Product Description
The Agoraphobia Workbook is a self-help resource dedicated to helping readers overcome the disorder in all its forms. Formatted in an interactive, easy-to-follow style, this supportive workbook presents the latest and most effective techniques, including gradual exposure and desensitization exercises, plus information on avoiding relapses, managing setbacks, and finding further sources of help and support. With agoraphobia affecting an estimated three to six percent of Americans, this clinically proven handbook will help many face their fears and overcome this disorder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

the best workbook i'v ever seen
I've read a lot of books and workbooks about agoraphobia, but this is the best that has been arrived to my hands. I highly recommend it

great book
This is the 1st book out of many I have read that really has helped me improve. I am not "cured" yet but I have made great progress while following this book. I think we all want a painless symptom free fix, but it's just not going to happen. However this book has helped me identify what I am feeling so I don't go in to a full blown attack while venturing out of my comfort zone. I highly recommend this book to anyone suffering from agoraphobia.

Finally...
Some quick thoughts between classes on the book "The Agoraphobia Workbook" (by Pollard and Zuercher-White).Note: I'd recommend buying it new or like new--as a previous owner MAY have written in it.

I've had agoraphobia for awhile.I've gotten a degree in psychology, seen therapists, psychiatrists, taken many prescribed drugs (ativan, klonopin, prozac--and now paxil and xanax), tried hypnosis, acupuncture, meditation, and read over 20 books on panic attacks and agoraphobia.

HOWEVER, this is the first book that really appreciates the significance of internal symptoms (feared sensations) and the fear of symptom attacks (anticipatory fear).Other books mention anticipatory anxiety and catastrophizing and so on, but NONE address it this well.

This book also thoroughly explains WHY my agoraphobia HASN'T gone away even though I KNOW it's irrational and then describes how to beat it by developing structure, finding discipline to follow it (time, motivation and effort) AND doing things that will at times be uncomfortable.

What I have been doing--waiting it out and trying to push on
with back-up--HASN'T WORKED.It's been two years with varied success--ups and downs--but now it's time to get well.Having read so many other panic/agoraphobia books, I wasn't very hopeful; but after 4 chapters I'm convinced that this workbook is MUCH more relevant to my issues than other "panic" books AND much more likely to actually change my behavior.

The book explains the 4 components of agoraphobic fear:
(1) external signals--feared situations/ places/ activities like being far from home, driving over bridges and physical exertion...
(2) internal signals--feared sensations like heart beating fast/ hard, dizziness/ light-headedness/ faint-like feelings and feeling dissociated/ detached/ outside of oneself...which leads to...
(3) symptom attacks--panic, etc., though, like most of us, I've never experienced the actual...
(4) catastrophe I fear (gone insane, permanently lost control, fainted and crashed while driving, lost my job, etc.).

Usually by the time I'm four chapters in, I've begun to realize that the book I'm reading is saying the same thing as all the others, and my sense of hope for a cure slowly dissipates.For whatever reason--clear explanations, alternate foci/ emphasis, etc.--this book is different.I'm reading it and still very hopeful, and even more so, I'm actually confident that it's going to help.We'll see (I'll update).

(A NOTE TO THE MAGNESIUM-CURE TROLL:I appreciate your enthusiam for the curative effects Magnesium had on you.I'm sure many of us, like me, have even done research (based on your comments--thank you) AND maybe some, like me, even went out and bought and started taking magnesium supplements.However, I'd like to suggest a few things.One, stop posting your fake "review" and pushing the book--it's out there (on here) enough.Go back and edit your posts to just say, "I apologize for the non-review, but please do a bit of research on using magnesium (specify what kind--not oxide) to help with panic disorder/agoraphobia; it worked for me and there are books on it as well as websites about it."

That way you won't be seen as a "troll" so much as someone who wants to help.Most of us are hesitant to take anything that might mess with how we feel and most of us have TRIED many "cures" that didn't work for us (BOTH are reasons why we're looking for new books with new suggestions).Your magnesium non-reviews just make a lot of people mad, which I know isn't what you want.)

Psychologist's opinion - A good straight forward book
As a psychologist specializing in treating anxiety, I found this book very useful for my clients. There are other great books on agoraphobia such as the classic by Dr Claire Weekes "Simple, effective treatment of agoraphobia." However, I believe The agoraphobia Workbook's strength is in its simple easy to follow format. It is written for the general public so avoids academic jargon. There are regular exercises to be completed in certain time-frames so it gives you a great structure for developing a goals list. Agoraphobia is a crippling condition to live with and I truly feel for anyone who suffers from it. If you suffer from agoraphobia then I recommend you read all you can on topic and, even though you've probably heard it before, then face your fear in small gradual and realistic steps. Often the avoidance is worse than actually facing your fear.
Anthony Gunn
Psychologist and author of Fear Is Power: Turn Your Fears Into Success

Add magnesium for better results
I am very familiar with the pain of anxiety, panic attacks, and agoraphobia for I suffered from these maladies for several decades. During those years of suffering I believed that my problems were purely mental and underwent treatment by psychiatrists, psychologists, and hypnotherapists. I took various prescribed medications and read many books such as this, but experienced little relief. And then, after I began taking a daily supplement of chelated magnesium for another seemingly-unrelated ailment, for the first time I began experiencing significant diminishment of anxiety. There seemed to be no explanation for this wonderful change until the publication in 2003 of the book The Miracle of Magnesium by Dr. Carolyn Dean. In her wonderful book Dr. Dean reveals that a major cause of anxiety and panic attacks is deficiency of magnesium and that magnesium deficiency is quite common in the U.S. Therefore, I beg all sufferers of anxiety, panic attacks, and agoraphobia to purchase and read The Miracle of Magnesium by Dr. Carolyn Dean and try the magnesium supplementation which she recommends. It may change your life as has changed mine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

HELP NEEDED ..and FOUND
Great book ....my partners therapist recommended it for him to read
It Helps you to understand & deal with the problems
Easy to read & understand ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

What did Emily Dickinson and Carolyn Wyeth have in common?
They knew that in order to survive as unique individuals they had to eschew the culture of the outside world.

