Get Your Life Back · the Most Effective Therapies for a Better You

HIGHLY COMMENDED for the British Medical Awards book prize for Popular Medicine

Most of us have some behaviours which are not fully under our control but when those start interfering with our lives and with who we want to be, we need this book. When we turn away from opportunity and excitement in case it makes us anxious, we lose the joy in our lives and can experience misery and depression as well as, oddly, even more anxiety.

Get Your Life Back helps you to identify what is really important to you and to notice the ways in which you behave which interfere with reaching your goals and following valued directions. It shows how to understand your own behaviour with compassion, without judgement, and how to both accept and change unhelpful or damaging ways of acting. You will learn new skills to manage emotion and endure discomfort as you journey towards mindful self-control.

Uniquely, this book presents a blend of evidence-based treatments (CBT, ACT, DBT, compassion and mindfulness) giving you the best and most effective therapies for a better you.

"This wonderful book is a distillation of the authors' wealth of knowledge, rich wisdom and decades of experience. Clear, practical and down to earth, it offers an easy-to-follow path towards greater self-compassion and healing. I cannot recommend it highly enough." — Dan Roberts, cognitive and schema therapist

"Self-empowering and incredibly easy to use, this comprehensive self-help book took me on a journey towards a radical transformation. It's brimming with management techniques, practical ideas and tools to assist with life's anxieties, using both science-based and holistic approaches. This book supports a person to take control of their own issues instead of reaching for medication." — Adele Hyde, service user

"At last - an easy-to-follow, down-to-earth book to help those struggling with all types of psychological and emotional problems. The authors, who are experienced experts in this field, relate directly to the reader with compassion, realistic instructions and humour. They use the most up-to-date combination of therapies combined with playful metaphors and visualisation, and examples of others' therapeutic journeys are followed at all stages of the book. The advice on renewing the programme after possible temporary "slip-backs" is realistic and reassuring. The lack of professional jargon is helpful, and unfamiliar terms the reader may come across are well-explained at the end of the book." — Veronica Hermiston, specialist nurse and health visitor

"Excellent reading for people who do anything to excess. The book takes powerful elements from CBT, DBT, ACT, CFT and mindfulness and puts them together to take the reader on an easy-to-follow journey. Can be used for self-help and by clinicians, trainees and students to provide their clients with a clear and effective guide to getting the lives they want." — Isabel Hargreaves, consultant clinical psychologist

"Very well written and easy to follow, this is a wonderful tool for the variety of clients I see, whether on a waiting list for therapy, or to use with the help of their therapist or drug treatment worker. Many clients who cannot attend group work would find this beneficial, and I would recommend working through this book for those clients who cannot normally see the value of talking therapies over medication. Additionally, this will provide much-needed insight to the many people addicted to prescription-only medication who do not consider themselves as addicts." — Carola Sander-Hess, salaried GP with special interest (GPwSI)

"Get Your Life Back is an easy to read manual to help anyone who wants to tackle a psychological problem. It is based on four therapeutic approaches which are researched and effective - CBT, DBT, ACT CFT. It has exercises throughout which can be written in the book. There are brief introductions to key interventions including mindfulness and how to deal with negative thoughts flashbacks. The authors have also created a website with handouts more resources. This manual is very accessible I would recommend it to anyone in therapy or wanting some ideas how to tackle a problem themselves." — Lorraine Bell, Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Dr Fiona Kennedy is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and MD of GreenWood Mentors Ltd. She has a background in the NHS providing and managing clinical psychology and counselling services. She has research interests in the consequences for adults of childhood adversity, including dissociation. She has published a variety of peer reviewed papers, book chapters and recently co-edited Cognitive Behavioural Approaches to the Understanding and Treatment of Dissociation (Routledge 2013). Along with Dr David Pearson she authored The Dream Mentoring Manual in 2011 and The Dream Mentoring Trainer's Manual in 2012, published in India by Dream a Dream NGO and used to support their life skills training programs for disadvantaged young people. She trains and supervises others as well as providing therapy using CBT, DBT and ACT. She is most interested in having a life worth living and enabling others to have the same.

Dr David Pearson is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with a career in the NHS, both as a clinician and manager of services. Together with Dr Fiona Kennedy he has co-edited Cognitive Behavioural Approaches to the Understanding and Treatment of Dissociation (Routledge 2013). David has also co-authored The Dream Mentoring Manuals, which form a training scheme in mental health by demystifying technical/clinical terms into everyday language. David has also published in a wide range of peer reviewed scientific journals as well as articles in mental health/psychology professional magazines. On a personal level David has found the production of The Dream Mentoring Manuals a great challenge as they provide the basis of available training schemes designed to work with children who are disadvantaged and often on the edges of survival.