Self therapy reading list
(or a peek at what books a therapist reads!)
I often get asked for recommendations - or suggest books to clients. There is a wealth of knowledge that exists in the world and in the age of information it can be difficult to dissect or decide who to read! I thought it might be useful to compile a list of books about mental health, therapy, wellbeing, neuroscience, and all the other interests that shape us humans that I refer to, or quote from, regularly.
Not every individual can afford private therapy, and I’ve been in that position too. I found by reading books and doing my own ‘Me search is research’ led me to insight, questions and some engaging debates with others about our humanness. Books about ‘self-help’ and ‘self-therapy’ are popular at this point in history, especially if information can be made into a bitesize chunk to be digested via social media. Yet reading the context of a concept, knowing how a particular avenue of research emerged, can give us solid ground to decide whether we wish to incorporate it into our own knowledge base, our own inner wisdom, or not.
As I say to my clients, ‘take what you need and leave the rest’.
Please note, the books below are affiliate links through to Bookshop.org, which means I earn a small amount of commission from a purchase (to help fund my bookish habits) - and so does your local bookseller! I appreciate others may look to Amazon, but please consider supporting your local bookshop.
Or even better, your local library!
Trauma and the body
Trauma is really strange by Steve Haines
The body keeps the score by Bessel van der Kolk
When the body says no by Dr. Gabor Matè
Anxiety is really strange by Steve Haines
Lost Connections by Johann Hari
Cool Neuro books
The Master and his emissary by Dr. Iain McGilchrist
Neurotribes: The legacy of autism and the future of neurodiversity by Steve Silberman
Scattered Minds by Dr. Gabor Matè
Parenting and attachment
Why love matters by Sue Gerhardt
Nurtureshock: Why everything we thought about children is wrong by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
Parenting from the inside out by Dan Siegel
The Whole-brained child by Dan Siegel
Relationships (with self and others)
Mating in captivity by Esther Perel
Non-Violent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg
The Compassionate Mind by Dr. Paul Gilbert
Authenticity and personal development, incl. habits
Authentic by Prof. Stephen Joseph
The courage to be disliked by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi
The power of habit by Charles Duhigg
Other books of interest, including fiction
Love’s Executioner by Irvin Yalom
Mad, Bad and Sad: Women and the mind doctors by Lisa Appignanesi
Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro - a work of fiction that explores the impact of religious dogma on women’s bodies, themes of suicide, abortion, mother/daughter relationship and third age experiences.
The book of form and emptiness by Ruth Ozeki - a magical realism fiction book that explores how we navigate grief and mental health, the impact on parental relationships and creative adjustments to the world.
