Search results for ""author matthew mckay""

Many people with depression believe they are defective, unwanted, or inferior, and this feeling of being flawed and inadequate often leads to a strong sense of shame. Written by experienced clinicians, this workbook provides readers with practical, proven-effective skills based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), so they can identify and alleviate shame-based, self-defeating beliefs, and learn to create a more fulfilling life.Do you feel like you're broken? Are you depressed because you believe that you're somehow defective, unwanted, orinferior? Do you feel self-conscious and insecure, constantly comparing yourself to others? Are you sensitive to criticism, or terrified of rejection?Feeling flawed and inadequate often stems from negative childhood experiences. If you grew up in a highly criticalenvironment, you might feel unworthy of being loved, or have a deep sense of shame about your perceived defects. Youmay tell yourself there is something inherently wrong with you that prevents you from forming satisfying relationships,finding happiness, and succeeding in life. So, how can free yourself from the self-defeating beliefs that keep you trappedin the depths of depression?Grounded in evidence-based acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), this workbook will give you the tools toidentify and dismiss your core beliefs of personal defectiveness, and build a life based on positive choices and values thatbring vitality and a sense of personal fulfillment. You'll discover ways to develop psychological flexibility, freeing yourselffrom old habits and unhealthy coping mechanisms, and alleviating symptoms of depression. Finally, you'll learn to seeyourself in all your wonderful complexity, with kindness and compassion.The truth is you are not broken, and painful memories of the past do not have to dictate your future. If you're ready toheal and treat yourself to the care and compassion you deserve, this book will show you how.

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You are stronger than your anxiety! In this important workbook, best-selling authors Matthew McKay, Patrick Fanning, and Michelle Skeen offer a breakthrough anxiety solution based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you understand and overcome your fears and worries, rather than try to avoid them. If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, you may try to avoid situations that cause you to feel worry, fear, or panic. You may even believe that terrible things will happen to you if you face the things that make you anxious. But avoidance isn't a long-term solution, and in the end it may result in more anxiety. This book shows you how the simple belief that you can endure your worries and fears-both mentally and physically-can be an extremely powerful treatment. Using a breakthrough approach combining proven-effective CBT and exposure therapy, this workbook helps you understand how worry and rumination drive anxiety, and offers practical exercises to help you adopt new habits of observing your thoughts, rather than accepting them as the "ultimate truth." You'll also develop mindfulness and self-soothing coping skills to help you manage anxiety in the moment, rather than avoid it. Over time these practices will show you that you are more powerful than your anxiety. If you've been stuck in a cycle of anxiety and avoidance, this workbook will help you make the changes you need to get your life back.

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A guided journey to discover your soul’s answers to life’s great questions. Human life is surrounded by mystery. At the centre of this mystery is the question: Why are we here? is there a purpose to our existence, a reason why we’re experiencing the beauty and pain of physical life? There is also the mystery of the universe itself. What is it and where did it come from? Religious and spiritual traditions have created complex cosmologies to answer these questions, but each tradition has a different answer and we are left with profound uncertainty about deeper reality. As psychologist Matthew McKay reveals, we can each discover our own answers to these questions, our own inner truth, by connecting with the wisdom of our souls. In this guided workbook, McKay offers a step-by-step process to unleash the unconscious and intuitive wisdom held in the awareness of your soul. He explains how to use “deep knowledge meditation” to acces

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Thirty-Minute Therapy for Anxiety presents a breakthrough approach to the treatment of anxiety that is designed to fit the needs of anxiety sufferers seeking fast solutions.It is a simple solution, a pocket guide designed to appeal to those readers seeking trustworthy, instant advice for healing their anxiety or helping to ease the anxiety of a loved one. This book follows the unique Thirty-Minute Therapy series format. In about one hour, readers learn the essentials about anxiety: what causes and contributes to anxiety symptoms, how to stop them, and how to keep them from coming back. Then, readers have the option of exploring each topic further through exercises they can do to practice the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness and acceptance techniques they have learned. Depending on how much each reader relates to the topic at hand, he or she may choose to delve further into the topic, or simply proceed to the next chapter. Readers seeking even more practice exercises and examples will appreciate the Thirty-Minute Therapy for Anxiety supplemental material available online exclusively to readers. This three-level approach allows readers to tailor their experience of reading the book to their specific needs and interests.