I came upon this book while doing some research about the history of women.A thorough reading of this seminal book might well give you the insight necessary to become all that you are, and experience the richness of life you instinctively knew was there for the taking. You needn't be agoraphobic, or a woman to benefit from this work.Just human. ... Read more

Product Description
Rose Lamatt married her childhood sweetheart at age twenty, thinking it would cure her fears of insecurity and panic attacks.Instead, her panic attacks became agoraphobia.Afraid to leave the house she became a recluse, alone, encapsulated in a bubble of fear, while her husband’s business grew and her children went to school.She led a life unconnected, alone, until someone entered her small world and taught her to live.What happened next was something she never expected.Changes were thrust upon her, whether she wanted them or not.They came, having a life all their own, driven by a force other than hers.Whether they made her happy or not, was not the question.She had to live them, even though she might lose her self.Years later she became a spectator writing this book, watching her life unfold on paper. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Deeply Touching
I have never read a book that saturated me with the author's feeling as did this one.

God IS leading.................
Don't Look Forward is a powerful and thought provoking title, indicative of something most of us tend to forget:God is leading, so we shouldn't strain so hard looking forward,trying to determine what life holds.

Rose had always been a very devout person, even as a child, but as her life began to change so dramatically in her teens and early adulthood, she began to question her faith. There was her illness at sixteen, a domineering father, a marriage that failed, change after change that kept her praying for God to hear her and intervene.Finally, when it looked as if He had answered her prayers, an even greater challenge was placed in her path; and it was through the next fourteen years that she finally came to realize that God IS leading, we just have to LET Him.

A beautiful story of a woman's love and compassion and a renewed faith in what lies ahead.

Don't Look Forward God is Leading
The author, Rose Lamatt, draws you in and captures your heart in "Don't Look Forward God is Leading"The love and devotion of two caring friends brief journey from happiness to the depth of despair brings tears and understanding of true friendship and love. "Every morning, I wake not believing what's happened...she has a disease that rids her of her dignity and being."Don't Look Forward God is Leading" is a story that captures your heart.

A Must Read for Many
A Book Review, Don't Look Froward, God is Leading, A Memoir by Rose Lamatt

I was privileged to read Don't Look Forward , God is Leading, A Memoir
by Rose Lamatt.

Yesterday was a quiet day here, and picked the book up
about 10 PM and couldn't put it down until 2 AM , and only because
my eyes were tired.

I had no idea what to expect.From the title, I thought, a religious piece.

While it does have some religious undertones, it is a very descriptive
story of her life, from childhood untilthe end of the story.

The story goes from her childhoodand dealing with Panic attacks,to
a quick marriage, the birth of a son, and adoption of a daughter from
another country, to taking up the game of golf with a neighbor she met.
Through golfing she met a woman she had known and admired through
newspaper articles about her golfing skills, and a friendship develops that is amazing.

I don't know a lot about golf , so this was just part of the background of the story of the relationship that takes on a life of its own.Then through deep misfortune the frienddevelops Alzheimer's disease , and the story turns to the care and loving friendship that gets them through .

If you know someone whohas anything to do with nursing homes, read this book,some one with Alzheimer you need to read this.Panic attack sufferers and I know that is very common, this book will help you. People who are in unhappy marriages, this touches on that too, and how she handled it.I finished the book this afternoon, and have to write this.

Rose Lamatt, I salute you, a wonderful book aboutthings people go through in life, how you handled them, and so verytastefully written.Ithink you have awakened the reader in me again.Thank you. Elsie Duggan ... Read more

Product Description
Map-III is a systematic cognitive-behavioral program, which uses behavioral self-monitoring to increase awareness of circumstances that trigger panic symptoms. Clients learn specific intervention skills, including how to slow down physiological reactivity through breathing retraining and muscle relaxing training; how to de-catastrophise through actual prediction testing; and how to lessen fearfulness through exposure to feared sensations in safe settings. This workbook is intended to accompany the "MAP-3 Client Workbook for Anxiety and Panic" (ISBN 0-19-518697-4), but is written for individuals who have agoraphobia. This workbook deals mostly with agoraphobic avoidances. Many of the principles and procedures described in this workbook follow directly from the principles and procedures of the client workbook for anxiety and panic. Therefore, the authors suggest that the clients read the client workbook for anxiety and panic before starting with this workbook.They recommend doing so even if the clients are not currently experiencing panic attacks because, as they describe in much more detail in the chapters, agoraphobia tends to be fueled by a person's concerns about having panic attacks or panic-like symptoms, even when panic attacks have not happened for quite some time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The best thus far
It is unbelievable how a person who suffers from panic and anxiety struggles to get the most appropriate help. An expert referred me to MAP and after 5 weeks into the program, i feel THIS is the real deal. Just make sure you get the correct MAP books. ISBN numbers might be helpfull: for anxiety and panic see Oxford isbn 0-19-518697-4; for agoraphobia try Oxford isbn 0-19-518696-6.

