The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook (New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Although the sheer size of this dense workbook might cause initial hyperventilation--280 full-size sheets of text--take heart (and a deep breath!): the many self-assessment tools and calming techniques presented in this fifth edition can help overcome anxiety and promote physical and emotional well-being. First introduced in 1980, the book received praise for presenting a comprehensive look at stress, its physical manifestations, and the multiple ways it can be managed. Twenty years later, its well-organized chapters on breathing, relaxation, meditation, thought stopping, and body awareness still guide the reader through copious self-help techniques to try and, eventually, master. Other chapters, including job stress management, goal setting and time management, and assertiveness training, focus on daily scenarios people often find distressing. Lessons in identifying key elements that trigger unpleasant responses and in reacting differently to these elements are designed to defuse perceived conflicts. For this edition, coauthors Martha Davis (psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry of Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Santa Clara, CA), Elizabeth Robbins Eshelman (licensed clinical social worker with Kaiser Permanente Online), and Matthew McKay (clinical director of Haight-Ashbury Psychological Services, San Francisco, CA) have added topics on worry control, anger management, and eye-movement therapy. New diagrams and a more reader-friendly format should appeal to readers, despite a few typos and graphical mishaps. This is a valuable tool for therapists, their patients, and the stressed-at-large. --Liane Thomas --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Psychologist Davis teams with a social worker and a clinical therapist to present a concise survey of stress reduction methods, from hypnosis and meditation to biofeedback and assertiveness training. From skills training to behavior modification routines, this provides many suggestions for coping. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 371 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; 6th edition (May 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572245492
• ISBN-13: 978-1572245495
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,522 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

398 of 399 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stress reduction for dummies, January 14, 2008

By	Barbara T. - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook (Paperback)

Sure we're all stressed a little now and then, but when the stress REALLY starts to build up and becomes too much, consider this little helper. An oversized volume (making it much easier to read), this book contains not one, but MANY different ways of reducing your stress- that's why its called a workbook. And this is precisely what makes this book such a gem- there's virtually something in it for everyone. If you don't like one technique, no problem, just go to the next chapter and try another one until you find one that suits you.

A handy book that should help de-stress a lot of people, I give it 5 stars easy. Can also recommend The Sixty-Second Motivator for readers who have trouble getting motivated to do healthy things regularly- like practice relaxation techniques!

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an absolute "must-have"!, November 8, 1999

By	Gary ([e-mail]) (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook (Paperback)

I am a university instructor of stress management education, and this is the textbook I use. The authors cover the salient points of modern stress and how to manage it in an easily readable and understandable way. I recommend this workbook to all my students and clients. This is, by far, the most concise and efficient book available today for every person!

65 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cornucopia Of Coping Strategies, April 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook (Paperback)

Brew yourself a cup of your favorite herbal tea and curl up in a quiet corner because you're in for a treat. This book is exactly what the title says it is - a workbook for relaxation and stress reduction - and its user-friendly style enables the reader to dip into any chapter at will and derive something useful and informative from it. The book's orientation is very much a holistic approach and the authors' emphasis on mental coping methods dovetails nicely with the chapters on reducing physical stress symptoms. I found the progressive relaxation guidance (including instructions for creating your own tape) particulary well done and helpful. As the authors make so clear, many of us are unaware of how and where we store our tension and how our breathing impacts our ability to move from a stress response to relaxation. Methods such as progressive relaxation - systematically tensing and relaxing all the large muscle groups in the body - aid in gaining awareness of what we are experiencing physically both during stress and in relaxation. The book also discusses goals, time management, nutrition and exercise, with copious worksheets for the reader to dissect which area(s) he or she most needs to focus on to achieve more individual balance, and therefore less stress. The end of each chapter includes suggestions for further reading, providing the reader a jumping off point for deeper work in a particular area, if needed. Each chapter is a module for bringing about psyche/soma homeostasis. The book's one drawback in my view is the length of the personal stress analysis worksheets. One is of course free to skip over them or complete only a portion of each one. Overall though, the book provides a palatable plethora of nurturing and nourishing ideas and methods for bringing mind, body and spirit to a place of respite and repose, whatever one's outer circumstances may be.