Books on Anxiety, Wellness, and Therapy
The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne
—Dr. Bourne offers a comprehensive, holistic workbook with a multifaceted approach to dealing with anxiety and related concerns. Great for therapists and laypeople to use on their own.
The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients by Irvin Yalom
—Dr. Yalom is consistently rated as one of the most influential theorists for graduate studies training to be therapists. A great, accessible text. Recommended for both therapists and a lay audience. Dr. Yalom consistently writes movingly about the therapeutic process.
The Great Psychotherapy Debate: Models, Methods, and Findings by Bruce E. Wampold
—Dr. Wampold is the chair of counseling psychology and clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As the American Psychological Association (APA) has stated of Dr. Wampold, he brings “the rigor of his training in mathematics and the sciences to understanding psychotherapy.” The APA describes this text as “a synthesis of empirical research on psychotherapy using sophisticated methods that is situated in a historical and anthropological context.” There is much contemporary debate about the best kinds of therapy. Yet, as Dr. Wampold observes, “the differences among treatments in terms of benefit to patients are small, if not negligible. This observation applies, however, to treatments that are intended to be therapeutic, are delivered by competent therapists, have a cogent psychological rationale, and contain therapeutic actions that lead to healthy and helpful changes in the patient’s life.” This book is a must read for anyone interested in contemporary debates on mental health.
Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner by J. William Worden
—Death is perhaps the one universal in human experience. Yet research in mental health about dying and grief lags behind other fields of inquiry. Even seasoned therapists often struggle with helping grieving clients. Here Dr. Worden offers a sound therapeutic framework to help people who are grieving.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
—Dr. Frankl shares the insights he cultivated from surviving the Holocaust, which informed his work as a therapist. The first half of this book is a gripping recounting of his experiences in concentration camps during World War II. The second half of this work discusses his therapeutic method.
Persuasion and Healing: A Comparative Study of Psychotherapy by Jerome D. Frank and Julia B. Frank
—This classic, and imminently readable, text by Drs. Jerome and Julia Frank (who are father and daughter) discusses the robust research literature on empirically supported relationships and the common factors of therapeutic healing.
Restoring Mentalizing in Attachment Relationships: Treating Trauma With Plain Old Therapy by Jon G. Allen
—Dr. Allen offers a research-based approach to helping clients with severe trauma through “plain old therapy” and methods rooted in mindfulness and compassion.
The Theories of Psychotherapy Series
—Published by the American Psychological Association, this series of books (and related videos which show real counseling sessions) discusses the main theoretical orientations of therapy (e.g. cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal, existential, humanistic etc). Written more for professional therapists, these succinct texts are interesting for anyone interested in the history, research for, and therapeutic approaches of the main types of therapy.
Transforming Depression: a Jungian Approach using the Creative Arts by David Rosen
—Dr. Rosen is both an analyst and psychiatrist teaching in a graduate clinical psychology program. He also has an interest in eastern philosophy and using art in therapy. He integrates his broad interests into this fascinating book.
Unhinged: The Trouble with Psychiatry-A Doctor's Revelations about a Profession in Crisis by Daniel Carlat
—This book transformed the way I thought about a lot of foundational assumptions of contemporary mental health. Written for a lay audience, yet grounded in the latest research, Dr. Carlat offers a fascinating and thorough history of topics such as the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and the development and research of psychiatric medications. A psychiatrist by training, Dr. Carlat recently accepted a new position as the director of The Pew Prescription Project to lead a group of experts to review conflict of interest recommendations related to psychiatric medications and disseminate their recommendations to medical schools and teaching hospitals throughout the U.S.
—Dr. Bourne offers a comprehensive, holistic workbook with a multifaceted approach to dealing with anxiety and related concerns. Great for therapists and laypeople to use on their own.
The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients by Irvin Yalom
—Dr. Yalom is consistently rated as one of the most influential theorists for graduate studies training to be therapists. A great, accessible text. Recommended for both therapists and a lay audience. Dr. Yalom consistently writes movingly about the therapeutic process.
The Great Psychotherapy Debate: Models, Methods, and Findings by Bruce E. Wampold
—Dr. Wampold is the chair of counseling psychology and clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As the American Psychological Association (APA) has stated of Dr. Wampold, he brings “the rigor of his training in mathematics and the sciences to understanding psychotherapy.” The APA describes this text as “a synthesis of empirical research on psychotherapy using sophisticated methods that is situated in a historical and anthropological context.” There is much contemporary debate about the best kinds of therapy. Yet, as Dr. Wampold observes, “the differences among treatments in terms of benefit to patients are small, if not negligible. This observation applies, however, to treatments that are intended to be therapeutic, are delivered by competent therapists, have a cogent psychological rationale, and contain therapeutic actions that lead to healthy and helpful changes in the patient’s life.” This book is a must read for anyone interested in contemporary debates on mental health.
Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner by J. William Worden
—Death is perhaps the one universal in human experience. Yet research in mental health about dying and grief lags behind other fields of inquiry. Even seasoned therapists often struggle with helping grieving clients. Here Dr. Worden offers a sound therapeutic framework to help people who are grieving.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
—Dr. Frankl shares the insights he cultivated from surviving the Holocaust, which informed his work as a therapist. The first half of this book is a gripping recounting of his experiences in concentration camps during World War II. The second half of this work discusses his therapeutic method.
Persuasion and Healing: A Comparative Study of Psychotherapy by Jerome D. Frank and Julia B. Frank
—This classic, and imminently readable, text by Drs. Jerome and Julia Frank (who are father and daughter) discusses the robust research literature on empirically supported relationships and the common factors of therapeutic healing.
Restoring Mentalizing in Attachment Relationships: Treating Trauma With Plain Old Therapy by Jon G. Allen
—Dr. Allen offers a research-based approach to helping clients with severe trauma through “plain old therapy” and methods rooted in mindfulness and compassion.
The Theories of Psychotherapy Series
—Published by the American Psychological Association, this series of books (and related videos which show real counseling sessions) discusses the main theoretical orientations of therapy (e.g. cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal, existential, humanistic etc). Written more for professional therapists, these succinct texts are interesting for anyone interested in the history, research for, and therapeutic approaches of the main types of therapy.
Transforming Depression: a Jungian Approach using the Creative Arts by David Rosen
—Dr. Rosen is both an analyst and psychiatrist teaching in a graduate clinical psychology program. He also has an interest in eastern philosophy and using art in therapy. He integrates his broad interests into this fascinating book.
Unhinged: The Trouble with Psychiatry-A Doctor's Revelations about a Profession in Crisis by Daniel Carlat
—This book transformed the way I thought about a lot of foundational assumptions of contemporary mental health. Written for a lay audience, yet grounded in the latest research, Dr. Carlat offers a fascinating and thorough history of topics such as the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and the development and research of psychiatric medications. A psychiatrist by training, Dr. Carlat recently accepted a new position as the director of The Pew Prescription Project to lead a group of experts to review conflict of interest recommendations related to psychiatric medications and disseminate their recommendations to medical schools and teaching hospitals throughout the U.S.