.
- S is for staying with it so you can face your fears and anxieties
until they are reduced.
Each step is explored in detail in the first four chapters, and further
discussion is also dedicated to using the ABCS with different types of
anxiety (including social anxiety, specific phobias, panic attacks and
obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)) and coping with related depression,
anger and impulsivity. Punctuated with research-informed insight and
instruction throughout, The ABCS of Coping with Anxiety offers hope,
relief and reassurance in helping you master your anxiety and work
toward greater independence.
Suitable for those living with anxiety and for the health professionals
including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and counselors
working with them.