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We all want to be happy, but how do we achieve it? This unique workbook blends spiritual wisdom with evidence-based psychological practices to help you achieve lasting fulfilment.Most of us are searching for happiness in one form or another, but the "happiness" we've been conditioned to pursue is often elusive and fleeting. When we base our happiness on what we have-such as material possessions or status recognition from others-our happiness is no longer in our control. This workbook will show you that happiness is not about accumulating and consuming, or even achieving some deep state of spiritual bliss. Instead, you'll find a fresh perspective on how to achieve authentic happiness rooted in spiritual values and actions. Written by two best-selling authors in the field of psychology (The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook), this guide blends mindfulness-based spiritual practices with evidence-based acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you develop your own spiritual action plan. Using the practical guidance and exercises in this guide, you'll create a set of principles and behaviors aligned with your deepest values and sense of purpose, and learn to make decisions with a wise mind.Every moment of your life is an opportunity to make choices based on your own personal, deeply held spiritual values-why not start now? This workbook will give you the hands-on tools you need to get started.

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How to continue to love in the face of pain and loss• Shows how the certainty of change and loss can support rather than diminish love • Shares practices and meditations to help love endure in the face of loss, disappointment, change, or any of the ways relationships and circumstances are altered by time • Explores how to cultivate gratitude for every expression of love we encounter, strengthen compassion for others, and recognize the power of love after life Collaborating with his late son, Jordan, psychologist Matthew McKay offers five ways to keep love alive in a world of impermanence. He explores how to see and know what we love, how to actively care for what we love, how to have compassion for the suffering of others, how to set the daily intention to act with love, and how to turn toward rather than away from the pain of impermanence. McKay shares practices and meditations to help love endure in the face of loss, disappointment, change, or any of the ways relationships and circumstances are altered by time. He examines what love is and is not, including how not to mistake yearning and neediness for love, sex for love, and attraction to beauty for love. He shows how to cultivate gratitude for every expression of love we encounter, learn to care for things we don’t like, and recognize the power of love after life--a love that reaches beyond death. He also provides concrete exercises for communicating with and channeling messages from loved ones who have crossed over. Ultimately, McKay shows that, by running from pain, we run from love. By avoiding pain, we lose the pathway to connection. Yet, by recognizing love in the heart of pain and loss, by knowing that change and impermanence are inevitable, we can navigate life with a compass pointing to love as true north, learning to love more deeply and making what we love more cherished.

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A channeled guide to the life-death transition experience and how to prepare for the wonders of the afterlife• Reveals the afterlife as a fluid realm of imagination and invention, a luminous landscape created entirely of consciousness • Explains how to navigate the early stages of the afterlife, how we learn and grow in the spirit world, and how to release anxiety about the end of life • Includes exercises and meditations to prepare you for navigating and communicating in spirit There is no better source of information on death and the afterlife than someone who has died and lives in spirit. Channeling his late son, Jordan, psychologist Matthew McKay offers a postdeath guide for the living, revealing in vivid detail what to expect when we die and how to prepare for the wonders of the afterlife. Specifically describing the transition experience and the early stages of the afterlife, including how to navigate each stage, Jordan shows how death is a fluid realm of imagination and invention, a luminous landscape created entirely of consciousness. He explains how a soul that has newly crossed over is an amnesiac, arriving without senses, a nervous system, and all that has anchored us to the world. Jordan details how to navigate without a body, how we learn and grow in the spirit world, and how to release anxiety about the end of life and instead view it as another stage of being. He shows that the inferno described by Dante is an optional nightmare caused by thought projections that overwhelm the newly transitioned soul, and he reveals that the bardos are where souls who are beset with fear and false beliefs spend time learning and recovering. Providing profound relief from the fear of death, as well as exercises to prepare you for navigating and communicating in spirit, Jordan’s message reveals how love is the bonding element that holds all of consciousness--and the afterlife--together. McKay also documents the unbreakable bond between the living and the dead and teaches the skill of channeling, allowing you to connect to loved ones who have passed.

