Books for Clients

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Codependency, Attachment and Addiction

  1. Pia Mellody’s, Facing Codependence, is an credible resource for people struggling with codependency and/or addiction
  2. Healing the Shame that Binds You by John Bradshaw is an excellent primer on toxic shame.
  3. The Intimacy Factor by Pia Mellody is a thoughtful book on how codependency can affect intimate relationship and how to break free from those old, ineffective patterns.
  4. Facing Love Addiction by Pia Mellody is an eye opening look into some unhealthy relationship patterns and how their rooted in childhood attachment issues.

Anxiety

  1. The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Dr. Edmond Bourne  is a very thorough explanation of many cognitive behavioral strategies that aid in managing anxiety.

Couples & Relationships

  1. The Seven Principles For Making Marriage Work by John Gottman is a well written, easy to follow guidebook on diagnosing what ails your relationship and offering effective strategies on how to work on improving relationships.
  1. Hold me Tight by Sue Johnson and An Emotion Focused Workbook for Couples by Jennifer Fitzgerald are good introductions to emotion focused therapy. Emotion focused therapy (EFT) reports the best therapy outcomes for couples.

Mindfulness & Relaxation

  1. Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn is the bible on secular mindfulness and using mindfulness to deal with stress pain and illness. Dr. Zinn is a pioneer in making mindfulness practice accessible in the secular space.
  1. The Experience of Insight by Joseph Goldstein is an excellent introduction into Buddhist insight meditation.
  1. The Healing Power of Breath by Richard P. Brown, MD and Patricia L. Gerbarg, MD offer a variety of specific breathing techniques gleaned from yoga, Buddhist meditation, the Chinese practice of qigong, orthodox Christian Monks and a variety of other sources. These techniques have proven helpful to people struggling with anxiety and depression, post-traumatic stress, anxiety and addiction-related behaviors. This book comes with a great CD with all the guided breathing included.
  1. The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh is a practical, easy-to-follow explanation of mindfulness with many exercises and practice examples.
  1. Mindfulness in Plain English by Henepola Gunaratana is a great book. According to Jon Kabat- Zinn A masterpiece…an extremely skillful offering of kindness, clarity and wisdom to drink from.

Parenting and Children

  1. Parenting from the Inside Out by Daniel J. Siegel is a powerful book on addressing the core parent/child relationship. This book offers you core strategies on building the parent/child relationship.
  1. The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel is smaller, more concise read offering twelve specific strategies to develop your child’s mind.
  1. No-Drama Discipline by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson, Phd. is another great book on dealing with your child. Praise from Daniel Goleman includes What a relief. Siegel and Bryson take the difficulty out of discipline for parents or anyone who has to help kids behave.  No-Drama Discipline offers a research-based, commonsense approach that any grown up will be happy to use, and any kid will benefit from.
  1. Brainstorm by Daniel J. Siegel is thorough exploration of the adolescent mind. For parents with teenagers, this would be a helpful read.

Self-Esteem & Happiness

  1. The Confidence Gap by Russ Harris is excellent at applied Acceptance and Commitment techniques to the area of confidence and self-esteem.
  1. The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living: A Guide to ACT is another great Russ Harris self-help book on applied ACT principles to live a more value-based life

Anger

  1. ACT on Life Not on Anger by George H. Eifert is a good self-help book for applying Acceptance and Commitment techniques to the area of anger.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

  1. Mindfulness for Borderline Personality Disorder
  2. The Buddha and the Borderline
  3. Stop Walking on Eggshells
  4. DBT Self help (website)

Sexuality

  1. Tantric Sex For Men (Making Love a Meditation) by Diana Richardson and Michael Richardson. This book melds mindfulness practices into the world of sexuality teaching partners to bring an open and nonjudgmental approach to their lovemaking.
  1. My Secret Garden by Nancy Friday is an anthology of women’s sexual fantasies. Many women reading the book have found it deeply validating and liberating.