Panic Control therapy
As a clinican and also a short-term learner in Barlow's center, I've witnessed how the panic control therapy has been tested vigorously in the centre, and also saw how the client had been benefitted from the panic control therapy.This workbook, together with the therapist's handbook, can give the reader essential guideline in using PCT for panic patients.I've made a lot of reference to this in treating panic patients in my clinical setting. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a premier program for overcoming Agoraphobia and Panic Disorder. It is written in everyday, conversational language for ease of reading and understanding. "Freedom From Agoraphobia" teaches highly successful and research-proven techniques from Cognitive, Behavioral and Psychodynamic therapies. Meditation is also explained and full instructions are provided.
This is a practical program that can be used with or without simultaneous medication treatment. It is designed for individuals and groups of people who have panic attacks and for treating professionals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Learnt nothing
This is a horrible book. The main premise of the author is 'just do it and go out'. Simply just going out and getting used to it. Who doesn't know that? There is a difference between 'getting used' to a place and not letting anxiety get to u in any place. One can get used to place-A and stop feeling anxious when going to place-A but if he goes to place-B, the anxiety will come back. I get the feeling that the author does not seem to understand agorophobics as he himself is not an agoraphobic. Hence he equates easing agorophobia with solutions to drug and alcohol problems - just like an alcoholic, he deduces that an agorophobic may need to REACH BOTTOM before the agorophobia can go away. Then there are the standard relaxation exercises like tensing your feet/arm/neck muscles, then releasing them. Again who does not know that? I learnt nothing from this book save taking along an emergency kit (cell phone, tranquilizers, aspirin, pepper spray, airplane-type vomitting bag) when one goes out. If one relies on an emergency kit, it is just as good as relying on booze as a crutch. Finally, the title indicates a 'Medication Independent' method to being free from agorophobia but a list of the usual sort of medications are given and even encouraged. In the end, his 'just do it and go out' philosophy just doesn't jive with those wanting to lessen agorophobia long term.

Amazing Book!
I have had Agoraphobia since I was in the 3rd Grade; I remember having my first panic attack at the auditorium at the school gym. I have been through therapy, medication and several programs throughout my life. Freedom From Agoraphobia has been the only thing that has worked!!! Dr. Eisenstadt helps you to understand why you have panic, how to get rid of panic and all in an easy to read book. There were times I would laugh out loud with thoughts of him knowing what I was thinking. It is an amazing book, if you want freedom this is the way to it....

Excellent book!
I loved this book - it was so well written! Out of all the books I have read on this topic, I must admit this one was the most accurate and easy to read of all them.

Direct and informative
This book gives many tools for gettintg over this debilitating problem.
Just reading the simple explinations of Panic/Agoraphobia will help put your mind at ease and direct you in the correct ways of mastering panic attacks. I highly recommend it.

What if...
"...What if there was something far better than going through life hoping you would never have another panic attack?" Dr. Eisenstadt not only lets us in on what that might be but illuminates the various journeys we might take to that end and empowers us
ach to fashion our own.
These aren't the musings a Mark Twain, Rush Limbaugh or Garrison Keelor on the subject, which as an aside, may be the only time those three names will ever appear in a single sentence. His language is simple and straight forward.
Dr. Eisenstadt is manifestly a doctor of psychiatry but more to the point, a doctor in its original sense of'teacher'. He does not bombard us with magic bullets, esoteric rituals or charismatic psycho-buffoonery. Instead, he explains what is known and
hat is not; things that might be done; with whom; using what; how they work, and how they might not ... in a gentle, reasonable and compassionate voice.
Thanks Mark, from a retired mental health counselor. ... Read more

Product Description

Meg Logan has not been farther than two miles from home in six years. She has agoraphobia, a debilitating anxiety disorder that entraps its sufferers in the fear of leaving safe havens such as home. Paradoxically, while at this safe haven, agoraphobics spend much of their time ruminating over past panic experiences and imagining similar hypothetical situations. In doing so, they create a narrative that both describes their experience and locks them into it.

Constructing Panic offers an unprecedented analysis of one patient's experience of agoraphobia. In this novel interdisciplinary collaboration between a clinical psychologist and a linguist, the authors probe Meg's stories for constructions of emotions, actions, and events. They illustrate how Meg uses grammar and narrative structure to create and recreate emotional experiences that maintain her agoraphobic identity.

In this work Capps and Ochs propose a startling new view of agoraphobia as a communicative disorder. Constructing Panic opens up the largely overlooked potential for linguistic and narrative analysis by revealing the roots of panic and by offering a unique framework for therapeutic intervention. Readers will find in these pages hope for managing panic through careful attention to how we tell the story of our lives.

Customer Reviews (5)

Still solid self-help
I read this book 20 plus years ago.It is from the seventies, I believe.Great cognitive psychology for panic disorder and agorphobia.Provides self-help basics and practice for desensitization.I bought It for another; I was really glad to find it on Amazon.

you may find it cheaper on ebay of halfdotcom
I just got to page 68 and had to put this book down to write about what I have just read on the book. I have found the answer for what I have been asking myself about what happened to me when I got my first panic attack. the author talks about the "feelings of unreality", and those same feelings are what had led me to my very first PANIC attack.it's been three years and I let the question about what had happened go because I somehow knew the answer already since the very beginning (the heart knows)and just didn't want to prolong this fear. but reading this on the book assured me about what I felt before and sometimes still feel when feeling out of touch with reality. PLEASE, GET THIS BOOK!!!!!!! either from your library or on ebay or [...] or any seller. you will NOT regret this purchase. if I had gotten this book when I first got my panic attack, I would have saved myself 3 years of questioningbut that's okay cause regretting the past will only make me regret that I'm regretting now.one does NOT have to be Agoraphobic to read this book, you can have any nervous illness.

Simple and Effect Treatment of Agoraphobia
I read this book in the seventies and it freed me to live again. Dr. Claire Weekes thoroughly understands the anatomy of anxiety and phobias and knows the process that heals shattered nerves. If you need to be healed of panic attacks, grab a used version of this book. Read every word, and put into practice her guiding steps. It works.

INCREDIBLE book! Explains Agoraphobia, Anxiety and Panic...
Like no other out there. Great book. You'll love it!

Changed my life.
I found this wonderful book back in the early 1980's after reading it my life changed.I read the book over and over using all of her suggestions.I overcame my agoraphobia and now lead a normal life.I recommend this book to all who suffer from this condition. It is simple and easy to understand and follow. Linda ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
This practical, self-empowering book on overcoming debilitating panic attacks is now in a completely revised, updated and expanded third edition, and includes the latest information and new research findings on agoraphobia, exposure therapy, medication, and other important topics.

