Customer Reviews

Depressed and Anxious: The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Workbook for Overcoming Depression & Anxiety

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Dialectical behavior therapy (a form of Cognitive Therapy), this book is based upon, is derived, in part, from a process in which seemingly contradictory facts or ideas are weighed against each other to come up with a resolution or balance. For instance, you might learn about accepting who you are, faults and all, while at the same time making changes in your thoughts and behaviors. Sounds great, doesn't it?

The first 10 pages were extremely interesting and hopeful. But then, suddenly, the book becomes cryptic and hard to follow.

I consider myself to be someone of at least average intelligence with a BA in psychology. I've read and used many of self-help books with a degree of success.

As much as I wanted to like this book, I failed to understand its philosophical foreign concepts. Even simple ideas, felt more complex than needed to be, given some esoteric definitions. I wish I could have given you an example, but unfortunately, I was so lost in this book.

I am not sure who is at fault: the author for not explaining it, myself for failing to understand, or DBT being so complex, but after about 2/3 of this book, I finally mindfully accepted that I needed to give up.

I my opinion,there are two problems with this book.

1. The author is just unable to explain new concepts to a newbie, especially when they are so "new-age". Marra is more suited to be a researcher, rather than write a self-help book for a patient who is confused and reduced by his/her problems in the first place and has no prior background in psychology or philosophy. (It can be done, just read Mind over Mood by Greenberg and you'll see what a clear and well organized self-help book has to look like).

2. Quite possibly, DBT is not well suited to be self-taught from a book.

At some point, I will give this book another go, and if I feel any different, I will amend my review accordingly. By no means, I would give up on DBT since study after study confirms its superior effectiveness in treating Borderline Personality Disorder as well as more common intense emotions.

In purchasing T. Marra's work on Dialectical Behavior Therapy, I was believing I purchased a workbook suitable for use in session that would assist my struggling client's work through the complicated issues of low stress tolerance and other areas of dysregultaion. Alas, I was greeted with another author utilizing advanced terminology and contradicting the endorsement that this manual would "penetrate the jargon of dialectics." It is a useless manual for my clientele. Marra's work is yet another writing that requires too much effort at untangling his psycho language. The client's read the material and are lost at how to use the skills in a manner that will increase their quality of life. This is also my complaint with Marsha Linahan's works. Her material is appropriate for graduate work but not in the trenches of the clinical office. If an agency can afford her tapes, the material is then broken down but most non-profit agenices are not so fortunate. With Marra's manual, I discovered more of the same on my search to find materials helpful for breaking down the complicated techniques so they may be easily applied with the individual in session and in groups. GFL LCSW

Can a book save your life? This book saved mine. The book along with therapy.
This book was rather dry reading but the end of the book contains lots of worksheets that can make all the difference. I wish this author would do a book of JUST worksheets. It is a book that was written more for the professional therapists or people studying this type of therapy but I have used it in group therapies and it is powerful and helpful.
When I first started, I tried to read the book but didn't understand it so I ripped out the last 1/2 of the book (Pages 105 - 180)..those were the worksheets and they made all the difference. After that I was ready for pages 59 - 105.
I eventually made it from page 1 and on but it is slow reading.
I know I only gave this book a 3, but it saved my life. It is just that it took three readings before I could really understand it.

Seems much more about cognitive therapy than behavioral. I'm familiar with Linehan's model which seems, to me, truer to the behavioral paradigm of holding your thoughts, beliefs, and feelings while acting differently. Linehan puts the dialectic between behaviors and private experience in the Buddhist sense of "walking with both things together." The dialectic for Marra is between "hopelessness and hopefullness," "safety and freedom," "despair and inspiration," and "resignation and initiative" (to take a few examples from the book). I think this misses the point entirely. Whether you're looking for self-help or materials to assist with your clinical practice, check out some of the materials from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Steven Hayes, Kelly Wilson, Kirk Strosaahl, etc.) or Linehan's workbook for DBT with BPD (you don't need Borderline Personality D/O to benefit from her fabulous work).

I'm the webowner of Mental Health Today. The author has taken dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) which was originally used for borderline personality disorder consumers and prepared it for the use of consumers who experience anxiety and depression disorders. The book is excellent! Workbook filled with wonderful exercises. It's about time DBT has been claimed to assist other disorders and has been done so well in this book. Highly recommend!

I would have given the author 4 stars however it is very clear from the beginning of the book that the author has a strong anti-medication basis.

However, I am excited to see DBT skills presented in a highly accessible format.

Like any self help book some of it works some of it misses. This is seems to be best used as it is written. It is not a book that lends itself to skimming or picking and choosing chapters.

I am a licensed practicing Ph.D. psychologist and very familiar with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)theory and practice. I have read and recommended this book to clients, and have also been using the book with clients. It is a very organized, dense book that is packed with complex theory and operationalization of theory. The reader may feel temporarily worse from an emotional perspective after reading the beginning chapters because these chapters clarify explicityl and in great detail what is problematic in all aspects of his/her life. However, if the reader can stick with the book, the later chapters provide tools to challenge problematic thinking as well as coping techniques. If the reader is overwhelmed reading the book independently, I would recommend seeing an experienced psychologist or other mental health professional who is familiar with DBT and can assist in working through the material. I also highly recommend this book to any practicing clinician who works with depression and anxiety.

i like this work. it provides the reader with practical suggestions and exercises. it covers most of the problems encountered in mood disorders and anxiety. it could go more into interpersonal issues. overall, i believe it is a very good resource and i've been using it as a core reading for a therapy group. at the price, new, i think that it is worth the purchase for the reduction in distress and improved coping skills. i'm surprised by the average rating overall by other raters and find it well worthwhile.

When I first purchased this book I thought it looked good. When I began to read it I was overwhelmed with the 200+ pages of the book, the many exercises in the workbook, and the many suggestions. But I have been depressed and anxious for many years, so I thought I would give it a try. The book describes my condition well. The exercises are specific, thought provoking, and made me question why I do the things I do. Each chapter unfolds a new piece of the puzzle of my depression. I stopped allowing my experiences to be experienced (what he calls mindfulness), stopped doing things that used to bring me pleasure (emotion regulation), had lost meaning in my life, and was not leading my life strategically. This workbook walked me through the process. I would highly recommend this workbook to anyone who is depressed or anxious. It is not an easy process going through this workbook. It took patience and I had to pace myself. But the results have been great.

I think this book is excellent. It takes a lot of fortitude and energy to do it but the results are well worth it.