The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook (by Edmund Bourne)

One of my new year's resolutions this year was to work my way through this highly recommended book. I see a therapist for anxiety, but he's a Freudian, and I am super goal oriented so was interested in reading about a more cognitive behavioral approach.

I found this book super useful. I am shocked at how well the techniques have worked for addressing my injection phobia.  I still am nervous about it and still took half a Xanax before my flu shot, but it is a marked improvement. And I haven't even done full-on exposure therapy, just "let the anxiety wash over you and get used to it." It has helped!

I also loved the part where I had to get into different "voices" in my head like the Victim and the Critic, and write out all the things "they" tell me about myself. Then I wrote counterstatements that I turned into affirmations. I use an affirmation app on my phone to display the affirmations daily so I can read through them. Affirmations = also super great!

On the not-so-great side is the medical quackery (the nutrition chapter was like carrying on a conversation with a random customer in our local hippie vitamin store) and the attitude towards weight. (You should be able to "overcome" anxiety the way you "overcome" obesity -- luckily the book had enough "be kind to yourself" messaging to override the shame of that statement.)

Overall, very glad I stuck with it and will have to go back and re-read all my notes and dog-ears. I'm still working through some of the exercises, too.  With some caveats about the nutrition and body stuff... recommended.