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The Anxiety and Depression Workbook: Simple, Effective CBT Techniques to Manage Moods and Feel Better Now
Don’t let anxiety and depression keep you from living life to the fullest. If you suffer from co-occurring anxiety and depression, you may experience an overwhelming urge to avoid difficult emotions and emotional experiences. The last thing you want to do is kick the hornet’s nest you carry around with you. However, the latest research in psychology emphasizes the importance of approaching—rather than avoiding—your emotions. Avoiding emotions works in the short term, but in the long term it only teaches you to believe you can’t handle your feelings. What you need is a solid set of tools that will allow you to feel a full range of emotions with confidence. This book will provide just the tool set you require. In this workbook, psychologist Michael Tompkins offers evidence-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) skills to help you target and tear down the emotional avoidance barriers that drive your anxiety and depression. By engaging with the emotions you’ve been seeking to avoid, you’ll learn, “I can handle this feeling.” You’ll also find strategies to help you stay calm during emotional situations; and discover relaxation and mindfulness techniques to deal effectively with difficult thoughts and feelings, and improve your mood and well-being. The tools in this workbook help you learn this important You can handle emotions, even unpleasant ones. When you believe you can handle feeling anxious and depressed, you’re less likely to avoid those feelings, creating space for you to be more willing to do the things that you want to do in your life.
264 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2021
37 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Michael A. Tompkins
40 books21 followersMichael A. Tompkins, Ph.D. is co-founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy, Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Diplomate and Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and chapters on cognitive-behavior therapy and related topics, as well as six books. He is a certified supervisor for the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy and the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and serves on the Advisory Board of Magination Press, the children’s press of the American Psychological Association. He has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and on television (The Learning Channel, Arts & Entertainment) and radio (KQED, NPR).
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 11, 2021
Very useful book for someone ike myself and many others dealing with anxiety and depression. In today's world great idea to pick this up. Found it very helpful.
Thanks to author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.
Thanks to author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.
February 1, 2021
"The skills in this workbook will increase the flexibility of your emotional system and, in the
process, build your tolerance to emotions such as anxiety and depression. Learning that you can tolerate your anxious or depressed feelings is how you recover from the uncomfortable feelings that are limiting your life."
This is a fantastic and practical book if you suffer from anxiety or depression. The book is full of specific techniques you can use to move through different ways in which you're emotionally inflexible as the authors frame it.
Once you get clear on your values and set goals, the book is divided into different sections to help you build flexible attention, thinking, action, and tolerance. There's also a section on gratitude and self-compassion.
"Ultimately, your recovery depends on having both meaningful goals that are in the service of your values, as well as a clear plan to achieve those goals. A goal is not the same as a plan. The goal is the destination you hope to reach; the plan is the set of distinct steps you’ll take to reach the goal. Most important, your recovery depends on your willingness to change your behaviors or actions— and connecting your actions to your values will help you do this."
As the authors introduce each technique, they give examples of different characters who each have different anxiety/depression-related problems and they show how the character uses that technique so you can see it in action and then they have an empty form for you to fill with your own data. This makes it really easy to understand the technique and see it applied.
"Deep and lasting change—the kind of change that transforms your life—begins by building your tolerance to your intense anxious and depressed feelings"
I really liked this book and will be using several of these techniques throughout my life.
with gratitude to netgalley and New Harbinger for an advanced copy in return for an honest review
process, build your tolerance to emotions such as anxiety and depression. Learning that you can tolerate your anxious or depressed feelings is how you recover from the uncomfortable feelings that are limiting your life."
This is a fantastic and practical book if you suffer from anxiety or depression. The book is full of specific techniques you can use to move through different ways in which you're emotionally inflexible as the authors frame it.
Once you get clear on your values and set goals, the book is divided into different sections to help you build flexible attention, thinking, action, and tolerance. There's also a section on gratitude and self-compassion.
"Ultimately, your recovery depends on having both meaningful goals that are in the service of your values, as well as a clear plan to achieve those goals. A goal is not the same as a plan. The goal is the destination you hope to reach; the plan is the set of distinct steps you’ll take to reach the goal. Most important, your recovery depends on your willingness to change your behaviors or actions— and connecting your actions to your values will help you do this."
As the authors introduce each technique, they give examples of different characters who each have different anxiety/depression-related problems and they show how the character uses that technique so you can see it in action and then they have an empty form for you to fill with your own data. This makes it really easy to understand the technique and see it applied.
