Bibliotherapy

Bibliotherapy describes the use of reading or listening to books as a supportive companion to the healing journey. Books aren’t a replacement for therapy, but they can complement and reinforce insights between sessions. Books can deepen self-understanding and support emotional healing while offering clarity, validation, new perspectives, and practical tools.

The “Current Rotation” section highlights 3 - 4 of my top book recommendations at this time. This short list is updated every few months. The remainder of the page is organized by topic and includes resources I’ve found especially helpful in the healing process. Please visit the book reviews page to find past reviews.

This list is curated, not exhaustive. For current clients: I keep an extended list of books I’ve personally read and vetted, and am happy to discuss or recommend additional options.

On Current Rotation

Peter Walker's book is a foundational text in complex PTSD, offering a practical and thoughtful guide for understanding and healing from childhood trauma. While complex PTSD can result from various forms of ongoing, repeated trauma, this book focuses

Peter Walker's book is a foundational text in complex PTSD, offering a practical and thoughtful guide for understanding and healing from childhood trauma. While complex PTSD can result from various forms of ongoing, repeated trauma, this book focuses on complex PTSD caused by childhood abuse, neglect, or emotional abandonment. It often develops in seemingly functioning households, making it frequently overlooked and its impact underestimated. Walker draws on his own experience and client stories, and offers many tools for recovery including working with toxic shame, the inner critic, emotional flashbacks, grief, and self-reparenting.

Clinician Dr. Ingrid Clayton explains a widely experienced yet rarely named trauma response called "fawning,” when we move toward, rather than away from, relationships that feel unsafe. What makes fawning particularly difficult to recognize is that i

Clinician Dr. Ingrid Clayton explains a widely experienced yet rarely named trauma response called "fawning,” when we move toward, rather than away from, relationships that feel unsafe. What makes fawning particularly difficult to recognize is that its core behaviors like overgiving and self-sacrifice are traits our culture often rewards. Reflecting on her own experience and client stories, Dr. Clayton offers a compassionate path toward reclaiming one's sense of self and voice. She introduces tools such as somatic resourcing, EMDR, and parts work as pathways toward deeper healing.

Dr. Richard Schwartz, developer of Internal Family Systems (IFS), brings this transformative framework to a general audience in an engaging read. IFS conceives the mind as naturally multiple, viewing multiplicity as healthy rather than pathological.

Dr. Richard Schwartz, developer of Internal Family Systems (IFS), brings this transformative framework to a general audience in an engaging read. IFS conceives the mind as naturally multiple, viewing multiplicity as healthy rather than pathological. We are each made up of protective and wounded inner parts, led by a core Self that cannot be damaged and knows how to heal. Through this journey we learn that even the most destructive parts are born out of a desire to protect us, and that there are therefore “no bad parts.” The book makes IFS concepts accessible and offers practical exercises to better understand your unique inner system.

This is a thought-provoking read, exploring how systemic and environmental forces are eroding our ability to sustain attention; from technology designed to fragment focus, to sleep deprivation, nutritional deficiencies, and a pace of modern life that

This is a thought-provoking read, exploring how systemic and environmental forces are eroding our ability to sustain attention; from technology designed to fragment focus, to sleep deprivation, nutritional deficiencies, and a pace of modern life that leaves little room for play and boredom. He also offers concrete suggestions for reclaiming attention, both individually and collectively. Note that I do not fully align with his views on ADHD, as he overstates environmental factors when the neurobiological basis is well-established. That caveat aside, a worthwhile read. His book Lost Connections is also a captivating read.

