Deconstructing Anxiety: The Journey from Fear to Fulfillment, Paperback

In Deconstructing Anxiety, Pressman provides a new and comprehensive understanding of fear's subtlest mechanisms. In this model, anxiety is understood as the wellspring at the source of all problems. Tapping into this source therefore holds the clues not only for escaping fear, but also for releasing the very causes of suffering, paving the way to a profound sense of peace and satisfaction in life. With strategically developed exercises, this book offers a unique, integrative approach to healing and growth, based on an understanding of how the psyche organizes itself around anxiety. It provides insights into the architecture of anxiety, introducing the dynamics of the "core fear" (one's fundamental interpretation of danger in the world) and "chief defense" (the primary strategy for protecting oneself from threat). The anxious personality is then built upon this foundation, creating a "three dimensional, multi-sensory hologram" within which one can feel trapped and helpless. Replete with processes that bring the theoretical background into technicolor, Deconstructing Anxiety provides a clear roadmap to resolving this human dilemma, paving the way to an ultimate and transcendent freedom. Therapists and laypeople alike will find this book essential in helping design a life of meaning, purpose and enduring fulfillment.

Todd E. Pressman, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, speaker, and author in the field of holistic approaches to healing and growth. He is the founder of Pressman and Associates at Logos Wellness, a psychotherapy center dedicated to bridging the best of traditional and complementary strategies for well-being. In 1982, he traveled the world to study the great wisdom and healing traditions--including with a Zen master, a Jain family, a Zoroastrian high priest and a Sri Lankan firewalker--to develop a new paradigm for healing which he calls deconstructing anxiety. A national and international speaker, his unique approach to resolving fear and transcending suffering has been hailed as "a whole new perspective on anxiety", "extraordinarily important", and "one of the most exciting new developments in the field".