Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts: A CBT-Based Guide to Getting Over Frightening, Obsessive, or Disturbing Thoughts

Product Description

If you suffer from frightening, obsessive, or disturbing thoughts, you know all too well how they can intrude on your life. You may even worry what these thoughts mean about you. Do they make you a bad person? No! You aren’t bad—or crazy. These upsetting thoughts that enter your mind unbidden are called unwanted intrusive thoughts, and many rational and good people have them. Fortunately, there are proven-effective techniques you can use now to move past these thoughts and reclaim your life. This powerful guide offers an evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approach to help you get unstuck from distressing thoughts; overcome feelings of guilt, shame, and loneliness that can accompany these thoughts; and reduce your overall anxiety. You’ll learn about the different types of unwanted thoughts, why these thoughts keep getting stuck, and ways to break out of this vicious cycle. Finally, you’ll discover how changes in attitude and beliefs can help you move beyond your thoughts so you can focus on the things that really matter. 

Review

“Sally Winston and Martin Seif—two of the brightest minds in our field—deliver a simple yet powerful two-step process for change.” —Reid Wilson, PhD, author of Stopping the Noise in Your Head “This important book is essential and mandatory reading for anyone affected by unwanted and intrusive thoughts, and their health providers. The authors crystallize decades of experience into a perfectly clear and readable guide. The solution to this misunderstood problem is in this book.” —Joseph A. Adams, MD, medical director at Baltimore Health Systems and Step By Step of Maryland, LLC, and past president at Smoke Free Maryland
“I wish I would have had access to this book twenty years ago! Sally Winston and Martin Seif have put all the pieces of the puzzle together to help people understand and overcome unwanted intrusive thoughts. This is a must-read book, packed with information to help people suffering with anxiety-provoking intrusive thoughts, as well as clinicians who are trying to help them.” —Kimberly J. Morrow, LCSW, maintains a private practice in Erie, PA; specializes in the treatment of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); provides training and case consultation for clinicians through www.anxietytraining.com; and is author of Face It and Feel It
“It turns out that commonsense approaches to stopping our worries, such as pushing thoughts away, arguing with them, or seeking reassurance, actually feed these worries and help them grow. Sally Winston and Martin Seif—two of the brightest minds in our field—deliver a simple yet powerful two-step process for change.” —Reid Wilson, PhD, author of Stopping the Noise in Your Head
“Finally, here is an effective, neurologically based clinical approach to dealing with unwanted thoughts (without having to use a rubber band). The authors’ clear and distinctive voice should be widely heard by cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) clinicians, and by those engaged in an ongoing and unrelenting struggle with undesirable ruminations.” —Ronald M. Doctor, PhD, professor emeritus of psychology at California State University, Northridge; author; active researcher; and practicing behavior therapist
“In their book Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts, Winston and Seif tackle one of the great mysteries of human distress and suffering: the seeming inability to rid our minds of unbidden, unwanted, and disturbing thoughts, images, and memories. Readers are given a rare glimpse into the nature of unwanted intrusive thoughts, as well as their origin and impact on emotional distress. Written in a warm, engaging, yet knowledgeable manner, this book provides new insights for consumers and professionals alike on why common sense fails to soothe the troubled mind. Readers will find practical, researchbased guidance on how to subdue unwanted intrusions and overcome their emotional disruption. This book offers much-needed help for those who