New book uses a revolutionary form of psychotherapy to help readers manage diabetes (link title)

How can a form of psychotherapy help manage a physical illness? A diagnosis of diabetes brings with it an emotional and psychological component as the diagnosed person struggles with the drastic lifestyle changes that go hand-in-hand with having diabetes. The Diabetes Lifestyle Book uses acceptance and commitment therapy (abbreviated and pronounced as the word ACT)) to address the emotional issues that follow a diagnosis of diabetes.

The ACT approach posits that the difficulty many people face in managing diabetes lies in their avoidance of negative or unpleasant thoughts and experiences. These may be bitter thoughts about having diabetes or urges to eat sweets, smoke, drink, not exercise, and so forth. They may also include anxiety at having to regularly test blood sugar and deal with poor results. As unpleasant as these feelings are, avoiding them makes it less likely that the individual with diabetes will engage in the behaviors necessary to manage their disease, like regularly testing blood sugar and avoiding sweets, which can lead to complications with their disease.

The Diabetes Lifestyle Book teaches readers how to break this cycle by noticing thoughts, urges, and stresses without having to act on them or change them.

For more information e-mail Earlita Chenault or call 510-652-0215, x142.