"Deep and lasting change—the kind of change that transforms your life—begins by building your tolerance to your intense anxious and depressed feelings"
I really liked this book and will be using several of these techniques throughout my life.
with gratitude to netgalley and New Harbinger for an advanced copy in return for an honest review
March 3, 2021
I'll definitely be adding this book to my library for use with clients. Not only are concepts clearly explained, but worksheets are provided, explained, and examples that are filled out are given. I love the part that includes values driven behavior, as I've found discussions of how values are impacted by anxiety and depression to be very helpful with clients.
March 21, 2021
This is indeed a great book. It is a book that I could use. A book that is indepth and beautiful. I have been doing the activities and it really got me to think. It got me to untangle my emotions and just focus on one goal. Which is taking control over my depression.
January 3, 2021
Great and resourceful workbook. I hope it helps people to cope with their feelings and learn that we can actually do it!
March 31, 2021
The Anxiety and Depression Workbook by Michael A. Tompkins incorporate cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques to help you improve emotional flexibility. This is defined as “the ability to respond to life’s challenges with an appropriate level of emotion, and then to recover as these situations change.” Sounds pretty good to me.
Somewhat like Overcoming Avoidance, which I reviewed recently, this book takes a transdiagnostic approach that will help with symptoms of both depression and anxiety. I preferred this book’s approach, as it didn’t push avoidance as the be all and end all that the other book hinted at.
The author comes out with the standard CBT lines that you avoid because of feared outcomes, including avoiding positive things because you think you don’t deserve it or you’re afraid of feeling better. There’s the implication that if you just stop avoiding, positive emotions will manifest like a purple people eater. I’m sarcastic because depression doesn’t just happen one way. Granted, depression that way is exactly what the book is targeting, but eventually there comes a point where doing things for the sake of them is just a waste of time because clearly the positive just isn’t happening.
However, aside from that little hiccup, I liked the exercises included in the book. There was a “north star” exercise that reminded me of the acceptance and commitment therapy life compass. Mindfulness was presented as a way to develop more flexible attention.
The book covers CBT bread and butter concepts like negative automatic thoughts, identifying hot thoughts, the downward arrow technique, thinking traps, and testing predictions. Things are explained clearly, and in a novel enough way that it’s still interesting for a reader familiar with CBT.
There’s a chapter devoted to emotional avoidance, i.e. trying to avoid feeling certain emotions. It covers how to practice exposing yourself to emotions as well as physical sensations.
Another chapter focuses on gratitude and self-compassion. It includes myths that might make you dubious about self-compassion, which I think would be highly relevant for anyone who struggles with a noisy inner critic.
The worksheets throughout the book had clearly filled out examples. They tend to be a bit more involved than some of the basic ones that you may have seen before; again, I think this increases the relevance of the book for people who have some familiarity with CBT already.
I think this book is well done, from the explanations to the exercises to the worksheets to accompany them. I can definitely see it being useful in dealing with depression or anxiety.
I received a reviewer copy from the publisher through Netgalley.
Somewhat like Overcoming Avoidance, which I reviewed recently, this book takes a transdiagnostic approach that will help with symptoms of both depression and anxiety. I preferred this book’s approach, as it didn’t push avoidance as the be all and end all that the other book hinted at.
The author comes out with the standard CBT lines that you avoid because of feared outcomes, including avoiding positive things because you think you don’t deserve it or you’re afraid of feeling better. There’s the implication that if you just stop avoiding, positive emotions will manifest like a purple people eater. I’m sarcastic because depression doesn’t just happen one way. Granted, depression that way is exactly what the book is targeting, but eventually there comes a point where doing things for the sake of them is just a waste of time because clearly the positive just isn’t happening.
However, aside from that little hiccup, I liked the exercises included in the book. There was a “north star” exercise that reminded me of the acceptance and commitment therapy life compass. Mindfulness was presented as a way to develop more flexible attention.
The book covers CBT bread and butter concepts like negative automatic thoughts, identifying hot thoughts, the downward arrow technique, thinking traps, and testing predictions. Things are explained clearly, and in a novel enough way that it’s still interesting for a reader familiar with CBT.
There’s a chapter devoted to emotional avoidance, i.e. trying to avoid feeling certain emotions. It covers how to practice exposing yourself to emotions as well as physical sensations.
Another chapter focuses on gratitude and self-compassion. It includes myths that might make you dubious about self-compassion, which I think would be highly relevant for anyone who struggles with a noisy inner critic.
The worksheets throughout the book had clearly filled out examples. They tend to be a bit more involved than some of the basic ones that you may have seen before; again, I think this increases the relevance of the book for people who have some familiarity with CBT already.