MASTER YOUR PANIC parallels an actual treatment program in which you are guided, step-by-step, through twelve self-help treatment sessions. Proven, research-based methods are presented in easy-to-follow instructions, accompanied by numerous case examples. Includes guides for identifying triggers of panic attacks, challenging catastrophic thinking and for preventing relapse. Follow Dr. Beckfield's procedures to gain a thorough understanding of the disorder and you can actually resolve the panic in your life.

--Find out why you developed panic attacks in the first place and why they come back. --Learn the tried-and-true "SRB" method to STOP panic the moment it strikes. --Discover your personal triggers for panic and tackle them, one by one -- the thoughts, the physical habits, even the emotional traps. So panic goes away and stays away. --Find out the latest information on the best medications for panic. --Identify the personal stresses and family backgrounds that can lead to panic. --Learn to stop limiting yourself and get your life back -- for GOOD. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Educate and Empower Yourself!
After having my first panic attack years ago, I decided to educate myself and I purchased this book.This book helped me realize why I was having these attacks and allowed me to get on the path of getting my life back.It was a critical piece of the puzzle to this healing process and I am so glad that this was the book that I chose.

Not for an agoraphobic!
I was quite dissapointed after reading most of this book. It refers to Agoraphobia simply as an avoidance! It gives the general common sence answers for anexiety ; both social and common. I have had Agoraphobia (housebound) for almost 13 years...this time. But have been plagued by it most of my life. It seems by her saying Agoraphobia is merely an avoidance, it is trivalizing the seriousness of it! Wish I had not bought this waste of time! J. Dalton, Swansea, MA.

A Big Help To Me
This book was very helpful to me.Just reading it seems to cause one's anxious thoughts to subside, as the book describes the causes and physical aspects of a panic attack and helps the reader to identify the process and isolate it as an objective physical and mental phenomenon which can be dealt with rationally using simple techniques described in the book.There are also questions to guide the reader to identify aspects of their personal and family history that may be contributing to the anxiety and panic attacks, and it includes information about standard treatments and medications for anxiety.

The phenomenon of anxiety is rooted in a panicky feeling of being overwhelmed in a crisis.The mere act of objectively studying the anxiety and panic helps to defuse it.Also it is a great help to see that anxiety symptoms are common to other people who have successfully learned to live with and/or overcome them.

Additionally this book is good because it allows you to practice "bibliotherapy" in the privacy of your own home, if you are uncomfortable with the idea of going through the formal mental health system to get some help, and helps you to realize whether your problem is severe enough to need professional assistance, or if you can manage it yourself.

Magnesium can relieve anxiety and panic; please read review!
I am very familiar with the pain of anxiety, panic attacks, and agoraphobia for I suffered from these maladies for several decades. During those years of suffering I believed that my problems were purely mental and underwent treatment by psychiatrists, psychologists, and hypnotherapists. I took various prescribed medications and read many books such as this, but experienced little relief. And then something wonderful happened: I began taking a daily supplement of chelated magnesium (for a different ailment) and shortly thereafter experienced a significant diminishment of anxiety in addition to cure of the ailment for which I had originally taken the supplemental magnesium. There seemed to be no explanation for why taking supplemental magnesium caused this wonderful loss of anxiety until the publication in 2003 of the important book The Miracle of Magnesium by Dr. Carolyn Dean. Early in her book Dr. Dean reveals that a major cause of anxiety and panic attacks is deficiency of magnesium and that magnesium deficiency is quite common in the U.S. Therefore, I beg all sufferers of anxiety, panic attacks, and agoraphobia -- whatever else you may do -- please purchase and read The Miracle of Magnesium by Dr. Carolyn Dean and please try the magnesium supplementation which she recommends. It may change your life as it has changed mine.

Wonderful Self-Help Guide
Master Your Panic and Take Back Your Life, Third Edition, by Denise F. Beckfield,PhD. , written in lay language instead of "medicalese" is a step-by-step, straight forward how to help yourself if you suffer from panic attacks, anxiety, or agoraphobia.Explaining what constitutes a panic attack, the doctor shows what causes the frightening attacks to happen and how to trace and ammend their root causes.She details the warning signals to become alert to in order to sense an attack coming on before it really kicks in. Then Dr. Beckfield gives excellent yet simple methods of what to do to prevent the panic attack from occurring.The book helps the sufferer to analyse attack triggers and how to challenge catastrophic beliefs, how to practice situations that cause panic while learning the steps to prevent the attack.Her methods include his SRB formula which, when practiced can become automatic and restore the calm state of life which the panick attack sufferer has lost, giving back one's ease and control. The book has some excellent methods and is helpful also for family and friends to read in order to understand what the panic attack victim is experiencing and to help him or her conquer these overwhelming experiences. A very helpful book and an easy and interesting read.The First Aid for Panic is alone worth the price, from Impact Publishers in California. ... Read more

Product Description

Description

The book is a complete recovery plan for all those suffering from agoraphobia.

It deals with every aspect of the condition and provides clear, simple and effective strategies for full recovery. It adopts a holistic approach which ensures improved general health and fitness that form the springboard to recovery.

Written in clear, jargon-free language it explains the condition in layman's terms. It contains guidance on diet, sleep, lifestyle and exercise and explains how these play a vital part in regaining good health. Most important of all are the step-by-step guidelines for overcoming your fears and living a full life. These enable you to progress at the speed that suits you and to tailor your progress to your needs.

It is written by a former agoraphobic who understands the nature of the illness and knows how easy it is to avoid fearful situations and allow the condition to strengthen its grip. The author explains how to confront and overcome these excuses and motivate yourself to full recovery.

About the Author

Joseph O'Neill is a freelance author and broadcaster. He has broadcast and published in both Ireland and Britain. He suffered from agoraphobia for almost thirty years and experienced most forms of therapy during that time. His experience of what works and what doesn't forms the basis of this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

fantastic
highly preferable book. it has incredible sense of drama. it touches the reader's inner feelings.

