The Worry Trap: How to Free Yourself from Worry & Anxiety using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

by Chad Lejeune

Do You Worry All the Time?

Have you tried to control your thoughts and get your worrying under control? Did it work? If it didn't, try this simple exercise: Take thirty seconds, right here and now, and don't think about something you recently worried about. Think about anything and everything else, but don't think about that worry.

How did you do? Like most of us, you probably could think of little else except whatever it was you worried about, no matter how hard you tried. This is the problem with trying to control your thoughts: Your attempts to stop worrying very often lead you to repeat and refresh the very worries you're trying to dispel.

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a revolutionary new approach to resolving a wide range of psychological problems, can help you break the cycle of chronic worry. ACT stresses letting go of your attempts to avoid, change, and get rid of worry. Instead, it shows you how to accept your feelings as they occur, without judgment. You'll learn to de-fuse from your worries, observing and then letting them go. Then you'll explore and commit to acting on your values, thereby creating a rich life for yourself-even with the occasional worry.

Pragmatic, straightforward help from an astute and expert clinician; the author draws on cutting-edge research findings to help those who suffer from the age-old problem of worry.
-Jacqueline B. Persons, Ph.D., director of the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy and associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley

This should be a welcome and helpful book for anyone whose life is disrupted by worry. LeJeune offers a practical and informative approach for dealing with worry that places it squarely in the larger and wondrous context of one's whole life! The easy-to-follow mindfulness methods and acceptance practices open the door for real transformation to any reader who actually does them.
-Jeffrey Brantley, MD, director of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program at Duke University's Center for Integrative Medicine and author of Calming Your Anxious Mind

Genres: Self Help, Psychology, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Personal Development, Counselling, Health

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Stella82 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Konacno! Ova knjiga me je ubacila u citalacku krizu! Drago mi je da sam je zavrsila.
Mene ne privlaci popularna psihologija uopste, i ne citam taj zanr, ali uzela sam da citam ovu knjigu jer sam postala osoba koja zaista preteruje sa brigama toliko da je to pocelo da me koci u zivotu i ne dopusta da zivim normalno, i u nekom smislu mi jeste pomogla jer kapiram sustinu. Samo sto to nije tako lako izvesti. Potrebna je vezba, a nisam sigurna da imam toliko volje da vezbam (a ni vremena uz malo dete).
O cemu se ovde govori? Misli, brige i ostale preokupacije su samo to - misli, niste vi sami. Vi ste sve ostalo sto fizicki postoji, ali misli niste vi. Tako da, kada naidje briga, treba je prihvatiti, shvatiti da su stvari takve kakve jesu i prosto pustiti ih da prebivaju tu (mislim na brige i sl. misli) ali i nekako se opustiti uz sve to. Postoji i niz vezbi koje bi trebalo da vas dovedu u takvo stanje i dok sam citala, imale su smisla, i zaista verujem da bi upornu osobu i dovele do toga da prestane da se nervira kada joj neka glupost padne na pamet... ali to nisam ja. Mada imacu na umu procitano, pa mozda i uspem vremenom nekako. :D Do tada, vracam se uobicajenoj literaturi u kojoj uzivam i koja me opusta. :)))

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was not something I had ever heard of prior to reading this book. I did find the majority of it useful, however the practice of immersing myself in my worries as part of willingness and acceptance therapy did not work for me. I prefer to teach myself to steer away from this sort of worry.

This book is broken down as follows:

Chapters 1-3 introduce the book, worrying and Acceptance and commitment therapy

4. Label your worry thoughts
This I found helpful to put a label on what I was worrying about and my behavioural responses to it

5. Let go of control
This helped me to identify bodily and behavioural responses

6. Accept and observe worry thoughts
This is where I came unstuck as this part of the book didn't really work the right way for me - however it may work well for others

7. Mindfulness of the present moment
This is a good chapter, full of exercises to calm yourself, be more mindful of the present moment in lots of different ways, engage with yourself and your senses etc

8. Proceed in the right direction
I found this very helpful, all about the difference between goals and values, finding out what yours are and how to help yourself get there

9-10 summaries and other skills

In all I did find this book useful and I have taken some notes down from it in my journals, but it's not one I would keep in my permanent collection.

[Sai Pitre · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a chronic worrier, I felt very called out by this book. However, it has been a really helpful guide for learning to process worry. You will gain a lot from this book if you're willing to take the time to pause and engage meaningfully with the exercises.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard about this book from someone who said her therapist had recommended it. This is an easy book to read but there are lots of different exercises to do. Because I do not have the patience to work my way through I took the decision to read the book through and then go back at a later date to do the exercises. I have to admit that there are exercises in this book that I definitely won’t be doing, one example is to eat something that I dislike and note down my thoughts whilst eating it. There are other exercises that are just not practical.

There is a lot that I have learned from this book and I will definitely be putting those things into practice as well as finding the time to go back and complete the exercises.

