Description
Stop avoiding and start living!
Do you cope with anxiety by avoiding people, places, and situations that make you feel anxious? Do you deal with depression by isolating yourself from the people and activities that used to bring you joy? Do you avoid talking or thinking about the events that caused your post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? If so, you’re not alone. Changing behavior in an attempt to avoid thinking or confronting things that are uncomfortable is a common symptom of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and related conditions.
With this guide, you’ll develop skills based in transdiagnostic behavior therapy (TBT), an evidence-based protocol designed to help you identify and overcome the avoidance and isolation issues associated with depression, anxiety, and PTSD. You’ll also learn how to safely and gradually implement therapeutic techniques that will result in reduced symptoms and improved confidence.
If you’re tired of hiding from difficult thoughts, emotions, and situations, this book will help you break the avoidance cycle at the heart of your disorder. It’s time to stop running from the life you want and start developing the effective coping skills you need to face life’s challenges with courage and confidence.
Dr. J (verified owner) –
Wow! This book has been sorely needed… a straightforward, easy-to-use cognitive behavioral therapy manual with clear and obvious examples minus all the CBT jargon. The point is that avoidance is at the root of not just one problem but almost all problems we inevitably face related to anxiety and depression. Seems simple, and it is, which is why it works so well. It’s a guidebook aimed at teaching you to help yourself, like having a therapist guide you step by step. Personally, I found it easier to read than other similar workbooks that can be overly complicated (such as Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). Additionally, it’s all a science based treatment using research from real patients to fine tune the strategies. As a psychologist, I would recommend this for anyone dealing with depression, anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety, panic, social phobia, agoraphobia), or PTSD.
Alexander Busch, PhD (verified owner) –
Dr. Gros gets right to the heart of the matter: avoidance is the issue and there are ways you can overcome it. He draws on decades of well-conducted research as well as first-hand experiences as a clinician to create a guide that is effective and intimately in touch with the reader’s journey to overcome their avoidance. The chapters are structured to mirror a course of therapy, allowing clinicians to use it in their work with their patients or interested readers to guide themselves through their own self-therapy.
D Firestone (verified owner) –
Dr. Gros writes in simple layman’s terms. And yet explains the problem of avoidance, how it disrupts your life, and how it can be overcome. He uses numerous patient stories, analogies, and positive reinforcement to illuminate the process. I especially enjoyed the many charts for tracking your progress. Dr. Gros writes in a very friendly, encouraging style.
This book would be especially useful for anyone wanting to make a change and get their life back.
Adam C. (verified owner) –
The Overcoming Avoidance Workbook incorporates the ‘active ingredients’ from the most effective evidence-based approaches in a handbook that is down-to-earth and easy to understand. As a clinical psychologist, I hesitate to suggest reading material to my clients when it is too dense or filled with jargon. That this book is approachable enough that I will be recommending it not only to clients, but also to family and friends!
I appreciate the early focus on normalizing symptoms and eliciting intrinsic motivation (focusing on the ‘whys’) and the troubleshooting tips for different outcomes and patterns. I love the checklist of sleep problems and how every suggested change lists which specific sleep problem is being addressed. I also appreciate the forms in the book are available online in PDF format. When I find forms I like in a book, I usually have to try to ‘re-create’ them because they don’t scan well.
Overall I think anyone can benefit from reading this book. Clinicians/therapists can use this book to help their clients understand distress, and those with distress can use the step-by-step guides to make significant improvements in their lives.
Rachel (verified owner) –
As a clinician, I am thrilled to have access to this evidence-based workbook. It is useful for clinicians at all stages of practice, trainees, and everyday individuals looking to improve the quality of their lives by targeting patterns of avoidance behavior. If you struggle with showing up to what matters and experience significant anxiety, then this book is a fantastic guide to taking concrete and sustainable steps forward. I recommend this workbook completely and enthusiastically.
T. Ebbtide (verified owner) –
Easy to read book with clear weekly steps towards getting better.
AGJasp (verified owner) –
What a relief to have a workbook that I can come to and learn from without having to commit to a weekly therapy appointment that I simply don’t have time for. Dr Gros’ writing is relatable, easy to understand, and presents his reader with a very clear path to overcoming any obstacles/stressors they are currently dealing with. Once you read it, and begin working through the worksheets, you feel this incredible sense of accomplishment, and really feel like you’re reaching your goals. His writing applies to a multitude of issues that everyday people face, and teaches us how to overcome them. Thank you Dr Gros!
University Lab (verified owner) –
“Overcoming Avoidance Workbook” is a comprehensive resource for individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, and other forms of psychological distress. Gros provides an accessible account of how emotional and behavioral avoidance perpetuates disruptions in day-to-day functioning. “Overcoming” includes easy-to-follow exercises, activities, and worksheets based in cognitive-behavioral science that will help readers identify and break cycles of maladaptive behavior. Particularly valuable are sections troubleshooting common barriers to executing and/or achieving maximum gains from exposure-focused activities. Packed with vignettes and real-life examples, “Overcoming” is an excellent reference for those working towards individual growth and for health providers interested in incorporating exposure-based interventions into their practice.
Joshua Clapp, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
University of Wyoming
Jason (verified owner) –
I highly recommend the Overcoming Avoidance Workbook for anyone looking to decrease negative emotions and increase positive emotions. This step-by-step guide was informative, effective, and most importantly grounded in evidence-based principles. The client examples and analogies used throughout made the workbook relatable and easy-to-understand.
KatyMay (verified owner) –
This self-help workbook is an excellent tool for busy clinicians and patients alike! As a busy clinician, I rely on evidence-based treatments to ensure that my patients have access to high-quality care. Dr. Gros has developed a concise and easy-to-follow workbook that patients can use on their own or with the help of their therapists. Our lives have changed since the onset of COVID-19 and many people find themselves struggling with mood and anxiety disorders; this text will help you to “stop avoiding and start living”!
Customer (verified owner) –
This is a great tool for clients to work on avoidance that is maintaining their symptoms. It starts with very simplistic explanations that anyone could understand and builds from there. I love that it has examples about how anxiety can manifest in the body. Also, the way the Dr. Gros wrote it is very encouraging to the reader. I have been able to pull from this book as needed to explain how avoidance is working against my client’s progress towards their long term goals.Excellent!
Kristine Fisher (verified owner) –
Overcoming Avoidance Workbook by Daniel F. Gros is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early January.
This book gives tasks to work on over the course of 7-8 days to assess, prepare, enact, then review and evaluate actions being taken, instead of being avoided out of, perhaps, convenience or fear of relapse. They help to push past negativity, acknowledge that what feels more comfortable or easier is ultimately a bind/trap, seeing the reasons of how and why a change would benefit you, identifying the problems that stood either predictably or surprisingly in your way by using exposure therapy, incorporating positive and satisfying life choices to balance out your schedule otherwise filled with activities that you’d otherwise avoid, then preparing another week to do it all again. Looking back, I think it did well to link my fear of boarding airplanes to a possible exposure therapy exercise of boarding a local passenger train.
Dee Dee (verified owner) –
This book has and is changing my life. I didn’t even realize I was avoiding life – positive emotional avoidance. The activities have truly replaced therapy sessions for me. I love this workbook, I usually don’t finish – but on my way to finishing! I’ve done more things and enjoy being around people more now.