Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (A New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook) Paperback – Illustrated, November 1, 2005

The title makes this book sound like yet another "feel better" style self-help narrative, but I was pleasantly surprised. Dr. Hayes wrote this more as a workbook that allows the reader to better highlight negative impacts of anxiety, pain, or anger and then retrain the brain. His teaching style is rather effective; and clearly he wants his reader to engage with their own story in place of superimposing his theory as absolute truth. He doesn't spend pages of introduction grandstanding with false modesty, but delves right into the subject. He doesn't drone on about the efficacy of the therapy, or waste half the content seeking to convince us (the reader) of some newfound truth. Instead he presents a finding, explains how our brains process that information, and provides examples until we can apply it with our own inputs. For a man that was integral to the foundation of this modality of Cognitive Behavior Therapy, is a leader of his field, and wrote a book (this one) that once overtook Harry Potter on the Best Seller's list, it is refreshing to have his focus on the subject at hand in place of himself. If you've read self-help books by many of the talk circuit gurus, this writer will stand in sharp contrast.A joke about Psychologists says that if you go to them with one problem, you'll leave with two. The author demonstrates that often the echoes of negative stimuli carry through and have an even greater impact on how we live our lives. While he might show you the man behind the green curtain he also teaches us to understand those brain pathways, and how to redirect them to a more positive outcome. Whether you were recommended to buy this book, or it is "homework" from your Counselor or Therapist, you will gain far more value from these pages than the price you paid.

I suffer of OCD and panic attacks (if Hell exists, and I believe so, I am sure it has to be something like an eternal panic attack). My life had been, for many years -about 15-, all about my obsessions, compulsions and fears. I lived in a continuous reactive mode to my mind. If my mind was over-curious or stressed I felt fear and just followed it. I would be amazed at myself and my continuous, unstopping over-thinking.I started by reading Tolle's "The Power of Now". The book, instead of helping me, caused me panic attacks (well, the book and my personal circumstances too). I was feeling like "Well, my thougts are different from myself and my self-identity, but... if I am not my mind, if I am not my thoughts, then who am I?". Afterwards, I read "Brain Lock". Great book! Still, I was living in continuous reactive mode: if an obsessive thought would come, I would react with the book methodology (Realize one is having a thought, realize one has OCD, find something else to do and, finally, stop giving importance to the obsessions). The book was a breakthrough for me into CBT. But, walking down a library some day, prey of a depression after a panic attack had spoiled a relationship, I came across this book (Get out of our mind...) I bought it with a bunch of other books.What makes this book so great is that it takes you by hand to ACT (a form of CBT) and actually has compassion at yourself. It goes slowly. It repeats the ideas several times and makes amazing analogies. It explains, in plain English, the mind-trap of trying not to think something and how this is a loophole (the less you try to think on an elephant, the more you think of it). It contains plenty of exercises. I did them (Do them! They actually get yourself out of your talkative mind) and started feeling the change. I had lots of fear at the beginning, to confront my fears -yes: fear of my fears), but after some time I learned -or am learning- to accept my thoughts without fighting them... and then......and then, there was this chapter which actually was called "If I am not my thoughts, then who am I"!! This chapter opened my eyes to living my life not reactively (like, sadly, most people I know do) but proactively: you don't have to follow every little whim and capricious idea that spots on your mind! You can live according to your values and principles!This book changed my life. God knows it did. And OCD and panic have made disasters in my life (destroyed a relationship with a wonderful woman, swamped myself and made me keep stuck on the same laboral position for years, and a very long etcetera), but I am not going to pay attention to them anymore. No matter how much they "yell" inside myself.I got things more important to do than solving my "OCD/Panic" situation. I have some values to live for and some people to love.10/10 (I am re-reading the book now, just after I finished it)