I've been meaning to list some books here for a while now, so let me start with the books on my shelf which have been deeply meaningful to me and which I have been recommending to patients over years:


In no particular order, here they are. I will add to this initial list as I go along. 


The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Midlife, by James Hollis

Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Really, Finally, Grow up: James Hollis again(I recommend that you read all of his books)

The Dance of Deception: Pretending and Truth-telling in Women's lives, by Harriet Goldhor Lerner (and all her other books in "The Dance Of.." series)

When the Past is Present: Healing the Emotional Wounds that Sabotage our Relationships, by David Richo

The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Wellbeing, by Daniel J Siegel

A General Theory of Love, by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon

The Gift of Therapy, by Irwin D Yalom (and all his other books)

My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching tales of Milton H Erickson, Edited by Sidney Rosen.

Going On Being: Buddhism and the Way of Change, a Positive Psychology for the West, by Mark Epstein, MD

Full Catastrophe Living: How to Cope with Stress, Pain, and Illness using Mindfulness Meditation, by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Coming to Our Senses, by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love, by Dr Sue Johnson.

When The Body Says No, by Dr Gabor Maté

The Feeling of What Happens, By Antonio D'Amasio

The Examined Life: How we Lose and Find Ourselves, by Stephen Grosz

Trauma and The Body, by Ogden, Minton and Pain

The Body Remembers, by Babette Rothschild

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness, by Kay Redfield Jamison

The Drama of Being a Child, by Alice Miller

Missing Out: In Praise of the Unlived Life, by Adam Phillips

The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel Van Der Kolk

In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Gabor Maté