Truly endearing
One of the most profound and thought-provoking literature that provides a prolific and galvanizing insight to the threads and detailings of a young girl's coming-of-age story. Highly recommend! Has changed my life!

One of a kind Book
One of the greatest book ever read.It's very touching and tells you a lot about one's culture. ... Read more

Product Description
The Linden Method program is a recognized psychologist endorsed and supported program of treatment for eliminating the underlying cause of anxiety instead of, as with most treatments, trying to eliminate the symptoms. The Linden Method is now recognized as the most successful, supportive and simple treatment for anxiety conditions. Developed by international anxiety disorders coach Charles Linden to eliminate his own anxiety disorder, this method maps the simple route to recovery, following the exact same route that all recovered sufferers have followed. Tens of thousands of sufferers worldwide have used this method to become completely anxiety free. "The Linden Method" is easy to use and slips into daily routine without effort, there is absolutely no homework, writing or exercises to do. The manual includes the 6 Linden Method CDs, a DVD, 12 months free unlimited counseling support from qualified counselors and psychologists and a 365 Day money back guarantee. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence
The claims made in this programme are bullish. We are asked to believe that this is the one true way to rid yourself of panic attacks, anxiety disorders and phobias. At one point it says that it is the only cure for anxiety. But before looking at the evidence for such extraordinary claims, lets look at the process.

Firstly, one has to learn the "nine pillars", read the material, do the visualisation exercise twice each day, do Tai Chi exercises as often as possible and do exactly what the Method teaches you. Confusingly, there are then two "powerful" elements; diversion which apparently re-balances the sufferer's conscious logical thinking and subconscious habits. Secondly, the sufferer needs to breathe correctly and improve their posture.

So what are the nine pillars?
Stop visiting your doctor (and other doctors too)
Talk to your doctor about stopping the medication (confusingly as you are not supposed to visit them)
Stop looking for answers to your problems elsewhere
Only use the Linden method
Stop talking to other people about how you feel
Stop relying on other people for help with your feelings (which follows from not talking to them presumably)
Get rid of memories about your problem
Keep busy as a diversion (distraction)
Don't allow anxiety to change what you do.

You don't have to be a psychologist to see that 1-7 are all ways of saying "rely on the this method alone". That leaves two pillars which are about not giving in to anxiety. Good stuff, but not good enough.

Interestingly for someone who says that the way to getting better is not to dwell on the details of your past problems, Mr Linden offers the story of his own problems in great detail in the "Nine Pillars" booklet. The story comes to its culmination when he received Cognitive-behaviour Therapy. His cognitive therapist taught him all kinds of useful stuff, which Linden applied and added to. I found myself musing about this. Why is this person, who benefited from cognitive therapy (and added to it in ways any sensible CBT therapist would encourage one to do) now taking the position that other people should not seek help from anyone except himself? I'm keeping my answers to myself, I'm afraid.

The Nine Pillars book then offers a reasonable account of the physiology of anxiety (although some of it made me wince). Nothing unique here, and certainly not the best account available. For someone opposed to the use of medication Linden seems very fond of biological accounts of anxiety. Oddly, although he seems to have benefited from cognitive-behavioural therapy, the cognitive component does not come through directly. For example, this early section on Panic Disorder he neglects to mention catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations, choosing instead to suggest that the brain has been programmed to produce panic. Linden is also fond of diagnosis, and paraphrases the American diagnostic system as a way of describing anxiety disorders. This improves later as one listens to the CD based material, but the nuggets are well hidden.

The chapter on stopping anxiety has some good snippets, and Linden is fond of the idea of hyperventilation, resurrecting the old "brown paper bag" idea. Some other practical ideas are to be found in "diversion tactics"; these are good old fashioned distractions, varying from splashing water on the face to eating apples. Maybe he thinks an apple a day keeps the doctor away, so it fits with his first pillar? But there is another major problem here. He gives no consideration to safety seeking behaviour. This is a shame, because a lot of his "behavioural activation" stuff (meaning: don't let your behaviour be changed, reach for the things you want) fits with current views on and evidence about the role of safety seeking in anxiety disorders. However, in places he is implicitly encouraging safety seeking behaviours. This in my opinion is further evidence that Linden's science is, as best, muddled.

The supplementary materials are interesting. The introduction on the CD is a pleasant and slightly soporific lecture which re-iterates the positive message in the nine pillars book. In the interview which follows, we are treated to more of the same. The visualisation exercise is even more soporific. It follows the convention set by progressive muscular relaxation, and again is worth doing for its relaxation and distraction potential, if relaxation and distraction is what you need.

The "Panic Attack Eliminator" seemed more promising on the basis of its preamble. And I mean promising; the promise is there, right at the beginning; "this is the conclusive method for disarming panic attacks". Apparently it can work on the first occasion, but might take up to three times. In the rest of this seven minute wonder, the sufferer is told that they cause their own panic. "Place every square millimetre of your body in my trust" Linden intones. Go with it, let it do its worst. Discover that it can't do anything bad to you. At last, something resembling cognitive therapy! Not set up properly, but sensible. Fear of fear is emphasises, as are vicious circles. But they are not explained properly, and of course it is not fear of fear which is the problem in panic, but fear of the consequences of fear. Sadly, it is clear that this is not the conclusive method.

This is all a bit sad. One way of looking at it is that Charles Linden had cognitive behavioural therapy, found it helpful, embellished it and now markets it as his own one true way not just for the problem he had, but for all anxiety problems. It's not.

Now don't get me wrong, this is mostly sensible stuff for panic, and if it cost $5.99 at the bookshop, I'd be recommending it, suggesting that there might be useful snippets here and there.

My opinion is that it will be of no value to people whose anxiety is not fuelled by panic, and only limited value to most of those with severe and persistent panic. So would I recommend it in a limited way?