I think this book is well done, from the explanations to the exercises to the worksheets to accompany them. I can definitely see it being useful in dealing with depression or anxiety.
I received a reviewer copy from the publisher through Netgalley.
May 23, 2022
Good techniques for coping with anxiety and depression. The author goes over emotional inflexibility to start and moves into sections on how to build emotional flexibility like flexible attention, thinking, action, and tolerance. There is also a section on building gratitude and self-compassion. The author explains that emotional inflexibility comes from inflexible responses to life events, which intensifies the emotion which strengthens the inflexible response leading to more emotional avoidance, and this keeps going in a circle over and over. Lots of diagrams and checklist and worksheets to help you decide/discover that is bothering you. Good exercises around mindfulness, too.
This book helps you to explain to your fearful/anxious mind how to talk calmly and confidently to it. Like what if I start to feel more anxious? You say something like this to yourself: I feel anxious in the short term, but I've faced other scary situations and over time I felt better. There is no way to overcome fear but to face it.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book helps you to explain to your fearful/anxious mind how to talk calmly and confidently to it. Like what if I start to feel more anxious? You say something like this to yourself: I feel anxious in the short term, but I've faced other scary situations and over time I felt better. There is no way to overcome fear but to face it.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 11, 2021
Michael Tompkins' latest book is a superb.
It builds on traditional CBT by spelling out how to incorporate recent developments such as mindfulness, acceptance, gratitude and self-compassion. He explains what keeps anxiety and depression in place and the core principle in overcoming them. That is, how to move from avoidance of distressing emotions by cultivating a willingness to feel what you don’t want to feel. He stresses that the key to success in this regard is developing habits of flexibility. Indeed a wealth of recent evidence demonstrates that developing flexibility in thinking and acting is central to resilience and greater mental health.
Dr Tompkins guides the reader every step of the way offering exceptionally clear examples of all the important concepts. He also provides a great number illuminating diagrams and useful exercises.
This workbook can be used as a stand-alone program or in conjunction with work done in therapy.
If you’re looking an up-to-date, extremely useful guide to reducing anxiety and depression, you’ve found it. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.
It builds on traditional CBT by spelling out how to incorporate recent developments such as mindfulness, acceptance, gratitude and self-compassion. He explains what keeps anxiety and depression in place and the core principle in overcoming them. That is, how to move from avoidance of distressing emotions by cultivating a willingness to feel what you don’t want to feel. He stresses that the key to success in this regard is developing habits of flexibility. Indeed a wealth of recent evidence demonstrates that developing flexibility in thinking and acting is central to resilience and greater mental health.
Dr Tompkins guides the reader every step of the way offering exceptionally clear examples of all the important concepts. He also provides a great number illuminating diagrams and useful exercises.
This workbook can be used as a stand-alone program or in conjunction with work done in therapy.
If you’re looking an up-to-date, extremely useful guide to reducing anxiety and depression, you’ve found it. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.
March 23, 2021
***ARC***
An easy-to-follow workbook to help manage your anxiety and depressions with logical and thought-out steps that anyone can follow. This book is laid out in two sections, the first the reasoning behind anxiety and depression and the second is those steps to help combat it. This book does need to be read in order as suggested because the information in each chapter does come into effect in the next chapter. It uses three primary case studies that you follow throughout where each technique is applied to the same case study. Plenty of examples and the reasoning behind each technique is logical and thoughtful. It allows you to work at your own pace, with or without professional help and gives you sound reasoning of why this works. Now it is not a cure-all for everyone but does give techniques that everyone should be able to apply to relieve some ailments of the disorders. It lays out CBT in an easy-to-follow guide
An easy-to-follow workbook to help manage your anxiety and depressions with logical and thought-out steps that anyone can follow. This book is laid out in two sections, the first the reasoning behind anxiety and depression and the second is those steps to help combat it. This book does need to be read in order as suggested because the information in each chapter does come into effect in the next chapter. It uses three primary case studies that you follow throughout where each technique is applied to the same case study. Plenty of examples and the reasoning behind each technique is logical and thoughtful. It allows you to work at your own pace, with or without professional help and gives you sound reasoning of why this works. Now it is not a cure-all for everyone but does give techniques that everyone should be able to apply to relieve some ailments of the disorders. It lays out CBT in an easy-to-follow guide
April 1, 2021
Do you have anxiety or depression? Do you try to manage these disorders by avoiding emotions? If so, then this workbook might be for you. It's a good, basic introduction to CBT with lots of exercises to help you become more flexible in your thinking. I thought the examples became repetitive, but others may find them helpful,
This book is not for everyone, though. It doesn't address the fact that anxiety and depression can be the result of the way stress affects neurotransmitters in the brain. In fact, it says straight out, "Inflexibility in the way you think, act, and pay attention is a core feature of excessive and persistent anxiety and depression" and "An inflexible emotional system is the definition of an emotional disorder." (These quotes are from the ARC version; the published version may differ.) The book seems to discount the possibility that anxiety and depression could be physiological rather than psychological in nature.
