Best 9 Intrusive Thoughts Books

1. Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts

By Sally M. Winston PsyD, Martin N. Seif PhD

In this compassionate guide, you’ll discover the different kinds of disturbing thoughts, myths that surround your thoughts, and how your brain has a tendency to get “stuck” in a cycle of unwanted rumination. You’ll also learn why common techniques to get rid of these thoughts can backfire.

And finally, you’ll learn powerful cognitive behavioral skills to help you cope with and move beyond your thoughts, so you can focus on living the life you want. Your thoughts will still occur, but you will be better able to cope with them—without dread, guilt, or shame.

This book has been selected as an Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Book Recommendation

2. Rewire Your Anxious Brain

By Catherine M. Pittman PhD, Elizabeth M. Karle MLIS

In the book, Pittman and Karle make it simple by offering specific examples of how to manage fear by tapping into both of these pathways in the brain. As you read, you’ll gain a greater understanding how anxiety is created in the brain, and as a result, you will feel empowered and motivated to overcome it. The brain is a powerful tool, and the more you work to change the way you respond to fear, the more resilient you will become.

Using the practical self-assessments and proven-effective techniques in this book, you will learn to literally “rewire” the brain processes that lie at the root of your fears.

3. Stop Overthinking

By Nick Trenton

Stop Overthinking is a book that understands where you’ve been through,the exhausting situation you’ve put yourself into, and how you lose your mind in the trap of anxiety and stress.

Acclaimed author Nick Trenton will walk you through the obstacles with detailed and proven techniques to help you rewire your brain, control your thoughts, and change your mental habits.What’s more, the book will provide you scientific approaches to completely change the way you think and feel about yourself by ending the vicious thought patterns.

4. The Wisdom of Anxiety

By Sheryl Paul MA

In The Wisdom of Anxiety, counselor Sheryl Paul examines the deeper meaning of the racing thoughts, sweaty palms, and insomnia that accompany the uncertain moments of our lives. No one likes to feel anxiety―and yet, Paul asserts it can be a remarkably direct messenger of our subconscious. Here you will learn how you can pause and listen to your anxieties to discover inner truths that you’ve been avoiding.

This lyrically written book not only considers the many forms anxieties can take, but also provides deep-dive practices for addressing them at their roots.

5. Break Free from Intrusive Thoughts

By Debra Kissen, Micah Ioffe, Emily Lambert

Break Free from Intrusive Thoughts is a sensitive, modern guide to developing a more accepting relationship with them so you can stop them from holding you back.

• The truth about intrusive thoughts―Learn what intrusive thoughts are, what causes them, and what they really mean.
• Different recovery techniques―Explore a range of therapy techniques, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and mindfulness.
• Hands-on healing―Get unstuck from unhelpful thinking patterns through exercises like writing out your fears and labeling your emotions, so you can accept your intrusive thoughts and let them pass.

6. The Intrusive Thoughts Toolkit

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.

7. The Negative Thoughts Workbook

By David A. Clark PhD

The Negative Thoughts Workbook offers a step-by-step program to help you target and effectively cope with negative thinking patterns. Based on effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) strategies, this practical guide outlines a transdiagnostic approach to managing the thoughts that drive your emotional distress and threaten your mental health and well-being. You are not condemned to a life of constant, chaotic, or disturbing thoughts.

If you’re ready to take shelter from the storm inside your head, the easy-to-follow activities in this evidence-based workbook will help you gain control over your cycles of negative thinking.

8. The Anxious Thoughts Workbook

By David A. Clark PhD

In The Anxious Thoughts Workbook, renowned psychologist David A. Clark presents a targeted, transdiagnostic approach to help you move past unwanted mental intrusions. You’ll learn how to change the destructive patterns responsible for the persistence of anxious and depressive thinking, and strip these upsetting thoughts of their meaning—a process Clark refers to as “detoxing.” Finally, you’ll learn to manage the feelings of shame that can accompany these thoughts.

9. The Unwanted Thoughts and Intense Emotions Workbook

By Jon Hershfield, Blaise Aguirre

Written by two pioneers in the field of mental health, this workbook combines two powerfully effective treatments to address relentless, intrusive, and unwanted thoughts—as well as the painful and intense emotions these thoughts can trigger. In this evidence-based workbook, you’ll find an innovative blend of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills to manage obsessive, self-blaming, judgmental, and catastrophic thoughts—and find lasting emotional balance.

You’ll learn essential CBT skills to help you tolerate distressing thoughts and stay calm when thoughts feel overpowering; as well as DBT skills like distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, emotional regulation, and mindfulness to find reliable relief.