What makes any recommendation impossible is the cultic element. The explicit method is, use my method only (and pay my price for it). The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) anxiety guidelines are now available, summarising the best science. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is the treatment of choice. The Linden Method has no evidence underpinning it and therefore doesn't even make third choice for NICE, which is guided self help based on CBT principles. Charles Linden's method is not evidence based, the science is flawed and the price is ludicrous. In essence Linden claims this treatment is novel and effective; sadly, it seems likely that what is novel is not effective, and what is effective is not novel. My title for this review is that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence; there is no such evidence

Linden Method purchase
Ibought this item hoping to receive it before I was due to travel.The book arrived on time but clearly I was shipped a returned item.The original packaging had been removed and jammed in a box.The CD case was still wrapped but broken.The Set was missing a key registration page.And the worst was that the outside binder was printed in English but the inside pages were all in Spanish. I ordered a replacement.It arrived in new unopened condition but still written in Spanish inside an English printed Binder.Very Disappointing.I will not be reordering.

linden method saved my life !
this is like a holy book for me .. why ? cus my life sucked .. for two years .. and i didnt think that il be bale to recover. but this linden method is a life saverwhat was amazing is that it made me tackle everything by my self .. and this made me feel so fulfilled. god bless Charles linden . this man is saving lives ..!!!!

right now , im back at the club , djing , im a financial advisor .. i have two careers.and my life that belongs to me . I AM MORE STRONGER NOW THEN BEFORE I HAD ANXIETY . I APPRECIATE HAVING ANXIETY BEFORE ... BECAUSE IT MADE ME REALIZE HOW STRONG I AM, AND HOW ''I'' ALL BY MYSELF CAN OVERCOME ANYTHING JUST LIKE THE MASTER OF MY OWN DESTINY. RIGHT NOW I SEE SUFFERS ALWAYS CRYING ON YOUTUBE , FACEBOOK.. LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION..GOING TO DOCTORS WHO DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT ANXIETY FEELS LIKE, LET ALONE ANYTHING.


IM 22 YEARS OLD , IM BACK . AND IL ALWAYS BE BETTER AND STRONGER ... I WORKED HARD FOR IT , AND THE MORE I STRIVED FORWARD THE EASIER IT GOT FOR ME .RIGHT NOW ... AFTER MY DAD .. I RESPECT CHARLES FOR GIVING ME MY LIFE BACK....

Nothing new here, just recycled info
OK, so I checked out the Linden Method to see what it had to offer for my anxiety and derealization disorder (7 yrs now) and was sadly dissapointed. I could completely relate to his story of being duped by the doctors and being prescribed all sorts of medicine with no warning of side effects (especially diazapam), but he offers no new information to help me with my problem, just recycled information that I already know. Basically his story is of his Valium withdrawal. The Valium was causing all sorts of extra anxiety on top of his pre-existing anxiety and when he decided to kick the Valium, most of his problems went away. There is a much better resource for people addicted to Valium on the Internet (just Google "Ashton manual Valium."He was simply addicted to benzos and when he kicked the habit, he was cured and convinced himself that he had found the Holy Grail to cure all anxiety. All he did was stop taking benzos. He claims that posture, diet, breathing, yoga, tai chi, etc.. are the keys to anxiety freedom, but this is no secret and simply commonsense. These things help calm people down, but they don't cure derealization or major anxiety. I feel like I was ripped off and will return this book and all the CDs as soon as possible. The one good thing in this book is he says that you have to cure yourself and guess what, he was right. I don't need this book. I'll do it myself.

Caution Re: the "guaranteed money back"
Just make sure you really, really want to try this. I have an anxiety disorder & have researched & tried many, many things. I thought with the money back guarantee what did I have to lose? Money. That's what. I got only $110 credit from the $177 cost (I had to pay return postage, too). If you order from their site, they ship to you from Idaho, but you have to return to UK. You must email them just to get the return address - it's not on their site.
I guess UK customs added fees (I don't know why, as I put on the customs form that it was a Return) & Linden ppl told me that was $30 some dollars, then, with no backup as to what the fees were, they deducted $67! I had already paid about $37 at the Post Office to send Priority overseas, insured. So, my net money back was about $73.
I am hearing impaired, so the CDs did NOT relax me, as I had to turn up the volume to hear them. Every time the talking started, it startled me from any relaxed state. Also, the British accent was difficult for me to understand. This may work for many ppl, but just make sure you're willing to not really get your full money back. I wasted almost $100!
I wanted to rate it 0, but had to choose at least one star.
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Product Description
Stress, anxiety, fear, panic - we all encounter these feelings at some time in our lives. But when they become constant companions we are crippled, our lives stifled by our inability to break free. Panic disorder and agoraphobia - fear of leaving the safety of home - cause suffering for a great many people today. This need not be so. In this fourth edition of her best selling book, Pauline McKinnon describes how she found the answer to overcoming her own experience of agoraphobia by using a unique form of meditation. 'In Stillness Conquer Fear' is the record of her journey of discovery. Already thousands of readers have found its insights as illuminating as they are practical. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Meditation really helps
I've read quite a few books on panic attacks and anxiety. I found this book to be really helpful. It tells us that sometimes doctors, psychiatrists, and drugs are not enough to help us combat this disorder. Sometimes we just need to meditate and something happens inside of us that stills our minds and bodies, something that all the logic in the world cannot do. I am still meditating to this day and it works.

Self-Help and a Terrific Story
Pauline's book is extremely helpful.
She tells her story in a warm and
compassionate manner. You realize
there are other people going through
the same things.I have MANY
books on anxiety--hers is a favourite.

