Things Might Go Terribly, Horribly Wrong: A Guide to Life Liberated from Anxiety [Paperback]

Kelly G. Wilson PhD (Author), Troy DuFrene (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2010

You don't need a book to tell you this much: Sometimes things fall apart, crack open, and miss the mark. You can plan and strategize and keep your eye on the horizon, watching for trouble. And nothing you can do will protect you from the fact that things might, when you least expect it, go terribly, horribly wrong. If you're anxious about this, it's not like you don't have a reason. If you're very anxious about this, you're certainly not alone. In fact, even if your whole life feels like it's about anxiety, your story is a lot more common that you might imagine.

If you could just get your anxiety to go away, you could get on with the business of living your life, right? Well, maybe — or maybe not. Does anxiety need to go away in order for you to live your life fully, vitally, with richness and purpose?

This book approaches the problem of anxiety a little differently than most. Instead of trying to help you overcome or reduce feelings of anxiety, Things Might Go Terribly, Horribly Wrong will help you climb inside these feelings, sit in that place, and see what it would be like to have anxiety and still make room in your life to breathe and rest and live — really and truly live — in a way that matters to you.

Although it's grounded in a research-supported form of psychotherapy called acceptance and commitment therapy, also known as ACT, Things isn't especially technical or stepwise. Rather, the book starts a conversation about why we all sometimes feel anxious and what role that anxiety serves in our lives. It connects the experience of anxiety to the essential experience of human suffering. And then, in sometimes unexpected ways, Things explores some basic ways of being in the world that can change the role anxiety plays in your life.

This book has been awarded The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit — an award bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rejecting the use of diagnostic labels (agoraphobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, etc.) as part of a medical legacy best left behind, psychologist Wilson (Mindfulness for Two) and writer Dufrene (Coping with OCD) approach anxiety as a mild dysfunction treatable with "acceptance and commitment therapy" (ACT), a way of becoming "more psychologically limber" in order to "negotiate crowds, participate in social functions, take risks, and so forth." The collaborators contend that behind much anxiety is an inability to deal with ambiguity; as such, they suggest a series of exercises to stop the cycle of brooding that arises from problems that do not have clear, immediate solutions (and which may be unsolvable). Many of the techniques they propose (visualization, "mindful breathing practice") are familiar exercises in mindfulness, but the most important message of ACT is not to avoid situations that produce anxiety. Instead, this empathetic guide helps readers recognize that brooding over painful or disorienting thoughts is a natural part of everyone's life, necessitating the flexibility to "work around obstacles... inside our own heads."
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Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; 1 edition (May 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572247118
• ISBN-13: 978-1572247116
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Terribly, Horribly Improved June 15, 2010

By E. Lambert

Format:Paperback

First of all, I wouldn't exactly call myself an anxious person. A pessimist, maybe. A realist for sure. Bad stuff happens, often enough to me. I think it's just plain good sense to plan for things to go terribly, horribly wrong. So, even though I didn't set out to buy a self-help book about anxiety, when I stumbled on a copy of this book, with it's disconcerting, topsy turvy cover, I bought it on impulse. And then I read it. And now...well, now, I feel like I'm looking a the world in a totally and profoundly different way. And I like what I see.

Nothing in the book defies logic. In fact, it's all very simple, really, making uncannily perfect sense. In fact, I'm kind of surprised none of the points in the gentle, funny, and playful chapters never occurred to me spontaneously before. But as I browsed and flirted with this remarkable little book, a lot became clear to me about those times in life when I've struggled. Yes, I can choose to give my attention gently to what's going on around me in the here and now. Yes, I can learn to not invest my thoughts with a lot of unnecessary authority. Yes, I can decide what I want my life to really be about, and, yes, I can find the flexibility I need to make it happen.

I found the book to be wise and warm, literary and lighthearted. There is no "seven steps to a better you" here, no psychobabble or motivational baloney. Rather, it's like a barroom conversation with Wilson and DuFrene, a couple of guys who've thought a lot about life and how to wring a lot of joy and meaning out of the brief time we have. I loved the book. I got a whole lot out of it, even though I didn't really mean to. And I recommend it sincerely to anyone who has a few hours to kill on a good read that might, just possibly, change his or her life.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating. Will Revolutionize Your Understanding of Anxiety. May 4, 2010

By S. Smith

Format:Paperback

For any of you who have ever been anxious--whether you suffer from an anxiety disorder or struggle under the weight of job stress, parental responsibilities, and the speed of a society that presses us to rush through life without ever stopping to get present--this book is for you. Like many who will pick up this title I've suffered from stress and anxiety much of my life. I've read dozens of books on the topic and have worked as a self-help writer for nearly a decade. Rarely, if ever, have I read a book on anxiety that is as lucid and engaging as this one. It provides a unique insight not only into the nature of anxiety but the nature of human suffering by looking at the problem through the lens of an emerging, scientifically-grounded, and extremely innovative psyotherapeutic modality called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. ACT, as it is often called, utilizes techniques--like mindfulness and thought watching--that are as old as the hills, but contextualizes them in a way that is extremely palatable, intellectually satisfying, and useful for the Western reader. While the book is skill-based (in that it teaches you how to use specific techniques to manage anxiety) it was delightful to find that this isn't a "quick fix" program like so many out there, but one that is built to help you look at your stress, your anxiety, your life in a fundamentally new and different way. It's an extraordinary work. If there's one book you buy on anxiety, this is the one you should purchase. There is no question: Things might, indeed, go terribly, horribly wrong--if they do, the approach this book offers could be the difference between anxious paralysis and the psychological space and flexibility to move through your difficulties with the grace we all hope to achieve.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Great Resource In Coming To Terms With Anxiety, and Living Fully August 11, 2010

By Dennis Tirch PhD

Format:Paperback

Hello,

I just wanted to mention how remarkably helpful this book has been to so many of my clients. I have also found it a worthwhile and personally liberating read. There is an authenticity and compassion that is deeply present in the voice of this book. The suggestions and techniques have a solid grounding in state of the art psychological research, yet they are presented in an engaging, humorous and humanistic way. This book does not feel like a workbook or a self-help book. It has the quality of a warm and significant conversation with someone who is invested in your well-being and your personal liberation. I have recommended this book to very many clients, and they each have told me that it has meant something to them. It is very rare that such a unanimous response occurs with bibliotherapy recommendations. Also, this is one of the first books that my clients have referred to others in their lives whom they care about. This is an important work.

Be Well,

Dennis

Dennis Tirch PhD,
Associate Director,
American Institute for Cognitive Therapy.
Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor,
Weill Cornell Medical College.
Diplomate and Fellow,
Academy of Cognitive Therapy.