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In Pocket Therapy for Emotional Balance, three clinical psychologists and authors of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook offer quick, evidence-based tips and tools for managing intense emotions in the moment. Using this handy, take-anywhere guide, readers will find freedom from overwhelming thoughts and feelings, find a sense of calm, and live a more balanced life.Bite-sized, evidence based tips and tools for managing intense emotions in the moment-from the authors of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook!Sometimes emotions can feel like a big, powerful tidal wave that will sweep you away. And the more you try to suppress or put a lid on these emotions, the more overwhelming they get. So, how can you feel better when difficult emotions threaten to wash over you?In this take-anywhere pocket guide, clinical psychologists and authors Matt McKay, Jeffrey Wood, and Jeffrey Brantley offer quick and simple strategies based in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to help you take charge of your emotions and start living the life you want. Using this handy little book, you'll find freedom from overwhelming thoughts and feelings, discover a sense of lasting calm, improve your relationships, and feel more at peace with the world and yourself.If you're looking for small, easy ways to manage your emotions on the go, put this compact guide in your coat pocket, your purse, on your nightstand, or anywhere for quick and soothing relief.

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Unfortunately, readers who finally realise that they need to work on their anger don't always have the patience to page through a complicated set of exercises, or make a commitment to a lengthy process with the promise of a positive outcome somewhere down the road. Thankfully, the new model of anger control introduced in THE ANGER CONTROL WORKBOOK is based on a radically simplified approach that gives readers the tools they need to manage their anger in their day-to-day lives.

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Love takes work, but, when it comes to relationships, it pays to work smarter. This book, a revised and updated edition of a therapist-recommended classic, shows you how to work smarter in your relationship. This book helps you improve communication, cope better with problems, and resolve conflicts in healthy and creative ways. Each chapter teaches an essential skill, based on cognitive behavioral therapy, which can lead to greater happiness and deeper intimacy. New in this edition is a chapter on using acceptance skills, developed from the revolutionary new acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which help you learn to accept your partner without judgment and structure your relationship based on a consciously chosen set of core values.

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From balancing work and relationships to navigating financial challenges and health issues-in our hectic and busy lives, stress is simply unavoidable. Fortunately, there are proven-effective techniques you can use every day to combat the negative effects of stress and integrate healthy relaxation habits into your life. The powerful yet simple writing practices in this guided journal can help you get started today. In The Stress Relief Guided Journal, you'll explore your own stress response and triggers, and create a personalized action plan for stress reduction. Grounded in evidence-based acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), the prompts in this journal integrate a variety of stress-relieving methods you can implement in your life when stress becomes overwhelming-including progressive relaxation, self-hypnosis, visualization, and mindfulness.If you're looking to find a place of calm and respite in the midst of our busy world, this journal can be that place. Just write, explore, and make it yours.Written by renowned mental health and wellness experts, New Harbinger's Journals for Change combine evidence-based psychology with proven-effective guided journaling techniques to help you make lasting personal change-one page at a time.