This is such a Wonderful Book!
The author Pauline McKinnon overcame agoraphobia and panic disorder using a unique form of meditation which she calls stillness meditation. She was housebound with agoraphobia and became completely cured usingmeditation. In the book she describes her whole journey. From her first panic attack to becoming completely well. She also describes, in great detail, how to do stillness meditation and how long it will take to get well. Pauline McKinnon is also a psychotherapist. Another interesting note (not in the book): I have read that the actress Olivia Hussey (Romeo and Juliet) used and uses meditation to keep her agoraphobia in check. ... Read more

Product Description
A captivating tale of unlikely friendship.quirky love.and unwavering courage.They have no idea how much they need each other...Trinka McDaniels is only eleven when her mother takes her to a small house on Pockettown Road and leaves her there because her new boyfriend "don't want no kids." Believing that only family and magic can keep her safe, Trinka creates her own family by naming pieces of furniture, her pillow, and the screen door. Even the kids at school have no idea she lives alone.Georgia Collins, an elderly widow who never leaves her house, finds herself in a bind when the local grocery store refuses to deliver her groceries anymore. Could the little girl who rescued a kitten in her backyard be the answer to her problem?Junior, an enormous black, handicapped man, spends most of the day sitting on his front porch, watching passers-by. People think he's too dumb to learn. But Trinka thinks differently, and she's determined to make him try.When the worlds of Georgia, Trinka, and Junior intersect, none of them will ever be the same.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Inspires Us All To Be Courageous!
From the very first page I was thrust into the world of 11-year old Trinka. In rising above her fears to face unbelievable challenges, this youth unknowingly encourages those around her to be courageous. She has no idea that those that she looks up to are amazed at the strength that she doesn't realize she possesses. Scriptures birth boldness throughout this book, and Alison Pickrell captures your heart with the love expressed by the main characters. This fictional work introduces us to unlikely heroes that will inspire all of its readers to be the eagles God intended. Thank you, Alison.

As Eagles Soars
As Eagles is a touching story of friendship and couragewhich evolves as connections are formed between an abandoned child, an agoraphobic widow, and a mentally handicapped neigbor.
This short novel is well-plotted, highly engaging, and has a strong spiritual message.

Modern masterpiece
In an astounding and profound coming of age story Trinka McDaniels, Junior, and Mrs. Collins lives are about to come crashing together.Out of the wreckage eagles are born!

You can only love Trinka an eleven year old cast away child whose life is filled with fear and her imaginary friends.She lives alone because her mother's new boyfriend "don't want no kids."Trinka does well in school, but she subsists on Trix and Mac and Cheese.Her best friends are the solitary pieces of furniture in her tiny house.She doesn't know anything better and longs only to be seen and not ignored.

Mrs. Collins unintentionally banished herself from the world.She won't even go out for the groceries.But when the new owner of the grocery changes the store's delivery policy, she needs someone to buy things for her.Trinka needs the dollar she earns each week from Mrs. Collins--to eat.

Trinka's neighbor is an enormous retarded man, Junior.Junior becomes her project.He needs her, and Trinka needs to help.

Three people bound together by need and soon bound together in courage.Out of the wreckage eagles are born.A beautiful and well written tale that touches hearts and minds--don't miss it.

AS EAGLES by Alison Winfree Pickrell
Rarely do I find a character in a novel I adore as much as Trinka Daniels, whose mother takes the eleven year old girl to a little house on Pockettown Road and leaves her to survive by her own devices while the mother tries to wangle amarriage proposal from a man who has made it plain he "don't want no kids." She promises Trinka that it won't be long until she is able to convince the boyfriend to change his mind, and then they will all be one happy family.
I am fascinated by Trinka's creation of a family for herself from her surroundings and the people she encounters. She has an indomitable spirit and an ability she isn't even aware of to bring about victories in others who are totally without self confidence.
The author has an incredible knack for creating unique characters and putting them in unique situations, and I look forward to many more books filled with many more of them. Thank you, Alison Winfree Pickrell!

