Counselling Psychologist Client Recommended Reading List
This carefully curated collection features books selected by Stephen Laverack to support your mental health journey. Whether you’re seeking to deepen your understanding of psychological concepts, explore self-help strategies, or find comfort in shared experiences, these resources offer valuable insights and practical guidance. Dive into this reading list to discover tools that can enhance your well-being and complement your therapeutic experience.
“Scattered Minds” by Gabor Maté
Scattered Minds explodes the myth of attention deficit disorder as genetically based – and offers real hope and advice for children and adults who live with the condition. Gabor Maté is a revered physician who specializes in neurology, psychiatry and psychology – and himself has ADD. With wisdom gained through years of medical practice and research, Scattered Minds is a must-read for parents – and for anyone interested how experiences in infancy shape the biology and psychology of the human brain. Scattered Minds: – Demonstrates that ADD is not an inherited illness, but a reversible impairment and developmental delay – Explains that in ADD, circuits in the brain whose job is emotional self-regulation and attention control fail to develop in infancy – and why – Shows how ‘distractibility’ is the psychological product of life experience – Allows parents to understand what makes their ADD children tick, and adults with ADD to gain.
“Love Sense” by Dr. Sue Johnson
Love Sense covers the three stages of a relationship and how to best weather them; the intelligence of emotions and the logic of love.
“Hold Me Tight” by Dr. Sue Johnson
A groundbreaking approach to building stronger, more secure relationships. Grounded in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), the book guides couples through seven pivotal conversations that foster emotional closeness, resolve conflicts, and create lasting bonds.
“The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma” by Bessel van der Kolk
Focuses on how trauma impacts the body and brain and offers insights into various treatments. Recommeded reading for anyone interested in understanding and treating traumatic stress and the scope of its impact on society.
“Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy” by David D. Burns
A guide to cognitive-behavioral techniques for combating depression and developing a positive outlook. Recognise what causes your mood swings, Nip negative feelings in the bud, deal with guilt, handle hostility and criticism, overcome addiction to love and approval, build self-esteem, feel good everyday.
“The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are” by Brené Brown
Encourages embracing vulnerability and imperfection as a path to a wholehearted life. A decade of research on the power of Wholehearted Living-a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness.
“Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones” by James Clear
Provides strategies for creating lasting positive habits and breaking negative ones. Simple life hacks (the forgotten art of Habit Stacking, the unexpected power of the Two Minute Rule, or the trick to entering the Goldilocks Zone), and delves into cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience to explain why they matter. Along the way, he tells inspiring stories of Olympic gold medalists, leading CEOs, and distinguished scientists who have used the science of tiny habits to stay productive, motivated, and happy.
“The New Rules of Marriage” by Terence Real
The New Rules of Marriage will introduce you to a radically new kind of relationship, one based on the idea that every woman has the power to transform her marriage, while men, given the right support, have it in them to rise to the occasion.
“The State of Affairs – Rethinking Infedility” by Esther Perel
Infidelity is the ultimate betrayal. But does it have to be? Relationship therapist Esther Perel examines why people cheat, and unpacks why affairs are so traumatic; because they threaten our emotional security. In infidelity, she sees something unexpected – an expression of longing and loss.
“Mating in Captivity – Unlocking Erotic Intelligence” by Esther Perel
Perel, a celebrated therapist, examines the conflict between domesticity and sexual desire, and explains what it takes to bring lust back into a loving but sexless relationship.
“Attached” by Amir Levine and Rachel SF Heller
Is there a science to love? In this groundbreaking book, psychiatrist and neuroscientist Amir Levine and psychologist Rachel S. F. Heller reveal how an understanding of attachment theory – the most advanced relationship science in existence today – can help us find and sustain love.
“Come As You Are” by Emily Nagoski
Science and research to prove that the most important factor in creating and sustaining a sex life filled with confidence and joy is not what the parts are or how they’re organized but how you feel about them.
“Mind the Gap – The truth about desire and how to future proof your sex life” by Dr. Karen Gurney
Exploring the mismatch between ideas about sex in our society and what the science tells us, Mind The Gap also explains how this disconnect lies at the root of many of our sexual problems.
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