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If you treat clients with emotion regulation disorders-including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder (BPD)-you know how important it is for these clients to take control of their emotions and choose their actions in accordance with their values. To help, emotion efficacy therapy (EET) provides a new, theoretically-driven, contextually-based treatment that integrates components from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) into an exposure-based protocol. In doing so, EET targets the transdiagnostic drivers of experiential avoidance and distress intolerance to increase emotional efficacy.This step-by-step manual will show you how to help your clients confront and accept their pain, and learn to apply new adaptive responses to emotional triggers. Using a brief treatment that lasts as little as eight weeks, you will be able to help your clients understand and develop a new relationship with their emotions, learn how to have mastery over their emotional experience, practice values-based action in the midst of being emotionally triggered, and stop intense emotions from getting in the way of creating the life they want.Using the transdiagnostic, exposure-based approach in this book, you can help your clients manage difficult emotions, curb negative reactions, and start living a better life. This book is a game changer for emotion exposure treatment!

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Quick skills grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you find lasting relief from the painful thoughts that drive anxiety, depression, and more.In today's increasingly uncertain world, it's natural to feel anxious, scared, sad, lonely, angry, worried, or hopeless. Everybody experiences intense emotions sometimes. It's normal. But when the pain becomes too strong and too enduring, it's time for a change.CBT is widely regarded as the gold standard in psychotherapy for treating anxiety and depression. Based on the self-help classic, Thoughts and Feelings, this take-anywhere guide offers distilled CBT skills you can use anytime to challenge the negative thinking that leads to anxiety and depression, balance your emotions, and start engaging in activities that make you feel good about yourself. Most importantly, you'll learn how your thoughts affect your mood, and how changing your thoughts can actually change your life!This super simple guide presents the most effective therapy for managing anxiety and depression in an easy-to-read format that therapists can refer to clients, and readers can refer to again and again.

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Many people assume that good communicators possess an intrinsic talent for speaking and listening to others, a gift that can't be learned or improved. The reality is that communication skills are developed with deliberate effort and practice, and learning to understand others and communicate your ideas more clearly will improve every facet of your life.Messages has already helped thousands of people build communication skills and cultivate better relationships with friends, family members, coworkers, and partners. With this fully revised and updated fourth edition, you'll discover new skills to help you communicate your ideas more effectively and become a better listener. Learn how to:- Read body language- Develop skills for couples communication- Negotiate and resolve conflicts- Communicate with family members- Handle group interactions- Talk to children- Master public speaking- Prepare for job interviewsThis new edition features a much-needed chapter on digital communication. Effective communication can easily be compromised when you're not able to read your conversation partner's body language, facial expression, or vocal tone. This chapter teaches you how to express yourself well via phone, email, texting, and video-all the skills you need to thrive in the digital age.

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A clear and effective approach to learning evidence-based DBT skills-now in a fully revised and updated second edition.Do you have trouble managing your emotions? First developed by Marsha M. Linehan for treating borderline personality disorder, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has proven effective as treatment for a range of other mental health problems, and can greatly improve your ability to handle distress without losing control and acting destructively.However, to make use of these techniques, you need to build skills in four key areas: distress tolerance, mindfulness, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook, a collaborative effort from three esteemed authors, offersevidence-based, step-by-step exercises for learning these concepts and putting them to work for real and lasting change. Start by working on the introductory exercises and, after making progress, move on to the advanced-skills chapters.Whether you're a mental health professional or a general reader, you'll benefit from this clear and practical guide to better managing your emotions.This fully revised and updated second edition also includes new chapters on cognitive rehearsal, distress tolerance, and self-compassion. Once you've completed the exercises in this book and are ready to move on to the next level, check out the authors' new book, The New Happiness Workbook.This book has been awarded The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit - an award bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives.

