The Intrusive Thoughts Toolkit: Quick Relief for Obsessive, Unwanted, or Disturbing Thoughts

by Jon Hershfield MFT, Tom Corboy, Sally M. Winston

Quiet your noisy mind—and find peace of mind—with fast-acting, on-the-spot relief for persistent, painful, and intrusive thoughts.

Do you have unwanted, repetitive, negative, or intrusive thoughts that are getting in the way of your life, keeping you up at night, or making you downright miserable? If so, you need quick tools you can use right now—whenever and wherever you are—to soothe the disruption of intrusive thoughts. This emergency toolkit has you covered.

Written by a team of mental health experts and grounded in evidence-based therapy, Intrusive Thoughts Toolkit provides fast-acting tools for soothing distressing thoughts in the moments when you need it most. With this take-anywhere guide, you’ll learn proven techniques to get unstuck from negative thoughts and feelings, adopt healthier thinking habits, and increase overall well-being. You’ll also find easy and doable ways to help you press pause on spiraling thinking, and in-the-moment interventions to help you quiet your mind before your thoughts get out of control.

If you’re looking for quick solutions to help you move beyond intrusive thoughts and improve your mental health, this powerfully effective pocket guide has everything you need to find lasting peace of mind.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Psychology, Health

151 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2022

Reviews

[Jami Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book through a goodreads contest and leaving a review as a thank you!

As someone with OCD this book is a wonderful tool to have to be able to help you start your journey of trying to heal your OCD. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for helpful and easy steps to start the road to recovery!

[Laura (thenerdygnomelife) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book presented some very helpful tips and unique strategies for managing anxiety. I read it for my teens but actually ended up appreciating it for myself. We all worry at times!

[Paulina Garza · Rating 3 out of 5]

A member of my OCD support group recommended this book, and although it’s fairly short, I found it challenging to get through. The pages felt like they were describing things I already knew but struggle to apply. Do you know that feeling? The book emphasizes that our thoughts aren’t necessarily our own—they just appear automatically, and not all of them are true. It’s up to us to decide which thoughts align with our values and beliefs, and to accept and let go of those that don’t. While it hasn’t been a mind-blowing read, it has helped me notice more of my automatic, anxious responses, which has been eye-opening in its own way.

[Karen (Living Unabridged) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Occasionally conflicting advice and definitely see a therapist if you (or a loved one) is dealing with this issue. But also it's easy to read and there's helpful wisdom to glean so if you're struggling with intrusive thoughts (or anxiety in general) it might be a useful tool.

[Laura Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know the authors are leaders in their field. And believe me I wish they were accessible 30 years ago when I was first triggered by an unfortunate set of circumstances to start on this OCD rollercoaster. And I’ve had a pretty good life with the occasional OCD flare ups. I was doing so well, I even donated all my books years ago. I’m like, I got this. But recently my thyroid has become overactive, which is causing all kinds of intense anxiety issues. Because of that my OCD is running rampant. I was just wishing for the scenarios to be more geared my particular issue. I’ve listened to both author’s on several podcast and even purchased their other books. I have to say Mr. Hershfield’s therapy on writing scripts is frightening to me and his disclaimer thoughts of other mental illnesses, scare me. You know, the dreaded what if’s. I’m more comfortable with Dr. Winston’s philosophy of labeling and moving on. Unfortunately, moving on has been a bit more difficult lately with the constant nagging in the back of my consciousness. Maybe once my hyperthyroidism is successfully treated, I can get back to semi-normal anxious. Good luck on your journey.

[Broken Lifeboat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful fast primer for getting immediate understanding and relief to many different types of unwanted thoughts. I picked this up to help work through my anxious ruminating and my compulsion for work and busyness but also benefitted from other sections, including one on social anxiety.

This book approaches many different types of amygdala and cortex-based intrusive thoughts using CBT and mindfulness techniques that are easy to understand and practice.

This book could be useful to pretty much everyone. There's so much acknowledgement and help in this little book, every reader could identify with something in here.

So glad I bought this to reread and share with other sufferers.

[Puff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't a bad book but also was not very helpful. There are like 50 strategies but often go against each other. My brain says give me 5, please, and better explain the different situations in which they can be used because one example that I don't relate to is confusing. Also, it felt like every option focused on how you aren't a bad person for having a bad thought. After the 10th time, it was frustrating to hear the same stuff over and over. This did not help me but I see how it could be helpful to others.

[Madison White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read, quick, and provides concrete tools.

[Lowry Mainereader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed my 1/2 hour paging through this book. It's a worthy reminder of ways to release anxiety - and how it's ongoing good work.

[Camille Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

An emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. The relationships between the characters felt authentic, and I found myself rooting for them. The author does an incredible job of exploring complex emotions without becoming too heavy-handed.

[magda · Rating 1 out of 5]

2 ꙳
doing things from this book is not the best idea!