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Books & Resources
on Stress Management,
Freeze Frame: One Minute Stress Management:
A Scientifically Proven Technique for Clear Decision Making and Improved
Health
When I Say No, I Feel Guilty
Taming Your Gremlin: A Guide to
Enjoying Yourself
Relax & Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful
Times
Getting to Sleep: Simple, Effective
Methods for Falling & Staying Asleep, Getting the Rest You Need, &
Awakening Refreshed & Renewed
Doc Childre is founder of the Institute for Heartmath, which develops and researches stress management and health-enhancing techniques. Freeze Frame provides a simple procedure for drawing upon the heart's wisdom and pleasant memories to reduce stress.
Richard D. Carson's delightful
Taming Your Gremlin provides a whimsical yet powerful way to
help readers identify and disengage from those critical inner thoughts
and attitudes he calls "gremlins." Catalano and the physician co-authors of Getting to Sleep provide a good overiew of techniques that help people get the sleep they need: good "sleep hygiene," relaxation, and stimulus control. Special sections address the problems of shift workers, people with chronic pain, and age-related sleep changes.
Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
I Can't Get Over It: A Handbook for
Trauma Survivors
An End to Panic: Breakthrough Techniques
for Overcoming Panic Disorder
The Scarred Soul: Understanding & Ending
Self-inflicted Violence
The Gift of Fear: And Other Survival
Signals That Protect Us From Violence
Psychiatrist David Burns' book on "the new mood therapy" isn't so new anymore—it was published in 1981—but Feeling Good is still an excellent, very readable presentation of cognitive therapy, with guidelines on how to identify and correct thought patterns underlying depression and anxiety. In I Can't Get Over It, psychologist Aphrodite Matsakis, an expert in posttraumatic stress disorder, explains the symptoms of PTSD as well as strategies to help its sufferers cope and even heal. Matsakis specializes in working with Vietnam veterans and survivors of childhood sexual abuse, but the book also may be helpful for those who have experienced other types of trauma, including crime, car accidents, rape, domestic violence, and natural catastrophes (earthquakes, etc.). Psychologist Elke Zuercher-White provides a useful guide to coping with and overcoming panic in An End to Panic. She discusses what happens in the body during panic attacks, and recommends skills to reduce hyperventilation and catastrophic thinking and overcome the fear associated with the physical symptoms of panic. Psychiatrist Dennis J. Munjack, M.D. co-authors a chapter on when to consider medication. (If you're considering taking psychiatric medication, check out the section on books and resources about psychiatric drugs, especially psychiatrist Edward Drummond's book Benzo Blues The Scarred Soul, by psychologist Tracy Alderman, is a guide to helping victims of self-inflicted violence stop hurting themselves. In The Gift of Fear, Gavin de Becker, an expert on violence, stalking, and other forms of frightening behavior, advises on how to protect yourself and loved ones from danger. One important recommendation is to listen to your uneasy feelings (this is what de Becker considers the "gift of fear") and determine when they're warranted. Women, especially, could benefit from reading this book—de Becker notes that American culture socializes women to often suppress their discomfort or fear in order to seem "nice" or not offend. One example: A woman in an almost-deserted office building sees the elevator door open to reveal a strange, casually dressed man. Despite her fear that he might be up to no good, she gets on the elevator with him anyway because she's afraid he'll be offended if she waits for the next elevator. As the doors close on her and the man, de Becker reminds us that because of her desire to "be nice," she has shut herself inside a steel cage with someone who may be a predator.
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© 2000-2004 Peggy Elam │ Updated 05/24/2005 │ All Rights Reserved
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