Martin N. Seif, PhD, confounded the Anxiety and
Depression Association of America, and was a member of its board of
directors from 1977 through 1991. Seif is associate director of The
Anxiety and Phobia Treatment Centre at White Plains Hospital, a
faculty member of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and is board
certified in cognitive behavioural psychology from the American
Board of Professional Psychology. He maintains a private practice
in New York, NY, and Greenwich, CT, and is coauthor of What Every
Therapist Needs to Know About Anxiety Disorders and Overcoming
Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts.
Sally M. Winston, PsyD, founded and co-directs the Anxiety
and Stress Disorders Institute of Maryland in Towson, MD. She
served as the first chair of the Clinical Advisory Board of the
Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), and received
their prestigious Jerilyn Ross Clinician Advocate Award. She is a
master clinician who has given sought-after workshops for
therapists for decades. She is coauthor of What Every Therapist
Needs to Know About Anxiety Disorders and Overcoming Unwanted
Intrusive Thoughts.
"Needing to Know for Sure is a terrific resource for anyone who
wants to understand how futile attempts to eliminate uncertainty in
life are at the core of any obsession. The authors' clear expertise
in OCD and anxiety is reflected in their believable examples of
people trapped in the need to know. The book offers a great variety
of tips and tools for abandoning unproductive reassurance and
learning that life really is better with doubt."
--Jon Hershfield, MFT, author of Overcoming Harm OCD, and director
of The OCD and Anxiety Center of Greater Baltimore--Jon Hershfield,
MFT
"Can you answer 'yes' to any of the following six questions? Do you
spend a lot of time and effort checking things and seeking
reassurance? Do you need to know 'for sure' about areas or issues
in your life? Do you constantly check your phone, email, or the
internet? Do you keep checking locks, alarms, or appliances? Do you
have endless internal debates with no resolution? Do you repeatedly
ask others for reassurance? If you answered 'yes' to one or more of
these questions, this book can be a huge shortcut to lifting the
burden of anxiety and distress."
--Neal Sideman, self-help advocate, internationally known coach and
teacher for people recovering from anxiety disorders, member of the
Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), and cochair
of the ADAA Public Education Committee--Neal Sideman
"For those of you who have found yourselves caught in the endless
cycle of reassurance seeking, this book is for you. Needing to Know
for Sure provides much-needed guidance to help you know the
difference between reassurance seeking and information seeking by
giving you great examples and helpful facts throughout the book.
Most importantly, the authors offer step-by-step guidance to get
you disentangled from reassurance seeking and back to living your
life by increasing your ability to handle uncertainty. I am excited
to share this book with my clients."
--Kimberly Morrow, LCSW, anxiety therapist, author, national
speaker, and co-owner of www.anxietytraining.com--Kimberly Morrow,
LCSW
"I love this book! It's the only book specifically on reassurance,
and it explains in great detail the categories of fears that keep
reassurance going. If you compulsively seek reassurance, after
reading this book, you may feel understood and empowered in ways
that you haven't previously felt. It offers helpful clarifications
about unproductive reassurance seeking, unhelpful self-talk, and
common categories of reassurance traps. The book's examples make
the concepts easy to apply in your own life. With their combined
seventy-plus years' experience, Sally and Marty's style is deeply
compassionate and deeply knowledgeable."
--Maggie Perry, PsyD, licensed psychologist, and founder of
www.huddle.care--Maggie Perry, PsyD
"I was blown away when I read this book. It perfectly describes my
anxiety-reddened patients who are so consumed with doubt and
uncertainty, that they need constant reassurance to live their
life. If you are filled with doubt; can't make a decision without
input from others; are constantly checking and rechecking; or lie
awake dwelling, planning, and reviewing--rest assured, this is the
perfect book for you."
--Ken Goodman, LCSW, board member of the Anxiety and Depression
Association of America, and president of
www.quietmindsolutions.com--Ken Goodman, LCSW
"If you've ever become paralyzed by worries like 'Am I crazy?' or
'Will my kids be ok?' then this book is for you. If you have OCD,
it will help you stop trying to replace your negative thoughts with
positive ones. This book will free you to accept all your thoughts,
and give up the pursuit of certainty. The authors clearly explain
the value of surrender, allowing worry without being dominated by
it. If you care about someone with OCD, this book will show you how
to stop offering unproductive reassurance and help this person
embrace a challenging life."
--David L. Kupfer, PhD, clinical psychologist with a private
practice in Falls Church, VA, with forty years of experience
treating OCD--David L. Kupfer, PhD
"Many times, the damage our own immune system does in response to a
bodily signal is more destructive than the injury or antigen
itself. So it is with the torment of doubt and uncertainty, and the
rush to relief and reassurance. Seif and Winston have laid out the
challenge and the solution to the self-inflicted torment of anxiety
and distress about uncertain future threats. This volume will help
people live."
--Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, MD, chief of psychiatry at Massachusetts
General Hospital, and Stanley Cobb Professor in the department of
psychiatry at Harvard Medical School--Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, MD
"Repeated checking or asking for reassurance even when know that
you locked the door, turned off the stove, or prepared adequately
for that meeting or test--often accompanied by feelings that
something bad will happen if you don't--is incredibly common. But
at its most severe, in the form of obsessive-compulsive disorder
(OCD), it can be crippling. Now, Martin Seif and Sally Winston, two
of the foremost experts in the world working in this area, provide
a very helpful and easy to implement set of interventions to
overcome these annoying and sometimes life-interfering problems. I
would recommend this book to my patients and to some of my
friends."
--David H. Barlow, PhD, ABPP, professor emeritus in the departments
of psychological and brain sciences, and psychiatry; and founder
and director emeritus for the Center for Anxiety and Related
Disorders at Boston University--David H. Barlow, PhD, ABPP
"Seif and Winston have a talent for identifying and explaining
commonly misunderstood aspects of human anxiety. Their last book
explores the nature of unwanted intrusive thoughts, and offers
useful concepts and tools to disempower and transcend the thoughts.
In Needing to Know for Sure, the authors turn their attention to
the various ways in which people try to cope with anxious
uncertainty. We learn that, in the face of a threat, attempting to
feel safe by resolving doubt is a natural human response. After
all, who hasn't double-checked to ensure their door is locked, or
asked their physician for reassurance about a medical condition?
But we also learn that, for some individuals, uncertainty can
become intolerable and disabling. Fortunately, the authors provide
a new, more effective approach to the problem. I highly recommend
this book to anyone struggling anxiously to 'know for sure, ' and
to loved ones and health care professionals attempting to assist
them."
--C. Alec Pollard, PhD, professor emeritus of family and community
medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, and director
of the Center for OCD and Anxiety-Related Disorders at Saint Louis
Behavioral Medicine Institute--C. Alec Pollard, PhD
"Uncertainty is at the heart of treating many anxiety disorders,
and is especially relevant when treating OCD. Martin Seif and Sally
Winston have written an excellent book that addresses this theme
common to so many of the anxiety disorders. In clear and
straightforward language, the authors lay out how our unwillingness
to accept uncertainty creates anxiety, and offer a variety of very
helpful suggestions for surrendering to and simply accepting that
uncertainty is part of living. This is a book that I am certain to
recommend to many of my clients for years to come."
--Robert W. McLellarn, PhD, founder and director of the Anxiety and
Panic Treatment Center, LLC in Portland, OR--Robert W. McLellarn,
PhD
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