Moving and Innovative
The author draws us into an unusual combination of an old woman's faith in the Scriptures, and an abandoned child's faith in her own imagination and resourcefulness. There is something for everyone - action, suspense, a solid moral to be learned, fears to overcome, good versus evil, innocent humor, memories of love, and even garter belt revelations! The book is a quick, creative read and leaves the reader hopeful for the future of the characters. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume analyses the perplexing and often disabling form of distress known as anxiety from a psychological rather than a biomedical perspective, illustrating the rich contribution that psychological theory has made and is making to this topic.**The first section extensively examines the clinical literature, describing and delineating with case examples the cluster of characteristic features termed panic-anxiety.Research findings in other clinical areas such as alcohol dependence are shown to have conceptual and empirical links with panic-anxiety.The second section of the book reviews and evaluates the main theoretical approaches to anxiety, including specific models of panic and agoraphobia, challenging many traditional assumptions and advocating the analysis of anxiety as a socially constructed meaning imposed on experience rather than a theoretical concept or psychopathological state.The methodological implications are discussed and a schematic model of panic-anxiety is proposed.**The theoretical integration represents a major contribution to the resurgence of interest in this field and will be of relevance to all researchers and postgraduate students within the mental health professions.**FROM THE PREFACE: This book has two main objectives.The first is to describe a dimension of psychological distress I have called panic-anxiety.This takes up the first part of the book, which surveys literature that is primarily descriptive and psychiatric.The second objective is pursued in the second part of the book, in which I examine a large number of theories of anxiety to see what they might have to offer in explaining the panic-anxiety cluster of complaints.I am therefore concerned to apply psychological theory to a real-world problem, that is, to what people who seek professional help loosely describe as panic, anxiety and fears of public situations.**The theoretical and experimental literature on anxiety is so vast that I have had to be disciplined and in no small measure prejudiced in favour of a particular theoretical perspective.I have attempted as far as possible to treat anxiety as a lay construct, that is, as a social construction and not a scientific concept.For this reason, I have endeavoured to refer to reports of anxiety or to complaints of anxiety in order to avoid the common tendency to reify anxiety as a an entity which exists independently of the social origins of the term.Accordingly, I believe that the relevant question to ask is not, What is anxiety?but, What are the antecedents of reports (or complaints) of anxiety?**It is intended that this book should provide a coherent perspective on a common form of psychological distress, of value to therapists, researchers and students of abnormal psychology.In many ways, the problems for which people seek help do not define 'natural' areas of scientific research, and so it is difficult to combine theoretical and practical interests in one book.The complaints with which I am particularly concerned--panic and fears of public places--can be analysed to reveal scientific questions which have a significance much wider than the explanation of particular complaints made to professionals working in a clinical context.Apart from its obvious social significance, a clinical area is therefore simply a point of departure for scientific investigation.My intention, then, is to use this clinical area as an illustration of how such problems might be tackled from a theoretical perspective which is essentially psychological.**The theoretical position I have adopted owes much to the views of Sarbin (1964, 1968), Mandler (1975) and Averill (1980a,b).In taking anxiety to be a lay construct, I assume that the 'What is?' questions rightly belong to the sociology of knowledge.Of course, the applied psychologist also has substantive issues to consider.For example, How can this individual be helped to report calmness rather than anxiety? or, How can that individual be helped to travel freely on public transport?I suggest that the most positive contribution a social constructivist position has to offer is to dissuade researchers from regarding these real-life problems as reflecting an underlying emotion of anxiety, or, even less helpful, an anxiety disorder.**Biological and medical research on anxiety is also considered in this light.Reductive biological and pathological hypotheses are rejected, but an attempt is made to integrate the biological aspects at a higher level of analysis.For this reason, the book differs from others which tend to confine themselves to a description and explanation of postulated disorders or syndromes.Because the emphasis of this book is essentially conceptual, there is relatively little discussion of assessment and therapy, apart from a general critique of current approaches.**Most experiences described as fear or anxiety in an everyday context have an identifiable source or object.When these experiences are reported as unbearably intense or lead to the avoidance of various situations, they are generally referred to as phobias.In the past 20 years there has been a considerable advance in the technology of reducing and eliminating unwanted phobias.The new methods of imaginal and real-life confrontation are successful in the majority of cases when anxiety is reported in connection with specific eliciting stimuli.The same success cannot be claimed for methods of dealing with complaints of anxiety that appear to be unrelated to identifiable circumstances.In one form of these complaints, a person may suddenly feel overwhelmed by unpleasant sensations which are usually described as a panic attack.Panic and other complaints of anxiety which are perceived as irrational form the principal interest of this book.A second major concern is the problem of fears of public places, often referred to as agoraphobia.Typically, the person who complains of these fears is unable to leave the home unaccompanied, although travel by car, a 'safe' environment, is usually possible.Although agoraphobia is tied to situations, the fear is not reported to be about these situations but is usually expressed as a fear of experiencing a panic attack in these situations.As I will argue, fears of public situations appear to be associated with panic and complaints of anxiety of a nonspecific kind.**FROM THE FOREWORD: This book is a welcome addition to a growing literature that treats perplexing and sometimes disabling conduct from a psychological rather than a biomedical perspective.It is one of an increasing number of treatises that boldly assume that psychological events may be studied in their own right without reducing the phenomena to biological or mentalistic categories.Among other topics, Hallam critically reviews the clinical and experimental work on self-reported anxiety, panic and agoraphobia.He demonstrates with considerable force the disutility of the traditional practice of assigning such phenomena to a world of disordered minds.**Anxiety has been employed as a key concept in many psychoanalytic and psychological theories.Before its use as a theoretical construct, anxiety was a lay construct, a metaphor invented to communicate about vaguely perceived and poorly understood sensory experience.This lay construct, or metaphor, was metonymically transformed by certain theorists seeking a universal intervening variable to account for puzzling conduct.That is to say, the theorists transfigured anxiety to a cause from its original use as a metaphor for effects of interpersonal actions and physiological responses.As a staple of biomedical research and practice, anxiety is a reified metaphor.One of the results of the uncritical use of the reified metaphor was the creation of such unproductive diagnostic categories as anxiety neurosis, anxiety hysteria and anxiety state.Hallam's review of research and practice makes abundantly clear that this metaphor-to-myth transformation has little utility, either as a heuristic for research or as a model for therapy.**Many lessons are to be learned from this book, not the least of which is the demonstration that the lay construct, anxiety, is multireferential.When a clinician asks a client for referents for such complaints as, 'I am anxious' (or 'panicky' or 'agoraphobic'), the client's response is drawn from a limitless pool of vague and ambiguous descriptors.Examples of the interpretations offered by clients include such diverse referents as 'I had the feeling I was about to die', 'I was suffocating, gasping for air', 'My legs became rubbery', 'I was about to faint', 'My brain was racing ahead of my thought', and so on.**From Hallam's detailed analysis of the multireferential nature of anxiety complaints, one could formulate the following rule for praxis:When a client employs 'anxiety' or a similar descriptor in his or her self-report, regard it as metaphoric utterance, not as a statement that demands causal analysis.The metaphoric utterance, that is, the complaint, is a social construction whose building blocks include the client's beliefs, linguistic skills, purposes and concurrent existential or identity problems.**Another lesson to be learned from this book is the continuity of anxiety complaints as reported in clinical settings with those of persons who do not come to the attention of professional helpers.Such continuity is an argument against the identification of anxiety complaints as a psychiatric disorder.For example, the fear of strange places may be universal and not restricted to a clinical population if the definition of strange places is broad enough.**The author holds that the client, like the rest of us, constructs his or her world from perceptions, beliefs, imaginings and rememberings.Thus anxiety is a construction, and it is communicated to others (and to the self) with the aid of metaphoric and metonymic translations.This constructivist view is fast displacing the entrenched biomedical view that treats human beings as passive reactors to stimuli according to still-to-be discovered mechanistic laws.Metaphors drawn from physics, geology and technology, so tightly wove... ... 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