Reclaim Your Life: Acceptance & Commitment Therapy in 7 Weeks: Strategies to Manage Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, and More

by Carissa Gustafson

Accept your thoughts, start living your life with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Thoughts are simply a normal part of being human, but we've all had them disrupt our lives. Reclaim Your Life teaches you to accept and manage your thoughts with evidence-based principles and strategies from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Discover ways to increase your flexibility in thinking, get some distance from your thoughts, and work toward a life full of values and purpose.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps you get a handle on your emotions and find more adaptive responses from difficulties like panic attacks and low self-esteem. When strategies like labeling, visualizing, chatting with your mind, and others are implemented, they bring a positive change in your life.

This book about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

The program—Apply the six core processes to each week and then bring them all together during the seventh and final week.Broad array of issues—Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can help with mental health issues like obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Hands-on—Use the six chapter lessons, worksheets, and exercises to learn each step of the process.Reclaim Your Life is everything an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy book should be. It allows you to live the good life you deserve.

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction, Mental Health

203 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 7, 2020

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took some time with this book: I received a review copy from the publisher but wanted to take the time this book requested to really think about and work with the concepts offered. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a quality way to learn to become captain of the ship when it comes to your thoughts. When I'm in the midst of anxiety or worry, it isn't so easy to work my way out of that mode with the same thinking that got me into that mode, but slowly over time it is becoming easier to check in with myself and get to a better place.

This book helps you get there. In 7 one-week chapters, one can journal, savor instructions and guidance page-by-page, and learn to tackle some goals and thought/emotion patterns. I really appreciated that the book was 12-step friendly, and included this consideration in its guidelines. I do feel that this would be a good complement to, rather than substitute for, in-person talk therapy.

Brava to Carissa Gustafson for a well-written, compassionate book.

[JT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helps with the pain, anxiety, and abuse related to thousands of years of evolving human-domestication,, which is an emergent social construction

Accept our human-domestication as a process of self abuse following indoctrination and or oppressive abuse and commit to being yourself as you choose to be rather than an animal being ridden and forced to serve a cruel master as chattel.

[Witch-at-Heart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful book on how to control our thoughts so they don't control us by catching us in a negative mindset.
This book was very interested becauase it helps you move away from and overcome unproductive thoughts and gain a "fixed mindset."

I received a free copy from Calisto Publishing and Rockridge Press for an honest review.

[Tracy Miner · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s ok. This book was recommended to help me manage my anxiety. I’d never heard of ACT before, but I’ve been a school counselor for 19 years so I actually ended up being familiar with much of the content once I started reading. It’s a relatively easy read and a lot of it resonated with me, but it’s a bit dry so I could only take it in small doses. It was also hard for me to get into the writing prompts and I didn’t read it a week at a time, didn’t practice the strategies or reflect as I went along, it’s just not my thing. I ended up reading it more as an informational text than as a workbook, and more through the lens of my professional role than as a self-help book. While there’s good information and strategies that I can apply both professionally and personally, I’m thinking there are better books out there on this topic. I’ll keep it though as it’s a good reference, and other folks might find the approach fits better for them than it did for me.

[Kirill · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good book and a decent introduction to ACT.
Recommended by my therapist to learn more about the approach.
Many suggested techniques are essentially "start a meditation session and think about X", just in more words, so I am hesitant to give a higher note.
Also, there are only so many times you can read "ACTion" before it starts grating your eyes.
P.S. Under no circumstances get an Audible version: it has one of the poorest performances I have ever heard. It is EXTREMELY robotic, so I only managed to get through 2 weeks before dropping it for good.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this book for years, and have worked through parts of it in therapy. It wasn't until this year that I have really been diving in and applying the ACT principles. It really is such a powerful way to overcome negative/compulsive thinking patterns, trauma, perfectionism, addictions, etc. I think it is outlined in a logical way that makes it easy to implement. Would recommend to anyone, regardless of anxiety level.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I’ve always felt that just CBT alone is not a solution. This book gives very practical steps for letting emotions run their course and for a lifestyle that is truly effective. Great for the general population or for mental health therapists as a base to add to your repertoire.

[Jessica Biggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first few chapters of this book about defusion and not engaging were really helpful, but the second half was way too heavy on the meditation front. While meditation can be helpful, it’s not a concrete solution for many in the demographic that ACT can be useful for. There was nothing new here if you’re already familiar with ACT, but a good beginner if you’re not

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a clinician to help get tangible tools for clients. Overall, I think it is a great text and it is easily accessible. Gustafson makes the language easy to understand and gives actionable examples; however, she has a tendency to repeat herself in the later chapters and it feels like she is telling you to do the same few things. It is a great basic book on ACT.

[Adam Rashed · Rating 4 out of 5]

قرأت النسخه المترجمه من دار عالم الأدب، الترجمه لطيفه جدا و الكتاب عظيم و مليان تمرينات مباديء العلاج بالقبول و الالتزام مهمه جدا لأي شخص عشان يكون وعي ازاي يكون متحكم او يدير افكاره و مشاعره و ازاي يحدد قيمه و يحقق قيمه عن طريق الفعل الالتزامي ، اظن ان لسه محتاج اقراء الكتاب مره كمان خصوصا ان معملتش كل التمرينات في الكتاب

[Marcy A. Sznewajs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful book for many clients.

[Katthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

read the intro, a lot of this was covered by the DBT workbook, but this on its own is very useful.

[Rebecca A. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Better ACT books out there

It’s a quick, easy read. If you already know a little something about ACT, though, this won’t add anything new.

[Adolfo · Rating 4 out of 5]

An introductory book on ACT in the form of a workbook. Easy to follow and with a lot of exercises. But it gets pretty repetitive in the last chapter.

[Rev. Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful therapy

Marissa Gustafson gives a thorough presentation of ACT in detailed and gracious steps. I found the multi-media program effective and most helpful.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book, and although am grateful for the papers I could print out with it I find myself wanting both the physical and audio digital versions of the book.