Books by Topic

  • Addiction

    In the Realm of Hungry Ghost, Gabor Maté MD

    Molecule of More, Daniel Lieberman MD & Michael Long

    The Biology of Desire, Marc Lewis PhD

    The Craving Mind, Judson Brewer

  • ADHD

    ADHD 2.0, Edward Hallowell MD & John Ratey MD

    Divergent Mind, Jenara Nerenberg

    How to ADHD, Jessica McCabe

    Scattered Minds, Gabor Maté MD

  • Belonging & Connection

    How to be the Love you Seek, Nicola LePera PhD

    Lost Connections, Johann Hari

    The Enchanted Life & If Women Rose Rooted, Sharon Blackie

    You Belong, Sebene Selassie

  • The Body

    Eastern Body Western Mind, Anodea Judith

    The Wisdom of your Body, Hillary McBride PhD

    Your Body is not an Apology, Sonya Taylor

  • Boundaries & Communication

    Energetic Boundaries, Cyndi Dale

    Nonviolent Communication, Marshall Rosenberg PhD

    Set Boundaries, Find Peace, Nedra Tawwab

  • EMDR

    Every Memory Deserves Respect, Michael Baldwin & Deborah Korn PsyD

    Getting Past your Past, Francine Shapiro PhD

  • Emotions

    Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown

    Draw Your Feelings: A Creative Journal to Help Connect with Your Emotions through Art, Rukmini Poddar

    How Emotions are Made, Lisa Barrett

    Permission to Feel, Marc Brackett PhD

  • Grief

    How to Carry What Can’t be Fixed: A Journal for Grief, Megan Devine LPC

    It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok, Megan Devine LPC

  • Inner Child & Parts Work

    Homecoming: Reclaiming & Healing Your Inner Child, John Bradshaw

    No Bad Parts, Richard Schwartz PhD

    Reconciliation, Thich Nhat Hanh

    There is Nothing Wrong with You, Cher Huber

  • Mindfulness & Spirituality

    A Path with Heart, Jack Kornfield PhD

    Signs: The Secret Language of the Universe, Laura Lynne Jackson

    The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle

    Wherever You Go There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD

  • Narcissistic Abuse & Relational Trauma

    Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, Lindsay Gibson PhD

    Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves--and How to Find Our Way Back, Dr. Ingrid Clayton

    It’s Not You, Ramani Durvasula PhD 

    Trapped in the Mirror, Elan Golomb PhD

    You’re Not the Problem, Helen Villiers LLB & Katie McKenna MIACP

  • Parenting

    Beyond Behaviors, Mona Delahooke PhD

    Hold on to Your Kids, Gabor Maté MD

    Parenting from the Inside Out, Daniel Siegel MD

    The Whole Brain Child, Daniel Siegel MD

  • Polyvagal Theory & the Nervous System

    Anchored: How to Befriend the Nervous System, Deb Dana LCSW

    Breath, James Nestor

    Polyvagal Exercises for Safety & Connection, Deb Dana LCSW

    The Polyvagal Workbook for Trauma, Arielle Schwartz PhD

  • Relationships

    Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment, Amir Levine MD & Rachel Heller MA

    Come as you Are, Emily Nagoski PhD

    Fight Right, Julie Gottman PhD and John Gottman PhD

    Hold me Tight, Dr. Sue Johnson

    The Art of Giving and Receiving, Betty Martin DC

  • Self-Compassion

    A Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook, Kristin Neff PhD & Christopher Germer PhD

    Fierce Self-Compassion, Kristin Neff PhD

    Radical Acceptance, Tara Brach PhD

  • Self Development & Inspirational

    Clarity & Connection, Inward, Lighter, and The Way Forward, Yung Pueblo

    How to Do the Work, Nicole LePera PhD

    How to Meet Yourself, Nicole LePera PhD

    Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl

    The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up, Beatrice Chestnut PhD 

    The Wisdom of the Enneagram, Don Richard Riso & Russ Hudson

  • Toxic Stress, Burnout & Rest

    Burnout, Amelia & Emily Nagoski PhD

    Rest is Resistance, Tricia Hersey

    Stolen Focus, Johann Hari

    The Myth of Normal, Gabor Maté MD

    When the Body Says No, Gabor Maté MD

    Why we Sleep, Matthew Walker PhD

  • Trauma & Recovery

    Complex Trauma: From Surviving to Thriving, Peter Walker 

    Healing Through Words, Rupi Kaur

    In an Unspoken Voice & Waking the Tiger, Peter Levine PhD

    Post-Traumatic Growth Workbook, Arielle Schwartz PhD

    The Biology of Trauma, Aimie Apigian MD

    The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk MD

    Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma, Janina Fisher PhD

    What my Bones Know, Stephanie Foo

  • Yoga

    Overcoming Trauma through Yoga, David Emerson & Elizabeth Hopper PhD

    Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery, Arielle Schwartz PhD

    Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, Stephen Cope

    Yoga and the Subtle Body, Tias Little