For use with or without a therapist, THE ANXIETY SKILLS WORKBOOK is a helpful tool in retraining one’s thoughts and also accepting and processing the thoughts that have not been retrained so that one can overcome as much of their anxiety as possible. Examples, modules and step-by-step work really helps this book be a great tool for those who need it.

As always, I advocate that if at all possible someone with mental health needs should seek professional guidance. Books like this one are a tool along the journey to mental healthiness, but they are not the only tool and should not be used in place of all therapy and/or medication.

This is an excellent book for those who struggle with anxiety. It has various exercises to practice while reading and I feel that it was very helpful to me. If you're looking for a self-help book, this is the one! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is a fantastic book for any anxiety sufferer. It gives you questions and areas to write and record in and helps you understand what your triggers are and helps you to understand your anxiety better and learn how to try to manage it.
I loved the information in this book and did find it helpful.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book is a great resource for people who suffer from mild anxiety. It is not a book to be read cover to cover in a short time as a lot of it takes practice and time. The exercises are helpful and are described well. There are a lot of self help books on the market now that describe how CBT works and helps many people and this one does a great job of making the process understandable.

As a student of Psychology, I frequently read different books and workbooks that I think may be of help in my practice someday. I have happened to read many workbooks on anxiety since there are so many on the market. Hofmann's The Anxiety Skills Workbook is very similar to many that I have read. Each section is a balance of teaching concepts related to anxiety and anxiety relief as well as exercises to really put the knowledge to work. The format is pretty standard as far as workbooks go. It is clear to me that Hofmann knows the field and is well versed in the best techniques for anxiety reduction. I particularly loved that there was a big component of the book revolving around physical tension as well as relaxation. I think in our hectic society we can sometimes miss these "quiet" symptoms of anxiety until they have built up to a roar. The simple relaxation techniques that Hofmann offers can have quite a big impact on a person's day to day functioning.
The only issue I had when reading through this book was the example of having anxiety about having a stroke. I don't think that was a particularly good example to use when writing a workbook that will be utilized by the unsupervised anxious. While I understand that in most cases a person would not be having a real stroke, there may very well be a stroke and it would be a shame for someone to forego treatment because they don't want to be too anxious. Many people are often anxious when having a stroke and if there are any signs of a stroke, it should be checked out by a medical professional.
Overall, I feel comfortable recommending this book. It hasn't totally rewritten the wheel but it does have a good set of tools for anyone to use in their life if anxiety has become a problem.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Anxiety Skills Workbook by Stefan G. Hofmann uses a cognitive behavioural therapy approach to help you better manage your anxiety.

One thing I liked was the cautionary note in the introduction that the book wasn't intended to address suicidality, severe depression, or problematic substance abuse, and anyone experiencing those should get in touch with a mental health professional.  I always think it's a good thing when mental health books are clear about what they can and can't help with.

The book is divided into seven modules: planning, mindful relaxation, rethinking thoughts, worries about worries, facing feared scenarios and images, changing behaviours, and progress on goals and relapse prevention.

The book has a good mix of text and exercises for you to do.  It's not a dense read, and there's lots of white space.  There's some theory, but the focus is really on the practical.  There are three characters presented at the beginning that are used in scenarios throughout the book.  At the end of each section, there's a quick review followed by a set of home practice exercises.

For the exercises, given, examples are worked through so it's clear how you're supposed to be doing them.  Tracking grids are provided for some of the exercises that the author suggests doing regularly.

Some of the topics covered in the book are distinguishing worry from problem-solving, progressive muscle relaxation, automatic thoughts, behavioural experiments, avoidance, and exposure.  Thought records are used to challenge problematic thinking patterns.

One strategy that was mentioned was realistic probability estimation.  You come up with a figure of how many times you had anxious thoughts about bad outcome X happening.  Then you figure out how many times bad outcome X actually happened, and calculate the percentage of times that your anxious predictions were right.  I liked that the author pointed out that this exercise isn't about making unrealistic positive estimations instead; it's simply about assessing whether your thoughts are realistic or not.

Another topic that was covered metacognition, i.e. thinking about thinking.  I thought the author did a good job explaining how thoughts happen, but then there's the extra step of metacognition as we decide how much to believe the thoughts and how much to pay attention to them.  An example given was worrying.  Worried thoughts tell us that if we don't worry, bad outcomes are going to happen, so we worry more.  The author pointed out that worry is a very poor predictor of the future.  