Thanks, NetGalley. for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
This book is not for everyone, though. It doesn't address the fact that anxiety and depression can be the result of the way stress affects neurotransmitters in the brain. In fact, it says straight out, "Inflexibility in the way you think, act, and pay attention is a core feature of excessive and persistent anxiety and depression" and "An inflexible emotional system is the definition of an emotional disorder." (These quotes are from the ARC version; the published version may differ.) The book seems to discount the possibility that anxiety and depression could be physiological rather than psychological in nature.
Thanks, NetGalley. for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
April 4, 2021
While many self-help books focus on either anxiety or depression, these conditions often occur together. “The Anxiety and Depression Workbook” is designed to help people who struggle with anxiety, depression or both. Michael Tompkins’ valuable workbook incorporates practical tools to reduce suffering while increasing resilience and well-being. Evidence-based interventions are explained clearly and with useful examples. As a clinical psychologist, I can see the tremendous value that this book offers to those wanting to build their coping skills on their own or in collaboration with a therapist.
May 8, 2022
Michael Tompkins has crafted a book that discusses anxiety and depression. A topic that could not have come to light during a better time. Today young children are experiencing anxiety at such young age and depression too. This is not a self-care book. More of an enlightening read for readers to explore. I would highly recommend talking with a physician if you have any concerns. It's a good, basic introduction to CBT with lots of exercises to help you become more flexible in your thinking. Although some of the exercises seemed repetitive at times, some may find them calming with routine. Thank you, NetGalley for my ARC .
March 24, 2021
Michael Tomkins has produced yet another accessible, clear and succinct workbook, this time for anxiety and depression. He stresses the importance of approaching rather than avoiding our emotional experience and shows us how to do it through cognitive-behavioral skills and mindfulness exercises. His erudition and wealth of experience contribute to making this book another incredibly helpful addition to the self-help literature and the libraries of psychotherapists.
Lynne Henderson, Ph.D.
Lynne Henderson, Ph.D.
July 11, 2021
The Anxiety and Depression Workbook: Simple, Effective CBT Techniques to Manage Moods and Feel Better Now by Michael A. Tompkins is an excellent workbook that can be used in therapy or as a self-help tool for individuals struggling with anxiety and depression. As someone who works in the mental health field, I would definitely recommend this workbook to patients. #TheAnxietyandDepressionWorkbook #NetGalley
December 27, 2020
I personally found this book really useful and made me realise why I have had some of the experiences I have. This book is perfect timing after the lockdown as mental health is paramount.
Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.
Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.
February 7, 2021
—
I received an Advance Review Copy of #TheAnxietyandDepressionWorkbook from #NewHarbinget via #NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
I received an Advance Review Copy of #TheAnxietyandDepressionWorkbook from #NewHarbinget via #NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
October 3, 2023
The book for people who never heard about mindfulness, anxiety, cognitive behavioral psychology. For me it was boring.
February 19, 2025
Was working through this as an assignment with my therapist, it had lots of valuable information that really opened my eyes and taught me alot
December 31, 2023
While many self-help books address either anxiety or depression, these conditions often occur together.
“The Anxiety and Depression Workbook” is designed to help people who struggle with anxiety, depression or both.
Michael Tompkins’ valuable workbook incorporates practical tools to reduce suffering while increasing resilience and well-being. Evidence-based interventions are explained clearly and with useful examples.
I can see the tremendous value that this book offers to those wanting to build their coping skills on their own or in collaboration with a therapist.
Having both anxiety and depression myself, I found this book helpful and I'm trying to implement some of the tools described in my life.
“The Anxiety and Depression Workbook” is designed to help people who struggle with anxiety, depression or both.
Michael Tompkins’ valuable workbook incorporates practical tools to reduce suffering while increasing resilience and well-being. Evidence-based interventions are explained clearly and with useful examples.
I can see the tremendous value that this book offers to those wanting to build their coping skills on their own or in collaboration with a therapist.
Having both anxiety and depression myself, I found this book helpful and I'm trying to implement some of the tools described in my life.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews