Therapy Adjacent Books I Love—Part 1, From your Maryland online therapist
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
― C.S. Lewis
Surround me with books. Please.
Same, man, same. Tea and books are two of my favorite things (chuck in a tea time treat and I’m all set). They can bring me energy, comfort, pleasure, nourishment and so much more. I grew up in Ye Olde Days (before personal technology was a thing) so I never went anywhere without a book or two. The library was a magical place where the possibilities for exploration and understanding were endless and completely free. If I didn’t understand something about myself or the world, the library was my first stop.
Books for all occasions
If there’s something you are wondering about, it is likely that someone (or 20 someones) has written a book about it. Reading about a topic that we are struggling with can give us new perspectives, new insights, and an ability to process the information differently over time. And books are renewable—you can read them again and again and get something new out of them. There’s no way I can list every great book that is therapy-adjacent, but I’ll give you some of my favorites and add to the list over time. Tell me your favorites too, please!
Books about mental health issues from your maryland online therapist
The recent blog post about habits included some great book suggestions on that topic, so if you are looking for those books, head back to that part of the blog. In future posts, I’ll share more books that I love about relationships, parenting, mindfulness, and more. For right now, I want to give a shout out to some old favorites and some new finds.
An Unquiet Mind—Kay Redfield Jamison
Kay Redfield Jamison is a clinical psychologist that writes movingly and courageously about her own experiences with bipolar disorder (she writes about it as manic depression). It’s a classic in the field for a reason.
Unwinding Anxiety—Jud Brewer
This is a newer book, building on previous work in Brewer’s The Craving Mind (which I also think is brilliant). Brewer writes with vulnerability about how he used the skills he writes about to help himself, and then goes on to do the research to figure out how to help others. It’s relatable and full of practical help.
Feeling Good—David Burns
Taking it way back to the beginning of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy going mainstream, Burns’ book is still relevant today. He’s written an updated version (Feeling Great) but the original is marvelous in its systematic logic and is chock full of useful tools that can be helpful to anyone, even if you’re not taking a whole CBT approach.
The Body Keeps The Score—Bessel van der Kolk
Trauma doesn’t just live as a memory in the mind, but is woven into the body as well. Bessel van der Kolk is a researcher and psychiatrist who has laid this out better than anyone else, and has drawn maps to help us find our way through it.
Burnout—Emily Nagosaki & Amelia Nagoski
If I could recommend this book twice, I would. Suffering from the soul-crushing exhaustion of burnout? This book offers context, understanding and hope.
Self Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself—Kristin Neff
Most of us are real jerks in the way that we talk to ourselves and treat ourselves and offer so much less kindness to ourselves than we do to others. Neff makes a great case about why and how we should put in the effort to change that.
Man’s Search For Meaning—Viktor Frankl
Frankl was a psychiatrist and survivor of the World War II concentration camps. His book about how we are empowered to create and sustain meaning and purpose in life is a short but powerful read.
Books about death, dying & Grief
With the overall mortality rate still holding steady at 100%, we are all going to have to deal with death, dying and loss. It is the most universal of experiences. Most of the time, we do a really poor job of acknowledging that in our culture. These books open the doorway to conversations about death, mortality, loss and grief.
Being Mortal—Atul Gawande
Gawande is a medical doctor and has written this lovely book to urge us all to have better conversations, with our parents, partners, kids, medical providers & more, about mortality so that we, and our loved ones, can live better lives.
The Five Invitations—Frank Ostaseski
Written by the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Center, this book pulls no punches as it takes us right into the heart of what facing death and dying can do to help us live and love well.
When Breath Becomes Air—Paul Kalanithi
This memoir was written by a neurosurgeon as he faced his own experience of cancer and preparing for his death. It was published posthumously and is a generous gift to the rest of us to get to walk along this path with him through the book.
Crying In H Mart—Michelle Zauner
This book about grief relates to us through connections made around food, which is a topic I love. Musician Zauner allows grief its place in the landscape of her story, and also gives us so much more about the rich context in which it sits.
“These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.” — Roald Dahl, Matilda
Books connect us—to ourselves, to others, to the wider world through space and time. If you love books too, I hope that the list above has given you at least one new idea for exploration. Please stay tuned for future posts with more book suggestions, and feel free to let me know if you’ve read one and what you thought of it.
A Free consultation For Maryland Online therapy
If you would like some support in exploring any of these topics, please reach out for a free 15-minute phone consultation. I provide online therapy in Maryland and see folks in-person at my office in College Park, MD.
