Reference 

Saulsman, L., Nathan, P., Lim, L., Correia, H., Anderson, R., & Campbell, B.  (2015). What? Me Worry?! - Mastering Your Worries. This is a free workbook that is available online from the Centre for Clinical Interventions.

Modules

Module 1: Overview of Generalised Anxiety

This module provides a general description of anxiety and looks at the symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder.

Module 2: Overview of Worrying

This module provides an overview of what worrying is, what triggers worrying, and what keeps it going. 

Module 3: Challenging Uncontrollability Beliefs

This module explores a particular negative belief you might have about worry, that "worrying is uncontrollable". It introduces some helpful techniques to challenge and experiment with this belief. 

• Postpone Your Worry (information); Postpone Your Worry (worksheet)

Module 4: Attention Training

This module focuses on strengthening your attention so that your mind is not so easily distracted by worries. It will help you stay present-focused, keep your mind on the task at hand and learn to disengage from your worrisome thoughts.

• Information sheets: What is Mindfulness?; Mindfulness and Letting Go

• Worksheets: Letting Go with Mindfulness

Module 5: Challenging Danger Beliefs

This module explores another negative belief you might have about worry, that "worrying is dangerous". It will guide you through challenging and experimenting with this belief.  

Module 6: Challenging Positive Beliefs

This module explores the positive beliefs that you might have about worry and encourages you to challenge and experiment with these beliefs.

Module 7: Problem-Solving

Worrying and problem-solving are two very different things.  This module describes some valuable strategies for being able to effectively solve problems that you encounter in your day-to-day life.

Module 8: Helpful Thinking

This module explores more helpful ways of thinking about things that concern you to assist you to feel more capable and less inclined to worry.

Module 9: Accepting Uncertainty

This module aims to examine your need for certainty, to look at how this need keeps worrying going, to describe ways of challenging this need, and to discuss how to ultimately accept uncertainty in your life.

Module 10: Self Management Plan

This module summarises all the strategies introduced and helps you plan for how to stay on top of your worries in the future, including managing any setbacks that may occur.

Download the entire workbook

Click the link above to download all modules in this workbook at once, as a zip file.

Information sheets (excerpted from the workbook)

What is Generalised Anxiety?

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness and Letting Go

How Worry Works

Postpone Your Worry

Accepting Uncertainty

Download all information sheets (zip file)

Worksheets (excerpted from the workbook)

Postpone Your Worry

Letting Go with Mindfulness

Accepting Uncertainty

Challenging Intolerance of Uncertainty

Download all worksheets (zip file)

The modules in more detail

Module 1: Overview of Generalised Anxiety

This module provides a general description of anxiety and looks at the symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder.

Module 2: Overview of Worrying

This module provides an overview of what worrying is, what triggers worrying, and what keeps it going. 

Understanding Worrying

What Triggers Worrying? 

What Maintains Worrying?  

• (1) Unhelpful Beliefs About Worrying 

  • Positive Beliefs About Worrying 

  • Negative Beliefs About Worrying 

• (2) Unhelpful Attention 

• (3) Unhelpful Strategies (Avoidance and safety behaviors)

The Vicious Cycle of Worry 

What Can Be Done About My Worrying? 

• Our initial “what if” negative thoughts are not the problem. How we respond to our negative thoughts is the problem. 

• We tend to respond to our negative thoughts in one of two ways.  We either pull the thoughts closer and listen to them intently (because of our positive beliefs about worrying), which obviously leads to more worrying. Or we push them away and try to get rid of them (because of our negative beliefs about worrying), which also inadvertently leads to more worrying. 

• To overcome worrying and generalised anxiety, you need to do three things: 1) address your positive and negative beliefs about worrying; 2) focus your attention on the present rather than on your worrisome thoughts; and 3) develop more helpful ways of actively dealing with worrisome thoughts. 

Module 3: Challenging Uncontrollability Beliefs

This module explores a particular negative belief you might have about worry, that "worrying is uncontrollable". It introduces some helpful techniques to challenge and experiment with this belief. 

Postpone Your Worry (information)

Postpone Your Worry (worksheet)

Module 4: Attention Training

This module focuses on strengthening your attention so that your mind is not so easily distracted by worries. It will help you stay present-focused, keep your mind on the task at hand and learn to disengage from your worrisome thoughts.

There are two ways you can give your attention a regular workout, mundane task focusing and meditation, both of which are mindfulness-based attention training exercises.  

Module 5: Challenging Danger Beliefs

This module explores another negative belief you might have about worry, that "worrying is dangerous". It will guide you through challenging and experimenting with this belief.  

Module 6: Challenging Positive Beliefs

This module explores the positive beliefs that you might have about worry and encourages you to challenge and experiment with these beliefs.

Module 7: Problem-Solving

Worrying and problem-solving are two very different things.  This module describes some valuable strategies for being able to effectively solve problems that you encounter in your day-to-day life.

Solvable worries versus unsolvable worries

Module 8: Helpful Thinking

This module explores more helpful ways of thinking about things that concern you to assist you to feel more capable and less inclined to worry.

Cognitive reappraisal

Module 9: Accepting Uncertainty

This module aims to examine your need for certainty, to look at how this need keeps worrying going, to describe ways of challenging this need, and to discuss how to ultimately accept uncertainty in your life.

Intolerance Of Uncertainty 

Challenging Intolerance Of Uncertainty 

Accepting Uncertainty 

Module 10: Self Management Plan

This module summarises all the strategies introduced and helps you plan for how to stay on top of your worries in the future, including managing any setbacks that may occur.