Whether you or not are a clinician or coach who is qualified as a mental health practitioner, you most certainly frequently come into contact with people who have a wide variety of anxiety-related disorders. This is so common that I am confident to say that just about everyone who I deal with has more than a little concern about their anxiousness. This topic is brilliantly addressed in The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques by Margaret Wehrenberg, Psy.D. In this rather handy, well organized workbook Dr. Wehrenberg clearly explains and discusses the topic then provides an extremely simple but cogent explanation of ten highly effective techniques.

This book seems to have three audiences. A mental health professional can gain excellent insight and advice on ways that the various forms of anxiety can be elegantly handled by their clients. For other healing and helping professionals – to include human resource managers, teachers, and athletic coaches – this workbook presents an excellent understanding as to why many people react the way that they do. In turn, they can be more understanding and patient. For those who possess a milder level of anxiety, the author's techniques provide a wealth of information, which gives hope that life can be lived on one's terms. Of course, for anyone who has a more severe issue with anxiety, I highly recommend that they seek a properly qualified mental health professional.

One of the best features of this book is the companion CD, on which Dr. Wehrenberg demonstrates each of her ten techniques. Her clear explanations and soothing, compassionate voice can benefit just about anyone. I plan to integrate regular listening of these short three to 17 minute tracks into my daily mental tuning routine.

Regardless, I have one – and only one – minor misgiving about her claim in that these techniques are the "best-ever." As my readers know, I have a very strong prejudice when it comes to the value of competently applied hypnotherapy as a stress relieving mechanism. I was surprised that there was not a single reference to hypnosis even in the bibliography. Ironically, I could consider the tracks on her CD to be very hypnotic. Nevertheless, I am sure that this omission was most likely done on purpose as there may be a preference to addressing hypnotherapy in a more advanced volume.

I highly recommend Dr. Wehrenberg's book to anyone who is concerned about their stress and anxiety as well as those who assist with the healing process of others.

Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2012 Nov 20. pii: S1462-3889(12)00102-0. doi: 10.1016/j.ejon.2012.10.008. Fox P, Butler M, Coughlan B, Murray M, Boland N, Hanan T, Murphy H, Forrester P, O' Brien M, O' Sullivan N. UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland. Electronic address: patricia.fox@ucd.ie.

AIM: To investigate complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among women with breast cancer in Ireland using a mixed methods modified sequential explanatory design.

METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with oncology professionals (n = 20) and CAM practitioners (n = 20) and this was followed by a survey of 406 women with breast cancer using the 'Use of Complementary and Alternative Therapies Survey' questionnaire (UCATS) (Lengacher et al., 2003). Follow up interviews were subsequently undertaken with a subset of this survey sample (n = 31).

RESULTS: Over half of those surveyed (55.7%, n = 226) used some form of CAM since diagnosis. The most frequently used therapies were massage, herbal supplements (including herbs with oestrogenic properties), antioxidants, relaxation, counselling, health supplements, reflexology, reiki and support groups. Dietary interventions were used primarily to reduce symptoms and/or side effects while reduction of psychological stress was the primary reason for use of stress-reducing therapies. Most respondents reported that the CAM therapies they had used were helpful. The qualitative data elaborated on and provided clarification of the survey results.

CONCLUSIONS: Similar to international studies, CAM is popular among women with breast cancer in Ireland. As such, the challenge for Irish oncology professionals is to identify low risk CAM therapies that are likely to benefit patients while educating patients and themselves on therapies which may be of concern. This study clearly illustrates the benefits of using a mixed methods approach to enhance our understanding of a complex clinical issue and thus we recommend that this method should be the method of choice when planning health services research.

Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2012 Dec 5. Marcus DA, Blazek-O'Neill B, Kopar JL.