Stress Response

Christy Matta

Informations

• Publié par: New Harbinger Publications
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 0001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781608821327
• Langue: English

Extrait

“Christy Matta has written an elegant description of how dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) concepts relate to everyday stress-related symptoms in peoples’ lives. This resonates fully with me, as I and many other practitioners of DBT have found DBT concepts and techniques to be extraordinarily meaningful for ourselves as teachers as well as for those we treat. Her organized and practical examples, exercises, and practice assignments can be helpful for those seeking self-help and clinicians who are seeking a companion text in the course of conducting psychotherapy.”
—Marvin Lew, PhD, ABPP, licensed psychologist and adjunct professor at the Center for Psychological Studies at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL
“I personally have found Matta to be grounded, practical, and thoughtful in addressing difficult emotional problems. I am always looking for ways to translate DBT skills to real life and how to apply old material to new contexts. Matta has certainly done this in her book. In addition to providing user-friendly, practical, how-to steps, she offers a beautiful overview of DBT-based material that addresses a wide and flexible spectrum of coping options.”
—Renee Hoekstra, PsyD, licensed clinical psychologist in Boston, MA
“In The Stress Response, Matta has done an effective job of explaining complex issues and techniques in ways that can be understood and are helpful to anyone who experiences stressful emotions. She has shown great creativity in adapting DBT skills to develop an excellent resource that provides many strategies for stress management, which are explained through helpful examples and step-by step exercises. I am so appreciative that Matta has given a gift to anyone who experiences a stress response; that is, she has given a gift to everyone. I look forward to recommending this book to clients, colleagues, and friends.”
—Pat Harvey, coach, trainer, consultant, and coauthor of Parenting a Child Who Has Intense Emotions
“The Stress Response offers the reader great tools for identifying and managing stress. Matta provides important techniques for learning to trust your body and intuition in order to live a calmer, more peaceful life. The mindfulness exercises in particular provide the reader with a way to cope better with everyday anxiety and worry. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for concrete ways to reduce stress and anxiety in everyday life.”
—Carey Wagner, LICSW, licensed independent clinical social worker
“I am pleased to recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning to understand and manage stress. In this book, Matta skillfully translates the science of emotion and the stress response into user-friendly, practical skills and techniques that can be applied in a variety of situations that may cause emotional distress. This book will teach readers to become aware of their patterns of response to stressful events, recognize how such reactions can interfere with physical and emotional well-being, and develop specific coping skills to live a more aware, calm, and productive life.”
—Michael J. Wagner, PhD, clinician, clinical manager, and director in community behavioral health care
“The core skills of DBT are skills for life. As a DBT therapist, I use these skills every day to live a fully engaged, happy, and healthy life. Matta’s straightforward, easy, common-sense approach will not only provide relief from stress and anxiety, but, when practiced on a daily basis, will also enhance your quality of life at work, at play, in relationships, and with your family. I will highly recommend this book to my clients.”
—Laura J. Winton, cognitive behavioral/DBT therapist at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC
“Matta provides a practical application of research that can help people accept themselves while still striving to improve the way they deal with stress. The book includes examples and exercises that are accessible and engaging. This is a great book for anyone who wants to manage stress better.”
—Clare Conry-Murray, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Penn State University, Beaver
“This book does a wonderful job of translating proven stress-reduction techniques commonly used by therapists into an easy-to-read and practical manual for managing stress in daily life.”
—Kristin Neff, PhD, associate professor of human development and culture at the University of Texas at Austin
“Almost every chapter [in The Stress Response ] includes a situation of a real person, which better helps put the information into perspective and makes it easier for you to relate it to your own life. It shows the journal exercises that each person would use, as well, which I thought was helpful and made the whole thing a lot less confusing…. There are definitely a lot of strategies in this book that I will consider using.”
—Katie Wanta, blogger

Publisher’s Note
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books
Copyright © 2012 by Christy Matta
New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
5674 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
www.newharbinger.com
All Rights Reserved
The Holmes-Rahe life stress inventory reprinted from Journal of Psychosomatic Research , Volume 11, Issue 2, The social readjustment rating scale by Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe, Copyright © 1967, with permission from Elsevier.
Acquired by Melissa Kirk; Cover design by Amy Shoup; Edited by Elisabeth Beller; Text design by Tracy Carlson
epub ISBN: 9781608821327
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the publisher
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Understanding Your Stress
Chapter 2: Unwinding Your Mind
Chapter 3: Using Acceptance Strategies
Chapter 4: Using Crisis-Survival Strategies
Chapter 5: Improving Relationships
Chapter 6: Cultivating Mindfulness
Chapter 7: Decreasing Emotional Suffering
Chapter 8: Approaching, Not Avoiding
Chapter 9: Developing Trust in Yourself
Chapter 10: Changing Problematic Coping Behaviors
Chapter 11: Staying Motivated, Hopeful, and On Track
References
Acknowledgments
Many people contributed to this book in both direct and indirect ways. I want to thank my earliest teachers, Silvia Canetto and Wayne Viney, who inspired in me a love of learning and a quest for understanding. Your lessons are included in this book in many ways.
I was introduced to dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) at the Bridge of Central Massachusetts, and it is to the Bridge and the many people I worked with there that I owe a deep debt of gratitude. I’d like to thank Doug Watts at the Bridge, who hired me as a manager and gave me the opportunity to grow as both an administrator and a clinician. I owe a deep sense of gratitude to Steve Murphy and Barry Walsh, who first gave me the opportunity to learn, practice, and understand DBT. It is their passion to provide effective treatment and their belief in my abilities that allowed me to master the DBT skills and concepts that are central to this book. Marvin Lew has been a consistent source of support and knowledge, particularly around behavioral and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment strategies. And to Pat Harvey, who was the first to suggest that I write a book, thank you for your encouragement.
I’d like to thank all the excellent teachers and trainers that I’ve had in DBT. Charlie Swenson and Cindy Sanderson brought the treatment alive for me, and I owe them a tremendous token of gratitude.
My family and friends have been a major source of support. I am so grateful to have you all in my life. To the most important people in my life—my children, Isabel, Leila, and Adrian, and my husband, Maher— I thank you for the support, patience, and love that made this project possible.
I would like to thank my editors at New Harbinger, who gave me the opportunity to write this book and deserve much credit and appreciation. I’m grateful to Melissa Kirk for her commitment to this book, wise editing, helpful criticism, and practical suggestions. I deeply appreciate the editorial guidance I received from Jess Beebe and her in-depth knowledge of DBT. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Nicola Skidmore and Elisabeth Beller for their thoughtful and helpful editing and to everyone else at New Harbinger.
Introduction
Emotions are complex, but they are not arbitrary. They come and go like waves on the ocean and, like waves, they can be fun and exciting or painful and disorienting. If you don’t understand how emotions work, it can feel like you’re standing in the ocean with your back to the waves: you can’t predict when one is coming or make decisions about how to manage it. If your back is to the waves, you are at the mercy of the sea.
Stress can be both overwhelming and painful. It can leave you tense and unable to think or sleep. Recurrent stress takes a physical toll, causing fatigue and irritability. When you are stressed, you may chronically anticipate the next difficult event.
Without strategies to manage it, the effect of stress on your life can be destructive. Stress is linked to problems with physical health, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, as well as serious mental health problems such as depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse.
To reduce stress, you must first learn how your emotions work. This book helps you do the following: Understand your stress. Begin to see the patterns in how you respond to events and circumstances. Recognize the interaction between stressful life events and your response to them. Learn to identify early emotional triggers to reduce the stress response. Become effe