Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life
by Steven C. Hayes, PhD
Summary
Written by the founder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), this book offers a genuinely different approach to overthinking: instead of trying to argue with or eliminate unwanted thoughts, it teaches you to change your relationship to them entirely, so they lose their grip regardless of whether they go away.
Who it's for
Readers who've tried to logically argue their way out of overthinking without success, and want to try the ACT approach of changing their relationship to thoughts instead.
Key takeaways
- Cognitive defusion techniques for creating distance from thoughts, rather than trying to eliminate them
- Why struggling against a thought often gives it more power, not less
- How clarifying your personal values can redirect energy away from unproductive overthinking
Steven Hayes developed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and this book is the foundational public introduction to it — built around the idea that trying to control or eliminate unwanted thoughts is often the very thing that keeps you stuck in them.
Instead, it teaches “cognitive defusion” — techniques for creating psychological distance from thoughts so they lose their grip — paired with values clarification work, giving overthinkers a genuinely different lever to pull than pure cognitive restructuring.
Available on Amazon
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