Most clients find that reading books on the topics related to their concerns helps support them in addressing their initial symptoms and reinforces positive habits and ways of being.
Below I list the books that have developed over the years based on my own research and what my clients tell me has helped them most. That said, YOU are the best person to determine if a particular book will work for you. Different people find different things helpful.
So, when you are looking for books and resources, go for the ones that awaken your curiosity, inspire a hopeful thought or two, or move you in some way. Those are usually the ones that will help you the most.
Hopefully, you find one that resonates with you and can support you in your journey. I also want you to know that as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mindfulness for Chocolate Lovers is a easy to read introduction to mindfulness and positive psychology, offering a refreshingly down-to-earth approach to addressing both daily life challenges as well as profound life struggles.
Authentic Happiness is a great introduction to the science of happiness, positive psychology. Strangely, what most of us think will make us happy in the long-term, only provides a short-term boost of happiness. And things we don’t think contribute that much to happiness, really are the key to long-term happiness. This book is a great option if you feel like you have much of what should make you happy, yet it still seems elusive.
Written by UCLA interpersonal neurobiology pioneer Dan Siegel, Mindsight is a straightforward approach to reducing stress, anxiety, and depression by learning to observe the mind in action. Mindsight offers readers a visual and systematic approach to managing difficult emotions in a more effective way without denying or drowning in them. Siegel’s down-to-earth style makes his approach easy to learn and practice. This is a great option for visual learners and those who want a practical approach to managing their emotions.
Written by Oprah’s life coach, Finding Your Own North Star is a fun, down-to-earth read on identifying what really makes you happy and what does not. Peppered with pointed humor, this book takes you on a step-by-step process of how to get your own version of happy, including how to deal with beliefs, emotions, and relationships that hold you back. A book for action-oriented folks, each chapter has worksheets to help you figure out the right steps for you. If you can’t stand the typical self-help book, this is a good option for you.
Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life uses a workbook format to help address unhelpful thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that result in feeling stressed, depressed, and/or anxious. This book is based on a leading evidence-based therapy approach, acceptance and commitment therapy, that integrates contemporary cognitive-behavioral therapy with some mindfulness-based concepts (don’t worry, no meditating involved: see mindfulness books below if you’d like to do that). This is a great text if you are action- or solution-oriented and get a sense of enjoy from taking practical steps to address concerns in your life.
The Body Keeps Score provides a comprehensive overview of current trauma treatment. The book provides a user-friendly explanation of the neurobiology of trauma, which helps one understand the reason for symptoms such as flashbacks and nightmares, and specifically addresses what happens to children’s development when they experience trauma that goes untreated. The book then lays out numerous leading approaches to treating trauma, providing survivors the option to identify what works best for their personal needs, circumstances, and preferences.
The Dialectic Behavioral Therapy Workbook teaches the life skills we all should have learned more of earlier in life: distress tolerance, emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and cognitive versions of mindfulness. Based on a leading evidence-based therapy model, DBT was specifically designed to help people learn to cope with overwhelming emotions, even one never learned to do so early in life. DBT is also helps with trauma recovery, especially when do to childhood abuse.
Healing from Trauma provides a thorough orientation to the physiological and psychological dynamics of the trauma experience as well as a practical guide for healing. It's a great place to start.
As the title implies, The PTSD Workbook provides trauma survivors with a practical guidebook for working through difficult symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance (i.e., living on eggshells), and dissociation. When combined with psychotherapy in which memories are reprocessed, these techniques can be very helpful in quickly learning to manage these difficult situations and return to a more normal life.
Rebuilding provides a comprehensive guidebook from the initial shock of divorce to creating a new, vibrant future. The authors provide guidance in coping with the many difficult emotions related to divorce, such as grief, guilt, rejection, loneliness, and trust.
Getting Past Your Break Up provides a non-nonsense guide for recovering from a potentially conflictual breakup by helping you set clear boundaries that allow you to focus on healing. The book also addresses how to make life easier for children during the divorce and strategies for moving on.
The Co-Parenting Handbook guides parents through the separation and divorce process with a focus on minimizing negative effects on the children. It covers common areas of conflict, such as holidays, new partners, public spaces, and finances.
Saving Your Second Marriage Before It Starts guides you through a series of nine questions to reflect on whether you are ready to start again. It educates on essential relationship skills correlated with happy marriages.
The Divorce Workbook for Children has 40 activities to help children discuss their feelings and cope with divorce. It can also be used as a reference for discussing divorce with your children.
Written for younger children, Two Homes is a storybook that helps children adjust to common changes that are part of divorce.
Why Does He Do That? examines the psychology of men who are verbally abusive. Bancroft argue that the underlying belief that leads to such abuse is male privilege. He also identifies several different types of male abusers. This book can be helpful for those trying to make sense of a psychologically abusive relationship.
The Dating Radar guides you in identifying common personality disorder types early in the dating process.
A Harvard psychologist, Stout radically proposes that most sociopaths are not serial kills, but rather charming yet manipulative people that not only lack empathy but a conscience. She estimates that 1 in 25 Americans fits this profile, who manipulate others for not only financial gain but also a personal sense of power and fulfillment. The Sociopath Next Door can be helpful in understanding some of your most challenging relationships.
