Book of the Year 2025: Anxiety Rx by Dr. Russell Kennedy, 2nd edition
- drjoelasek
- Jan 24
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 25
Even though the book Anxiety Rx by Dr. Russell Kennedy was first published several years ago, the second edition was released in late 2024 and given how much this book has changed my practice and changed my life personally, I decided to name it my book of the year for 2025. Anxiety Rx is a unique and insightful exploration of the root causes of anxiety and offers a new, holistic approach to treating it. Dr. Kennedy, a physician who has personally experienced life-long anxiety, weaves his medical expertise with his own journey to discuss how anxiety manifests in both the mind and body. His approach both complements and challenges traditional treatments and focuses on understanding and remedying the emotional and psychological triggers that fuel anxiety.
Summary of Anxiety Rx
In Anxiety Rx, Dr. Kennedy takes the reader on a journey to explore the true nature of anxiety, providing both a scientific and personal perspective. He asserts that anxiety is best understood not as a disorder of the mind but rather as a deeply ingrained emotional experience that originates in childhood trauma, attachment issues, and unprocessed feelings. The book delves into the physiological, psychological, and emotional layers of anxiety, addressing how it affects the brain, the body, and interpersonal relationships.
Dr. Kennedy argues that traditional treatments for anxiety—such as medication and certain types of therapy—often focus on alleviating symptoms rather than addressing these underlying issues. While he acknowledges the importance of these treatments, he proposes a new prescription for anxiety: one that involves recognizing and understanding the emotions and experiences that contribute to ongoing anxiety of all kinds: generalized anxiety, social anxiety, illness anxiety post-traumatic anxiety and obsessive compulsive anxiety.
The core of the book revolves around a step-by-step approach to anxiety relief. Dr. Kennedy introduces the concept of the "root cause" of anxiety, which is often linked to unresolved trauma and childhood wounds. He emphasizes the importance of emotional processing, self-compassion, and emotional regulation in breaking the cycle of anxiety. Through various techniques and exercises, the book offers practical tools for readers to reframe their relationship with anxiety, helping them shift from avoidance to acceptance, self-awareness, and healing.
Themes
The Historical Nature of Anxiety: A central theme of Anxiety Rx is that anxiety is not just a biological or cognitive disorder but deeply rooted in our personal history. It brings to my mind the aphorism by William Faulkner: “The past is never dead, it’s not even the past.” Dr. Kennedy points out that almost all people with anxiety have a history of emotional neglect, attachment issues, or unresolved trauma, which often manifests as anxiety lasting into adulthood. He encourages readers to explore their emotional experiences to better understand the origin of their anxiety and to unburden themselves from it.
Healing Through Emotional Processing: Dr. Kennedy advocates healing through emotional awareness and processing. He introduces various tools such as mindfulness, emotional acceptance, and self-compassion to help individuals address the source of their painful feelings rather than avoid them. Specifically, he outlines a process with the acronym “ABC” which can be used regularly throughout the day to work through this process. This stands for Awareness/Allowance of feelings, regulating Breath while creating internal space and providing Compassion/Connection to the wounded parts of the self. This process, which I teach others every day in my practice, has the power to reduce anxiety and other painful feelings and offers long-lasting relief.
The Power of Self-Compassion: Perhaps the most important message I found in this book is that cultivating self-compassion is the most effective way to reduce anxiety. Dr. Kennedy stresses that self-criticism and negative self-talk exacerbate anxiety and this separation from self is the wellspring from which all painful feelings flow. It then follows that whereas that loving, being kind and offering understanding toward oneself calms our nervous system and allows us to remain in our wise, adult self more often.
The Mind-Body Connection: Dr. Kennedy frequently addresses the connection between the mind and body in the context of anxiety. Similar to what is described in Cognitive Behavior theory, he explains how emotions and thoughts affect the body's physiological state, contributing to symptoms such as muscle tension, shallow breathing, and increased heart rate which he terms “alarm”. However, he makes the argument that activation of previous trauma and its physiological response in our bodies more often activates thoughts, catastrophizing, obsessions and ruminations in our mind. Instead of relieving the “alarm” in our bodies, these mental processes distract us unhelpfully and worsen anxiety as they then precipitate further alarm in our body. Instead, the book emphasizes the importance of body-based therapies and exercises (including the ABC practice) to help us regulate our nervous system.
Why I Believe this Book is So Important
Dr. Kennedy’s Anxiety Rx is both informative and empathetic. As someone who has personally battled anxiety, his insights resonate on a deep level with anyone who may have struggled to find a lasting solution to their anxiety. His approach is refreshing in that it integrates both medical knowledge and psychological insights, offering a holistic view of anxiety and our response to it.
One of the strengths of the book is its accessibility. While it is rooted in science and psychological theory, Dr. Kennedy presents the information in a way that is easily understandable for the general reader. His use of personal anecdotes, clear explanations, and practical exercises make complex concepts more digestible.
The step-by-step approach to anxiety relief is a valuable tool for readers looking for actionable solutions. The exercises and techniques provided, such as his ABC practice, body scans, and journaling, give readers a tangible way to begin addressing their anxiety.
Additionally, I find the Anxiety Rx approach synergizes very well with similar approaches including somatic based therapies, Internal Family Systems Therapy and Relational Life Therapy. All of these therapies emphasize the Mind-Body connection, share similar ideas about how trauma is stored in our minds-bodies and how to relieve and unburden ourselves from thes trauma.
However, Anxiety Rx may not resonate with everyone, particularly those who are looking for quick fixes or more traditional, medically driven approaches. Dr. Kennedy's method requires time, introspection, and emotional vulnerability, which may be challenging for some. Additionally, while his ideas are promising, I have used them personally for several years and I use them every day in my practice, they are still part of a relatively new approach to treating anxiety, and more research is needed to validate the long-term effectiveness of these strategies.
Conclusion
Anxiety Rx is an enlightening and compassionate guide for anyone struggling with anxiety and other painful feeling states. Dr. Russ Kennedy provides readers with a new perspective on anxiety and offers a multifaceted approach to its relief. By addressing the emotional root causes of anxiety, emphasizing emotional processing, and promoting self-compassion, the book presents a refreshing alternative to traditional treatments. While it may not be the right fit for everyone, those willing to embark on an introspective journey may find Anxiety Rx to be a helpful and transformative resource. And for those who would like to put his ideas into practice, Dr. Kennedy offers an online course (you can find the link below).
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