[El]

My therapist recommended this book but I'm clearly not the intended target audience for it, so I won't be rating it. I learned that people who actually have anxiety struggle with planning, time management, problem solving, and being assertive (all of which are not problems that I have). It's entirely possible that this book would be helpful to those who do have those struggles. But it wasn't much use to me.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Acceptance Commitment Therapy-- I think this relegates cognitive behavioral therapy a tad obsolete. Good, clear stuff and some of the best, solid insights (& exercises) for dealing with worry/anxiety I've come across.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subject matter is a little dry, but I gained quite a bit of insight into some of my coping mechanisms. Or non-coping mechanisms, as the case may be...

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the practical exercises in this book and found it easy to read. It has great exercises and steps to take to help with worries. It differentiate between planning and worrying, then includes what to do with each. It’s broken down into different areas: LLAMP: labeling, letting go, acceptance, mindfulness and proceeding in the right direction. One of my favorite things about ACT is the focus on values and this book includes great exercises for that as well. I definitely plan to add it to my book recommendations list for clients!

[Dani Gabriella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book for the most part. Something I don’t agree with that the author says is “to make plans with a pencil” and you don’t have to do everything or go to everything you committed to-that you can always just cancel. I believe in following through with commitments; you don’t necessarily have to say yes to everything, but try to follow through to the things you commit to. I liked the earlier chapters though!

[Dawn valentine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended for me due to some mental health issues I have been having. This book has helped me so much and I felt it right away, doing all the exercises, in my opinion, is what helped the most and has stuck with me.
I'd recommend this book to everyone, whether you struggle with mental illness or not.

[Jacqueline Hjorth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave some good input, although a bit hand-holdy with all the metaphors at times in a way that's not to my particular liking. The chapter on productivity in the end is probably relevant to some, but I found myself skipping them after getting annoyed with yet another book/piece of media tooting the productivity horn.

[Valeria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the practicality of this book. Very specific steps/exercises to make sure you know whether you are planning or worrying, allocating time to things that align with your values, etc. I will definitely refer back to it in the future. A good intro to ACT.

[Brianna’s Bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by how helpful this book was. It describes in detail a method for anxiety management, and contains many exercises you can do to practice along with the methods. I found the exercises really helpful, and they helped me to grow an awareness of my anxiety and gave me the tools to deal with it in a sustainable way.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to my therapist for the recommendation, you the best!!!!!

[Katharine Borczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gentle reminder to prioritize and say no.

[Laura]

Some useful tips. I would like to come back to it someday when I have more patience for doing exercises.

[Luana Zattar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the book about this topic that gives the most practical tips abd exercises that I've ever read.

[Farida Atta · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone suffering anxiety disorder, this book is really good for you

[Cool · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book starts out okay, but like most other pop psychology it just doesn't have any staying power. The amount of work necessary to integrate ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) into your life is nigh impossible. Besides, life does not work that way and either does your mind. In this book you are to apply an acronym to thoughts called LLAMP: label, let go, accept, mindful, proceed. The author points out the difference between thoughts and reality, which can be easily separated on paper, but in actuality you are your thoughts; what goes on in your mind makes up who you are. In the end I felt it was more of a philosophical exercise than practical. When life hits you upside the head with a 2x4, ACT goes out the window.

PS: There are the customary references to our supposed evolutionary past as an explanation of why we behave the way we do. The most entertaining reference is that we sweat so we can slip away from tigers. Once you say something like that I'm not sure you can take anything else seriously.

[Brett Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was easy reading and although the date a little prior to mobile technology, it is not out of date. The author saw the impact of modern technology at the time of this writing. It goes over in good relatable detail the thought patterns of worry along with things to be cautious of while living daily life. There are countless exercises, but they do not have to be exercised while reading and the author knows some of the exercises will be more fitting to certain readers than others and to simply consider the ones that are more fitting towards you. Furthermore he talks about values and the execution of goals vs values and things to be weary about in that process as well. I have read numerous acceptance and commitment books and they all have similarities but the worry patterns and the discussion were very in line with the way I think so this book is perhaps setting me up to have more of a keen eye in noticing particular thoughts and patterns that I have not picked up on before.

[Gemma Cribb · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, one of the best approaches for a worrier to use. Most worriers want control and to fix their thoughts and feelings which feeds their anxiety in a cyclical fashion. The more control they exercise the tighter and tighter they bind themselves in anxiety and worry (about future uncertainty/loss of control). This book gives an easy-to-read alternative approach that is the key to unwinding this often chronic condition.

[Mary Samson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big Chad LeJeune fan: he was my CBT Doctor and one of the most committed psychologists in the field of OCD.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book that has step by step approach to help one focus on less worry.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book that I will definitely be recommending to my clients who struggle with anxiety.

[Libby]

some helpful, some stuff that didn't work for me. Got bored.

[Mike Dobrota · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book became basically my bible at the time I read it. Especially due to helping me getting through the hardest periods of my life.

Strongly recommend for any of the worriers out there.

[Daniel Seifert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this text a good balance of explaining, illustrating with exercises for anyone interested in working at identifying bothersome, challenging and downright intrusive mood states.