Top 10 Self-Help Book Recommendations From Our Staff
As therapists, one of our favorite tools in therapy is to recommend books to clients. Most people in therapy typically attend one session a week for about 45 minutes, which is not a lot of time. Although therapy alone can be highly effective, we often will suggest books to read outside of sessions to compliment the work a client is doing in treatment and maximize their own insight and results.
If you walk into the self-help section of Barnes and Noble, it can feel overwhelming to try and navigate through all of the titles and options to find the best fit for your needs. I asked my staff to suggest their most recommended books to clients and why.
Top 10 Self-Help Book Recommendations From Our Staff:
1. “Get Out of My Life, but First Could You Drive Me & Cheryl to the Mall: A Parent's Guide to the New Teenager,” By Anthony Wolf
Recommended by Stacy Greenberg, LMHC
This book is a must read for anyone trying to navigate the confusing world of parenting a teenager! Dr. Wolf, a psychologist specializing in working with adolescents, combines tools, practical information and humor to help parents try to understand and survive the teen years. Often referred to as a “survival guide” for parents, Dr. Wolf discusses the principles of parenting and how to apply them to the complex world teens are living in today. He covers relevant topics such as the internet, social media, sexual identity and substance use and offers suggestions on how to tackle these tough conversations with teens.
2. “Atomic Habits,” By James Clear
Recommended by Judy Kobus
Atomic Habits is a great adjunct to anyone currently in therapy looking to make changes in their life. Therapy often helps us focus on the areas in our life that we are not happy with and trying to uncover how we got there or why we stay “stuck”. In Atomic Habits, James Clear outlines specific tools and strategies to start to form good habits for change and break the bad ones. Combining research from biology, psychology and neuroscience, he suggests simple behaviors that can be easily adapted to help individuals focus on what changes that are looking to make in their personal and professional lives. This book is a great resource to help develop everyday positive habits that can lead to bigger personal transformations.
3. “Becoming Us: 8 Steps to Grow a Family that Thrives,” By EllyTaylor
Recommended by Shelley Fleit, PhD, LCSW, PMH-C
As a practice that has a special focus on Maternal Mental Health, Becoming Us is a frequent recommendation for our clients! Elly Taylor combines research, wisdom and stories from parents to provide a resource that helps prepare partners for becoming a family. In our culture, so much energy goes into preparing for the arrival of the baby and not enough attention to what happens after we bring baby home. Parents often talk about feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from each other during a time that should be filled with love and support. By reading this book BEFORE baby arrives, it provides parents practical steps to follow to help discuss the challenges and changes ahead and develop essential tools for communication, connection and support.
4. “Married to Distraction: How to Restore Intimacy and Strengthen Your Partnership in an Age of Interruption,” By Edward Hallowell, MD and Sue Hallowell
Recommended by Michelle Button, LCSW-R, PMH-C
Although the author, Dr. Hallowell, is a psychiatrist with ADD and a practice specializing in ADD, this book is written for anyone struggling with distractions in their relationship. In this day and age, distractions are all around us! From smartphones, to tablets, laptops and and any number of other devices that create barriers to attention and focus, couples today are faced with more challenges than ever to stay connected. Married to Distraction is filled with simple and effective ways to improve communication, connection and strengthen your relationship. For the super motivated couples, Dr. Hallowell also provides a 30-Day Reconnection Plan to help restore strengthen understanding, healing and love.
5. “What Happened to You? Conversations of Trauma, Resilience and Healing,” By Bruce Perry, MD, PhD and Orah Winfrey
Recommended by Genevieve McGuinness, LCSW
Of course, any book that involves Oprah Winfrey is Top Ten worthy in our practice! In their book, Dr. Perry and Oprah share information and personal stories related to how trauma at an early age can have profound and lasting effect well into adulthood. By re-framing the thought, “What is wrong with me?” into, “What happened to me,” they provide much needed validation and offers hope and guidance for healing and building resilience.
6. “Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts: A Healing Guide to the Secret Fears of New Moms,” By Karen Kleiman, MSW
Recommended by Caitlin Silverstein, LCSW
Karen Kleiman, founder of the Postpartum Stress Center in Philadelphia and author of, “This Isn’t What I Expected” (Another book that made our list), provides a much needed explanation and discussion about intrusive thoughts during pregnancy and postpartum. Many new moms (up to 90%) experience intrusive, or scary, thoughts. They can be as simple as, “What if I trip with the baby?” to more intense thoughts of, “What if I drown my baby in the bath tub?”. Often, women having these thoughts feel frightened, scared and alone. Most women are afraid to talk about their scary thoughts out of fear that others will think they are “crazy” or want to take their baby away. This book provides essential information and takes a lighthearted approach using cartoons to normalize and validate the common, yet confusing, “what if” thoughts so many of us experience at some point.
7. “The Art of Loving,” By Erich Fromm
Recommended by Theresa Keane, LCSW-R
What can be said about love—we seek it; long for it and try to understand it. This simple book is filled with so many insights into the theory of love and practice of loving. Erich Fromm, a psychoanalyst and social philosopher, focuses on different kinds of love, and explores what it means to love and be loved. I highly recommend it as it will reveal, to the reader, a deeper understanding of love for others and themselves.
8. “Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy,” By Francine Shapiro, PhD
Recommended by Bonnie Soukup, LMHC, EMDR II
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), is a scientifically proven and highly effective form of psychotherapy used for treating trauma. In this book, creator Francine Shapiro, PhD, offers an easy to understand explanation of trauma, the lasting effects it can have on individuals and how we can use EMDR to overcome challenges, negative patterns and improve relationships. Filled with easy to use exercises and techniques, Getting Past Your Past offers practical ways to understand your experience and help break negative patterns of behavior. Whether you are currently in EMDR therapy or just looking for information and tools, this book is a great resource!
9. “Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened,” By Allie Brosch
Recommended by Madeleine English, LMHC, CASAC
Author, Allie Brosch, took her popular blog, Hyperbole and a Half, and turned it into a book filled with wit and humor. Using her own personal stories from her weird childhood and struggles with depression, she provides a validating and entertaining experience for her readers. Her funny and smart essays will make you feel less alone and hopefully bring some smiles as well!
10. “The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients,” By Irving Yalom, MD
Recommended by Michelle Button, LCSW-R, PMH-C
I remember learning about Dr. Yalom, a renowned psychiatrist and author, in grad school and feeling drawn to his relatable ways of connecting to clients. As a new therapist, his book, Love’s Executioner, was so validating and helpful to me as he shared his perspective as a therapist working with clients. The Gift of Therapy takes his 35 years in practice and discusses the process and experience of therapy for both the therapist AND the client. Using real case studies, he shares 85 personal tips to highlight how to truly use therapy to help increase connection, insight, awareness and understanding. Yalom’s style of writing is both informative and entertaining and a great read for those of us on either side of the therapy couch!
We hope these recommendations will be helpful as you continue your journey through self discovery. There are so many amazing books out there, we could probably create a Top 100 list! Is there a book you love that has changed your life in some way? Shoot us an email at info@passageswomen.com, we are always looking to grow our list of books to recommend for our clients and for ourselves!