The Solution-Focused Mindset for Anxiety and Depression - by Anne Bodmer Lutz (Paperback)

About the Book

For some people struggling with co-existing depression and anxiety, traditional talk therapy can be a painful, grueling, and triggering process that often doesn't work. This workbook offers readers a strengths-based, right now approach to manage symptoms, focus on the positive, deal with stress, balance emotions, harness personal strengths, and live a life filled with more joy and hope.

Book Synopsis

You can heal without reliving painful emotions or revisiting traumatic events--there is a different path forward. With this workbook, you'll develop a strengths-based mindset, discover effective strategies for managing anxiety and depression, and take meaningful steps to enhance your mental well-being.

Depression often brings a sense of hopelessness, draining your energy and making even simple tasks feel overwhelming. Anxiety can create paralyzing worry, dread, and panic. If you've tried traditional therapeutic approaches and found that revisiting the past or focusing on painful memories left you feeling worse, you're not alone.

Embracing your strengths invites you to build resilience and move toward a more hopeful future. By tapping into your natural abilities and resources, you can find relief, grow, and create a life filled with greater meaning and joy. This strengths-based approach offers a positive way to navigate challenges while shaping a more fulfilling path forward.

The Solution-Focused Workbook for Anxiety and Depression offers practical, evidenced-based solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) tools with a uniquely positive focus to help you:

• Recognize your inherent strengths
• Draw on coping skills you already have
• Cultivate self-compassion
• Stay calm and collected in the moment
• Focus on creating a life of joy and hope

This workbook empowers you to harness your own strengths, guiding you toward improved mental health and a renewed sense of agency in your life. You'll also explore how nurturing hopeful and compassionate self-talk can help you regulate your emotions, foster positivity, and enrich your relationships. Most importantly, you'll learn to find peace in the present moment--even amid life's most stressful or difficult circumstances.

Review Quotes

"Anne Bodmer Lutz delivers a unique and valuable book that teaches how to use solution-focused brief therapy techniques to manage anxiety and depression in a clear and practical way. The Solution-Focused Mindset for Anxiety and Depression is a one-of-a-kind workbook that contains many useful exercises, and is an important resource for mental health wellness."
--Johnny S. Kim, PhD, LCSW, professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, and author of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy--Johnny S. Kim, PhD, LCSW

"Anne Bodmer Lutz has managed to transmit her wealth of knowledge and experience with solution-focused brief therapy into a wonderful workbook, easily accessible and tremendously helpful. The rich case examples are diverse and relatable. This 'how to' manual of hope for those suffering from anxiety and depression will also be the perfect handbook for therapists, loaded with practical tools and sound advice. It is an inspiring and essential resource for us all."
--Bobbi Beale, PsyD, director of the Center for Innovative Practices at Case Western Reserve University, and coauthor of Adventure Group Psychotherapy--Bobbi Beale, PsyD

"Anne Bodmer Lutz, a master educator in solution-focused therapy, provides a clear and engaging guide for those living with depression and anxiety, as well as their clinicians. Having an evidence-based workbook that approaches concerns with a strengths-based lens is a crucial and powerful skill set in today's 'fix it' culture."
--Mary Ahn, MD, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics and vice provost for faculty affairs at UMass Chan Medical School, and ICF-credentialed leadership coach--Mary Ahn, MD

"Having had the privilege of experiencing Anne Bodmer Lutz as a solution-focused trainer and speaker, I enthusiastically read The Solution-Focused Mindset for Anxiety and Depression. What a wonderful guide this is to harness the power of language to improve your life and better manage your symptoms of anxiety and depression! This robust workbook is full of valuable psychoeducation and user-friendly worksheets that would be a helpful tool for individuals seeking a self-help workbook, and/or to use as a therapy extender."
--Lori Lamont, MA, LPC, ATR-BC, professional counselor/art therapist, clinical supervisor, and executive director of outpatient services at Lenape Valley Foundation--Lori Lamont, MA, LPC, ATR-BC

"In this thoughtfully designed workbook, Anne Bodmer Lutz provides clear, actionable strategies for creating an empowering mindset. Strongly grounded in research, The Solution-Focused Mindset for Anxiety and Depression includes nuanced insights about the power of words, empathy, and neuroscience. It offers simple steps that will benefit anyone struggling with depression or anxiety."
--Alex Korb, PhD, author of The Upward Spiral--Alex Korb, PhD

"This book is a great resource for anyone wanting to learn concrete skills for becoming friends with your emotions, reducing suffering, tapping into your inner strength, and cultivating hope (agency with a plan) to improve the quality of your life."
--Nathalie Edmond, PsyD, director of counseling at Villanova University, and author of Mindful Race Talk--Nathalie Edmond, PsyD

About the Author

Anne Bodmer Lutz, MD, is executive director of the Institute for Solution-Focused Therapy, a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist, and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts. Mentored by solution-focused brief therapy founders Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer, she has spent more than three decades applying this approach across mental health, education, and beyond. Author of Learning Solution-Focused Therapy, Lutz trains professionals worldwide, helping them create meaningful change--one conversation at a time.

Foreword writer Cynthia Franklin, PhD, LCSW-S, LMFT, is director of external relations and Stiernberg/Spencer Family Professor in mental health in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin, courtesy professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, and editor in chief of Social Work.