The Mindful Way Through Anxiety: Break Free from Chronic Worry and Reclaim Your Life

You can't just "get over" anxiety. In fact, the very things most people do to try feel better-avoiding feared situations, pushing worry out of mind-only make the problem worse. Leading psychologists Susan M. Orsillo and Lizabeth Roemer provide a powerful new alternative that can help you break free of anxiety by fundamentally changing how you relate to it. With empathy and compassion, this book describes clinically tested mindfulness practices specifically tailored for anxiety in its many forms.

Drs. Orsillo and Roemer explain the latest scientific knowledge about anxiety: where it comes from, how it operates, and what its symptoms look like. Whether you struggle with specific fears or are burdened by constant worry and doubt, you will recognize yourself in the vivid stories in these pages. You will also find hope.

It's no surprise that mindfulness is such an effective antidote to anxiety. Anxiety prompts us to avoid distressing experiences, but mindfulness lets us approach them. Anxiety spurs us to worry about the future and ruminate about the past, but mindfulness focuses on living more fully in the present moment.

The author's step-by-step guidance and gentle encouragement make it easy to incorporate mindfulness into your life. No matter how long you have struggled with worry and fear, the approach in this book can help loosen its grip.

Susan m. Orsillo, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training at Suffolk University in Boston, and lives in the Boston area with her husband and two children.
Lizabeth Roemer, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and lives in the Boston area with her husband.

Drs. Orsillo and Roemer have written and published extensively about mindfulness, anxiety, and psychotherapy, and have been involved in anxiety disorders research and treatment for over 20 years. They are coauthors of the acclaimed book for professionals Mindfulness- and Acceptance-Based Behavioral Therapies in Practice. With finding from the National Institutes of Health, they have spent the last decade developing the treatment approach that is the basis of this book.