Outsmart Your Anxious Brain

Author:

David A. Carbonell, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating anxiety in all its forms.  He is author of Panic Attacks Workbook, The Worry Trick, and Fear of Flying Workbook. Martin N. Seif, PhD, is cofounder of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), and was a member of its board of directors from 1977 through 1991.

Reviews:

“Do you have challenges with anxiety, worry, panic, or phobias?  Here is an easy shortcut for making progress: Order David Carbonell’s new book, Outsmart Your Anxious Brain.  Start reading it, a few pages at a time. Carbonell writes with humor and compassion.  I challenge you to read his book without smiling! Highlight, circle, or use Post-its to mark the paragraphs that are especially helpful to you.  Make a habit of rereading the sections that you marked.  You now have an ongoing resource for your progress!” — Neal Sideman, self-help advocate, internationally known coach and teacher for people recovering from anxiety disorders, member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), and cochair of the ADAA Public Education Committee

“Whether you have social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic attacks, or another form of anxiety, David Carbonell effortlessly explains the common culprit in all anxiety disorders in this essential read. Sprinkled with good humor, practical analogies, and real-life examples, he offers strategic tips that challenge your worries and change your anxious mind-set.  A must-read based on empirical evidence for anyone looking to outsmart the anxiety tornado from wrecking your mental wellness.” — Jenny C. Yip, PsyD, ABPP, founder and clinical psychologist at the Renewed Freedom Center for Rapid Anxiety Relief in Los Angeles, CA; and author of Productive, Successful YOU!

“Another gem of a book from David Carbonell.  He writes with such wisdom and clarity, using delightful and memorable metaphors to help you outsmart your anxiety.  He presents ten simple yet profound ways to get your life back.  I highly recommend this book!” — Jennifer Shannon, LMFT, author of Don’t Feed the Monkey Mind

“David Carbonell has spent decades figuring out exactly how to explain complex and subtle concepts in just a few words, and this book is a prime example.   Deceptively easygoing, it turns upside down every instinctive response to anxiety in the mind or body, and convinces the reader to behave counterintuitively.  He articulates basic principles we so often overlook, such as that the rules for achieving goals in external reality and internal experience are not the same.  Or that ‘face your fears’ does not mean confrontation, it means working with instead of against.  This is a must-read!” — Sally Winston, PsyD, coauthor (with Martin Seif) of Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts and Needing to Know for Sure

“This book will change lives.  No one else explains worry and prescribes a clear path to lessen it like David Carbonell.  His short, simple, and humorous book will help you understand how worry tricks you, while his writings give you powerful, specific techniques to reclaim your life from the anxiety that has been holding you back.” — Marilee Feldman, LCPC, CADC, founder and clinical director of Life Counseling Institute in Willowbrook, IL

“This wonderful book gives the reader practical tips to move past anxiety and worry.  David Carbonell offers sage advice on how to do things you are afraid of so that you become less afraid, rather than waiting to be less afraid so that you can do the things that are most important to you.” — Debra Kissen, PhD, MHSA, CEO of Light On Anxiety CBT Treatment Center

“David Carbonell’s sequel to The Worry Trick applies his practical advice not only to chronic worriers, but also to sufferers of panic, OCD, social anxiety, and phobias.  With his witty, clear, and casual voice—and his memorable metaphors and exercises—he helps readers to stop treating discomfort like danger. I will enthusiastically recommend this book to my anxious patients (and friends!).” — David J. Kosins, PhD, psychologist in private practice in Seattle, WA, specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders; clinical instructor in the University of Washington’s departments of psychology and psychiatry; and founding fellow and certified trainer/consultant at the Academy of Cognitive Therapy

“As someone who has a history of anxiety and phobias, and as someone who is a social worker and has been director of an anxiety and phobia program for over twenty years, I will wholeheartedly recommend David Carbonell’s new book to my colleagues and clients.  Carbonell has an exceptional gift of presenting practical, therapeutic instruction and education with a sense of humor and a compassionate heart.” — Judy Chessa, LMSW, coordinator of the anxiety and phobia program at St. Vincent’s Hospital Behavioral Health Services in White Plains, NY (formerly the Anxiety and Phobia Treatment Center at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, NY)

“David Carbonell’s new book, Outsmart Your Anxious Brain, is just what the doctor ordered.  David has distilled much of the recent literature on how best to manage anxiety into an accessible and very readable book. David has done an excellent job of combining the wisdom he has gained from over thirty years’ experience treating anxiety disorders with recent findings in the research literature to create a very practical book that is full of clinical insights and specific, concrete tools to better understand and manage anxiety.  I especially like how David provides exercises to try, and then gives examples of how some of the clients in his practice have used and benefited from those exact exercises.  If you or someone you care about suffers from anxiety—buy, read, and use this book! I’m eagerly awaiting the publication of this book so I can recommend it to my clients.” — Robert W. McLellarn, PhD, founder and director of Anxiety and Panic Treatment Center, LLC in Portland, OR; with over thirty years of experience treating anxiety disorders

“David is back with his signature style of warmth and humor to help readers work with anxiety moment by moment.  From years of treating anxious people like you and me, he has come to see that avoidance behaviors are the problem, not anxiety.  Want to know the secret to recovering faster?  Look at what anxiety is telling you to do and do the opposite.Take it chapter by chapter, grab a pencil to write in the margins, and then get out there and take back your life.  It’s been waiting for you!” —Kristin E. Cummings, LCSW