Would you like to be a more skilled therapist? Would you like to help the 50 percent of patients who drop out of therapy before they receive its full benefits? Would you like to connect with hard-to-reach patients so you can form a healing therapeutic alliance?

While other books teach theory, this book will help you develop the specific skills you need to be an effective therapist. You can practice the exercises with a partner or with audio recordings, just like learning a language. And videos will show you how. Each of the forty-two skill-building exercises teaches a specific technique so you can successfully address typical impasses in therapy. Where you got stuck in the past, you’ll be able to move forward in the future.

You will learn what to say so you can assess and regulate anxiety, help patients develop and keep an effective focus that leads to change, teach patients to see and let go of avoidance strategies, work with patients who deny that they need therapy, mobilize patients’ will to work toward a positive goal, support patients so they can shift from denial to facing reality, and identify early signs of dropout so you can prevent it.

When you improve your relational skills, you will be better equipped to help anxious patients.