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The comprehensive workbook for radically transforming your life—now in a fully revised and updated 40th anniversary edition!If you are depressed, anxious, angry, worried, confused, frustrated, upset, or ashamed, please remember that you are not alone in your struggle with painful feelings and experiences. Everybody experiences emotional distress sometimes. It’s normal. But when the pain becomes too strong and too enduring, it’s time to take that important first step toward feeling better.This fully revised and updated fifth edition of Thoughts and Feelings outlines twenty evidence-based techniques you can mix and match to create your own personal treatment plan for overcoming a range of mental health concerns—including worry, panic attacks, depression, low self-esteem, anger, and emotional and behavioral challenges of any kind. Customize your plan to address multiple concerns at once, or troubleshoot the thoughts and feelings that bother you most.Used and recommended by the most renowned and respected therapists, this comprehensive mental health workbook offers all of the best psychological tools for quickly regaining mastery over your moods and emotions. It has already helped thousands of readers: ·Challenge self-sabotaging patterns of thinking ·Practice relaxation techniques to maintain self-control in stressful situations ·Change the core beliefs that drive painful emotions ·Identify and prioritize values for a more focused, fulfilling life Using proven-effective methods based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness, habit reversal, self-compassion, and more, this book will help you balance your emotions and start feeling better—about yourself, and about the world around you. It’s time, finally, to feel fully alive.

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"A practical, easy-to-follow guide to getting control of your anger so that you can live a more productive life today. ... Rather than get angry, get this book."-Robert L. Leahy, PhD, director of the American Institute for Cognitive TherapyWe all get angry sometimes. But if you feel angry all of time-and if your anger makes others uncomfortable, creates distance in your relationships, disrupts your ability to think clearly and make good decisions, or otherwise results in behaviors that you regret or find embarrassing later-it's time to make a change.Written by two clinical psychologists with decades of experience using cognitive behavioral interventions to treat anger, Anger Management for Everyone provides a comprehensive, research-based program to keep anger in its place. This revised and updated second edition includes new information on the environmental effects on anger, such as hunger and sleep; new progressive muscle relaxation and mindfulness exercises; and new strategies and tips for improving social and interpersonal skills.With the authors' enhanced "Anger Episode Model," and the ten proven-effective skills for anger management in this helpful guide, you'll come to better understand and control your problem anger, learn how to cope with everyday disappointments and frustrations, and experience more happiness, success, and vitality in all areas of your life.

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No matter how #blessed you are, sometimes life can feel downright overwhelming. Whether it's a breakup or divorce, the loss of a job, or even a global pandemic, you may need a little extra help managing the difficult emotions that can arise when things are not going so great. Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is a proven-effective and evidence-based treatment that can help you find balance and improve your ability to handle adversity without losing control and acting destructively. This potent and portable guide focuses on one of the core skills of DBT: distress tolerance. With this book, you'll learn that you are strong enough to weather life's storms. You can handle whatever stress or setback life throws your way. And you can face your own difficult thoughts and feelings head on-without avoidance, anger, or despair. Life happens. But you don't have to get pulled under. With Distress Tolerance Made Easy, you'll learn tons of tips and tricks to help you keep your cool-even when those emotional triggers strike. Why not keep a copy on your nightstand, in your glove box, or on your work desk? You never know when you'll need it!

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Powerful and customizable tools grounded in process-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you heal emotional pain and live a vital, values-based lifeDo you struggle with overwhelming emotions, such as anger, anxiety, sadness, shame, or self-blame? Emotions—even intensely distressing ones—are a natural part of life. But if your emotions are so intense that they’re hurting your relationships or getting in the way of your happiness, it’s time for a change.Written by a team of mental health experts, Healing Emotional Pain Workbook is a step-by-step guide to understanding your emotions and enhancing your overall well-being. Rather than a one-size-fits-all treatment, this workbook takes a tailored approach to help you treat the root cause of your emotional pain—whether it’s avoidance, internalization, or rumination. As a result, you’ll create a personalized plan to help you overcome intense emotions and live the life you want.With this workbook, you’ll learn to: ·Stop avoiding and start showing up to your life ·Replace self-blame with self-compassion ·Make decisions based on your values, not your emotions ·Break free from repetitive negative thinking ·Increase psychological flexibility ·Accept your thoughts and emotions—rather than trying to outrun them! When our emotions spiral out of control, they can result in chronic mental suffering. This workbook can help you change the way you react to emotions, before they negatively impact your life.

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