Overall, I thought this book was very reader-friendly, with clear explanations and useful exercises scattered throughout.  Whether or not you're already familiar with CBT, I think this would be a good book.



I received a reviewer copy of this book from www.netgalley.com.

Some exercises and three peoples examples to relate to the modules the author has set out. Key points and home practices at the end of each chapter.

This workbook is so crazy good. Literally found myself taking so many notes regarding real life examples and real life resolutions and exercises that relate to cognitive behavior therapy. I highly recommend this to anyone who struggles with anxiety. I would also love to see this as an app in the future. Would absolutely pay for it. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Ive has anxiety for most of my life since being young.

I’ve just started reading through this book and can already tell it is going to be invaluable in explaining and learning about my anxiety and identifying triggers.

The information included in this workbook is thorough but easily understandable.

This book takes a realistic, non-condescending, and practical approach to dealing with anxiety and gives its readers both valuable information of concepts as well as practical tools to take into their lives. If you're a person living in the modern day, you have nothing to lose by picking up and entertaining some of the exercises in this book.

INTRODUCTION
The Anxiety Skills Workbook by Dr. Stefan G Hofmann is a workbook that helps people (especially those living with an anxiety disorder) learn how to manage their anxiety as well as better explain what anxiety and what anxiety disorders are. A renowned expert on emotional disorders and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dr. Stefan Hofmann provides readers with interactive activities where they can be proactive with their anxiety and not be a bystander of it. His book helps the reader better understand themselves and that they can manage their anxiety.

MY TAKE ON THE BOOK
I cannot say enough good things about this book! One is that after my own many years in therapy especially CBT, the book provided similar discussions about anxiety:

•Being able to better identify problems caused by anxiety

•Understand how past experiences can effect present experiences and feelings

•Challenge any negative thoughts that may be wrong assumptions

•Becoming more aware of one’s mood

For someone who has and still IS using CBT techniques to combat anxiety disorders, this book is pretty legit.

This book is LONG though. Regardless whether you decide to get the physical book or e-book this book is LONG. But for good reason:

1. It provides the reader a thorough understanding of anxiety—it’s original purpose (flight or flight), how an anxiety can impact a person’s life through anxiety, and the ways they can challenge their anxiety disorder.

2. Very interactive. Through my own experiences living with anxiety, it’s very EASY to get trapped in your thoughts and forget to set goals. The writing activities in the book help the reader better “see” their Anxiety, making their thoughts smaller and easier to understand. The book has writing activities you can write in as well as worksheets you can also print out in its webpage.

3. Graphs. The graphs shown illustrate how the anxious mind works and sometimes the thresholds that one can get SUPER anxious. Like seeing anxious thoughts in writing, the graphs and other such illustrations in the book, help the reader better understand their anxiety disorder(s).

4. Convincing. If you are like me living with an anxiety disorder, you might remember the first times living with an anxiety disorder. Speaking for myself, pursing this new change in my life was scary—anxiety was familiar and comfortable, although I knew it was counterproductive to my everyday life. Dr. Hofmann understands this with those living with anxiety disorders and that’s why in his book, he has the reader make practical and personal goals in which they can make these changes.

“ Research shows that the most effective goals are 1) specific and concrete, and 2) challenging but realistic (Locke and Latham, 2002). So instead of thinking about getting rid of anxiety altogether, try to think about some realistic, achievable outcomes for what your life would look like if anxiety were less interfering.”

This one is optional…

5. E-Book. Again, this book has numerous pages to read via e-book so I cant image how HUGE book (and perhaps heavy) if you decide to get the physical book. Reading ebooks is new to me, because I prefer reading physical books. But…I’ve learned there are some benefits to having an ebook ESPECIALLY for this one:

1) You can take the book “anywhere” via your smart phone or smart pad. When you’re enjoying a book like this, it’s frustrating you can’t bring it with you everywhere you go, because it’s too bulky to bring along.

2) Because you can’t see the thickness of the book, you’re mostly likely to read and finish it.

3) Stressed out? Time to kill? Boom! Open up the book in your reading app.

