Bibliotherapy

Books I often recommend.

How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying To Kill Me by Susan Rose Blauner

Suicidal isn’t really a feeling – it’s a combination of thoughts, feelings, and ways that our brain tries to cope with problems and pain.   “Feeling suicidal” is perhaps way more common than you might think, and it’s a distressing challenge that can even turn into a mental habit. I love this book. It covers the author’s experiences of suicidal thoughts, strategies, crisis planning, and guidance for family and friends supporting someone in distress.

The Mindful Way Through Depression by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn

One of my most common recommendations. Explains how mindfulness changes the patterns of rumination and recurring unhappiness, using personal stories and guided meditation practices to explore thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. Rather than struggle against depression, this book shows a different way through.

Trauma Stewardship by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky with Connie Burk

Strongly recommended reading for: paramedics, nurses, doctors, therapists, firefighters, social workers, search and rescue, community workers, etc. Examines the effects of exposure to others’ suffering and presents practices for recognizing trauma responses and caring for oneself while caring for others.

Beyond Anxiety by Martha Beck

Very funny and engaging. Explores what Beck calls anxiety and creativity spirals, offering exercises in curiosity and creativity as ways to beat chronic worry and develop a sense of purpose. Very cool ways of using creativity to crowd out the space that anxiety takes in our brain.

Say Goodnight To Insomnia by Gregg D. Jacobs

Written by one of the people who invented CBT for Insomnia, this little book contains a powerful approach that cured my own insomnia and helps millions today. Outlines a six-week program that addresses sleep-related thoughts, sleep habits, relaxation, stress, and sleep "compression".

Work It Out by Sarah Kurchak

Incorporating physical activity into life with depression, anxiety, or burnout, with adaptable activity ideas. Encouraging, compassionate, no-nonsense approaches to get moving, even when it seems impossible. This is for everyone who feels like they “should” be exercising but something like ADHD, chronic illness, or a big life slump has been a barrier.  

Is This Autism? by Donna Henderson, Sarah Wayland, and Jamell White

Explores less obvious presentations of autism, including masking, sensory differences, strengths, and co-occurring conditions, through diagnostic criteria, research, and autistic people’s accounts. It's written for clinicians but it's one of the best I've read and is written in a super engaging way, so I also recommend it to clients!

The Maps We Carry by Rose Cartwright

Combines beautiful memoir and interviews to examine Cartwright’s experiences of OCD, trauma, and psychedelics while questioning medicalized approaches to mental distress. Note that Cartwright expresses understandable distrust of all mental health workers equally (so few seem to understand OCD and I do share her frustration). However, there are many somewhat frustrating critiques throughout: she does not seem comfortable with scientists saying “we don’t know, yet” but she also strongly advises that scientists should state when they don’t know something.  But the book is still good enough to recommend.

Building A Second Brain by Tiago Forte

Your “second brain” is where you extend your memory and creative thinking – your notes, reminders, and places to think outside of your own head. Describes how to build your own personal knowledge-management system for capturing, organising, distilling, and applying notes etc. in a way that won’t overwhelm you. Very good for creatives, business owners, writers, thinkers, and all of us with ADHD.

RELATIONSHIPS

Fight Right by Julie Schwartz Gottman and John Gottman

Conflict isn’t bad! It can be incredibly productive and healthy, and this book is a great primer on how. It explores conflict styles and common argument patterns, outlining ways to manage emotional escalation, understand underlying needs, and approach disagreements collaboratively.

Rebuilding: When Your Relationship Ends by Bruce Fisher and Robert Alberti

A map for when you might feel lost. Presents a staged approach to rebuilding yourself and your life after a breakup or divorce. Also describes a Healing Separation model for couples considering the future of their relationship.

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens On Our Sex Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J Brown  

Examines asexuality through a Black queer feminist lens, exploring how racism, patriarchy, heteronormativity, and capitalism shape compulsory sexuality and the marginalisation of asexual people. Extremely powerful, validating primer whether you are or you know someone on the ace spectrum.

Why Does He Do That? By Lundy Bancroft

Does someone become abusive because of their mental health, their neurodivergence, their job, or perhaps … you? This is difficult reading, but if you’re ready, it does a powerful job taking apart the excuses of abusers. This can help survivors start to clear the confusion and get their sense of self back.