Road to Calm : Life-Changing Tools to Stop Runaway Emotions

A protocol of easy-to-use tools that can be applied when readers experience difficult-to-manage emotions.

Emotional flooding―being overwhelmed by feelings―happens in response to stress, anxiety, and life’s challenges. In this client-orientated accompaniment to Affect Regulation Toolbox, Carolyn Daitch and Lissah Lorberbaum present skills and tools on how to dial down reactivity, practice mindfulness, and focus positively on the future. Written to conquer a broad range of emotional challenges in easily accessibly language, this book is intended to help clients improve the quality of their everyday lives.

The workbook is split into two parts. Part I helps the reader understand when and why emotional flooding occurs. Using vivid stories and examples of others’ triggering situations helps the reader better understand their own triggers, and how to cope with them. Part II provides instructions for “daily stress inoculations,” a daily practice for relaxing and lowering baseline levels of emotional reactivity. The STOP Solution is introduced as a way of learning how to stop or lessen feeling emotionally overwhelmed. STOP stands for Scanning thoughts, feelings, and sensations, Taking a time-out, Overcoming Initial Flooding, and Putting tools into practice.

Throughout the workbook, readers will find guided imagery exercises, opportunities for journaling and reflection, mindfulness practices, and a weblink to matching audio exercises. A complimentary companion app also enhances readers’ ability to take these exercises on the go. The result of this gentle and reliable program is resilience, well-being, and freedom from the emotional patterns that create suffering and damage relationships.

Carolyn Daitch, Ph.D., is the director of the Center for the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders in Farmington Hills, Michigan. A clinical psychologist, she is a certified and approved consultant and elected Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis as well a Fellow of the Michigan Psychological Association. A frequent invited speaker around the world, she is internationally recognized for her practical and easy to implement interventions.

She has written four books, including the award winning Affect Regulation Toolbox: Practical and Effective Hypnotic Interventions for the Over-reactive Client, which has received international acclaim and was awarded best hypnosis book by the Society of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis in 2008. Her "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness, and Hypnosis as Treatment Methods for Generalized Anxiety Disorder," also won best article in 2019 by the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.

Lissah Lorberbaum, MA, holds a master's degree in clinical psychology with a specialization in somatic psychology and treats affect dysregulation across a wide range of clientele. She is also coauthor of Anxious in Love: How to Manage Your Anxiety, Reduce Conflict, and Reconnect with Your Partner. She lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.