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We are walking along our path in life. The ground ahead is firm and dry. The sky above is cloudless. Things...

Managing something and mastering something are two different things. In the three steps above, we have not been trying to manage...

Imagine playing catch near a swampy body of water. When the ball inevitably lands in muck, someone has to retrieve...

Recall that an anxious mind is biased toward scanning the world for threats. Our brain searches for tigers more than fences, flowers, and...

“Courage.” The word is familiar, but often misused. Images of gallant knights come to mind, laughing fearlessly as they gallop...

Most anxiety problems, we’ve explored, are really avoidance problems. The dilemma isn’t that we’re anxious. It’s that we excessively avoid anxiety . . . and this...

No one likes feeling anxious. And no one enjoys worrying for hours on end. Yet the biggest cost of avoidance is...

Avoidance creates and maintains the symptoms of anxiety disorders. People with OCD, for example, often check and recheck to ensure a...

It is one of life’s great ironies. We go to tremendous lengths to avoid anxiety. Yet the things we do...

Quitting smoking is tough and people don’t do it for fun. They quit because smoking has costs. In the same...

In our last post, we explored the first avoidance-fueling factor: negative reinforcement. I call the second factor the Anxiety NONO,...

To get a sense for reinforcement, picture a mouse in a box. On the inside of the box, there is...

Most anxiety problems, we have seen, are really avoidance problems — and the thing we are trying to avoid is...

Imagine reading an advertisement on a late-December day: “Participants Wanted — Paid Experiment.” Finding ourselves tight on cash after holiday...

A caveman walks an ancient path in the fading light of evening. His head swivels from side to side, scanning...

Anxiety and depression are closely related, and many people struggle with both. Yet research shows that the two experiences are...

The science of anxiety can be complex. Luckily, there is a model we use in CBT to help us keep...

Imagine arriving at work one morning and a coworker shares a rumor: layoffs may be coming. Even though this information...

Anxiety is a sense of apprehension or dread about things that might happen in the future. It is the feeling...

By now, a logical question has likely made an appearance. If avoiding anxiety is protective, what is so bad about...

Avoidance, avoidance, avoidance. Most roads in our dilemma lead back to this behavior. But before avoidance becomes a problem, it...

Many of us are anxious about being anxious. If anxiety gets too strong, we assume, something terrible might happen. Maybe...

According to “evolutionary mismatch theory,” there is a tension between our ancient biology and the modern world. This tension plays...

All of us experience it. Half of us struggle with it. A quarter of us suffer from one of its...

The terms “anxiety” and “fear” are often used interchangeably. While closely related, however, the two experiences have different biologies and...

Many definitions of anxiety have been offered throughout history. For our present purpose, it can be defined as a sense of...

Let’s make sure we are on the same page before continuing onward. While anxiety is a part of life, it is...

There are many forms of psychotherapy and many of them are good. When it comes to anxiety, though, the evidence...

Anxiety is part of life. It is the cost of admission of the human condition. It is the price of...

Imagine your life as a path that leads in a meaningful direction. This path represents your values. Your deep priorities....