CONCLUSION
This is a GREAT CBT book that will help you understand anxiety and yourself better so you can function better in your everyday life. Like a CBT therapist you meet in real life (this book is NOT by the way is not a substitute for seeing a therapist; I recommend seeing one and using this book at the same time), it will help you hold you responsible for your anxiety and will “be there” every step of the way. Reading this book, reminded me of my own experience with a CBT therapist and was a great reminder even for me. I recommend this book with anyone who struggles with an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety and I go way back. I love finding new books that offer skills for me to learn and implement when my anxiety rears its head. This book had several new things for me to try and work on. I thought it was very informative and well written.

As soon as this book comes out I'll be purchasing a physical copy, the workbook format is very appealing and it has tons of spaces to fill in that help you analyze your anxiety and deal with it.
I loved the amount of exercises and techniques this book teaches and I'm sure there's at least one for everyone, no matter the type of anxiety you have.
This was a pretty simple read, you don't need to be an expert in psychology to follow along and the fact that it provides you with a recap at the end of every section is really helpful
The examples really helped drive the point across, but they were a bit repetitive. I think I would have preferred if they used more people to give the examples instead of going back to the same three people.
Overall I recommend this book to anyone who struggles with anxiety and worrying.

This book is changing my life. It is full of in depth analysis of the intricacies of anxiety, but also packed with helpful, practical tips. It is showing me that behaviors I attributed to character flaws are actually driven by anxiety. I’m learning so much about myself and how to set myself up for success. I’ve never seen such specific examples of my struggles laid out so clearly. I’ve been through years of therapy and multiple medications. But it’s the strategies in this book (some I’ve used for years and others are newer) that have benefitted me the most.

I would say this is a must read for just about every human. I’m so excited that it exists and I couldn’t recommend it more.

3.5 stars

If you suffer from mild anxiety, this book could be quite helpful for you. The author did a nice job of outlining basic concepts and including a variety of activities. The reader may gain a better understanding of anxiety and the various triggers, which could help them in managing their anxiety. While the information isn't necessarily new, it is informative. It could be very helpful, especially in conjunction with therapy.Many people would likely find a print copy more helpful and easier to use than a Kindle copy (which is what I reviewed).

This workbook provides evidence-based strategies for coping with everyday anxiety. It provides readers with opportunities to learn mindfulness and relaxation skills, recognize and alter maladaptive thoughts, practice gradual exposure to anxiety-provoking situations, and ultimately improve quality of life and prevent relapse. The author refers to three case studies within each module to enhance understanding and applicability of concepts. Despite the breadth of the concepts covered, the information presented never becomes repetitive or overwhelming. Terms and exercises are explained in a clear and concise manner that makes the workbook incredibly user-friendly. I would absolutely recommend this workbook for those dealing with mild to moderate generalized anxiety that is NOT trauma-related.

I think this is a great book for someone who suffers from mild anxiety. I do think if you suffer from sever or debilitating anxiety you will need more. I enjoyed the layout of this book as it has activities, homework and outlines key concepts. I think a hardback or paper version would be easier to read due to the activities. Covers the basics in an easy to understand layout.

I enjoyed looking at this book. I have used many skill workbooks before and I felt like this one was easy to follow and read. I was able to understand it and able to put the skills to good use in my every day life. I am glad I was given the opportunity to read this book.

The book seems to be for people that have mild anxiety and not those with people with debilitating anxiety due to trauma. The symptoms are much worse for someone who has been through these experiences and even something as simple as taking an exam for a class can overwhelm them. And let's forget the environmental warnings, threats of global war, and just the daily news is enough to make the average person anxious. I didn't find the book very helpful.

This is an excellent workbook and resource for people dealing with anxiety and also for professionals who work with people struggling with anxiety. I am really excited to order this resource for our school to use with some students who could really benefit from these techniques and exercises throughout the workbook. It is extremely thorough in the resources provided with so many options. I really like how they started with the few case study examples and linked back to these people throughout the workbook. This could help those working through the book in seeing themselves in what others are going through and might give them some insight into applying these skills to their own needs.

The only thing I find difficult with workbooks like these is being able to complete some of the techniques while following along with a book. It doesn't really work if you want to do it on your own and need to read but also have your eyes closed. Perhaps there could be a website linked with audio files. This would also make the resource more accessible to people with different learning styles and needs.