Worry and Anxiety - Helping Ourselves and Others with CBT, DBT and ACT

Experiencing worry and anxiety are a normal part of living. Intense worry and anxiety tends to interfere with our ability to cope by causing problems in our daily living, negatively affecting our relationships, thoughts and beliefs, ability to work or play, and spiritual self. Excessive anxiety is life limiting until we discover healthy means to manage intense emotions. This course will offer helping professionals an understanding of the therapeutic principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CST) as applied to the experience of anxiety. Students will gain an understanding of two recent modalities of CST, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DST) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and how these therapies engage worry and anxiety. Students are required to enter this course with a foundational understanding of CST. Spiritual and theological understandings of worry and anxiety will be discussed in addition to applying CST and ACT to the spiritually-oriented client.