This reading list is recommended by a Licensed counselor and is designed to be an ever-growing and changing suggestion. If you have books that have helped you or have impacted your mental health, make sure to let us know so that we can recommend them to others.
Ways to Read Digitally:
Libby: App by Overdrive - Requires a Library Card
Book Bub - Lists of free or on-sale books through Kindle and other sources.
Audible - Audiobooks on a subscription basis.
"In a society that values independence, self-preservation and individualistic thinking, we are missing the key to fulfillment: Connection through Attachment.
Simple, attachment is the way that we connect to each other. Without attachment, people feel alone to deal with challenges they face, which leads to distress, dysfunction and mental health disorders. It is possible to repair dysfunctional attachment, but first it is necessary to recognize attachment style, unhealthy relationship patterns, and the impact they are having.
Improve your client's relationships by teaching them strategies to feel more connected reestablish trust, and restore positive emotions. Dr. Christina Reese, a recognized attachment and trauma professional, has created a comprehensive guide that explains attachment over a lifetime, and offers trauma-informed approaches to treat attachment at any age.
- Clinical examples, handouts and worksheets to use with clients of all ages
- Recognize attachment styles
- Identify key symptoms of attachment difficulties and their inception
- Interventions that repair attachment traumas to heal stress, shame, and anxiety
- Techniques to help clients improve their relationships (children, parents, friends, and significant others)"
"You know those days when you just can't even? When everything is haywire and everyone, including yourself, seems to be against you? Your to-do list is a mile long; your kid is sick, traffic sucks, and you just spilled coffee all over yourself as you were about to walk out the door? How do you cope? We guess you could say "f--k it" and go back to bed with a bottle of whiskey at 10 a.m., but check out these more sustainable and helpful alternatives by Dr. Faith first.This is the first book of its kind to break down coping skills by type of situation. Includes skills from CBT, DBT, ACT, positive psychology, mindfulness-based stress reduction, somatic experiencing, Jungian therapy, and more."
"Dealing with stress, anxiety and anger are important skills to learn, but not all kids learn those strategies naturally. The Coping Skills for Kids Workbook can help teach children to calm down, balance their energy and emotions, and process challenging feelings. Author Janine Halloran, LMHC, share over 75 innovative, fun and engaging activitiesdeveloped from her experience in schools, outpatient mental health clinics and as a mother.
Loved by counselors, educators and parents alike!!"
"A teen version of the #1 Bestselling Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, this version is written specifically with a tween/teen audience (age 11+) in mind. There are 60 coping strategies included in the book, and it's divided into Coping Styles to make searching for a coping skill easier. This book also includes several pages to support teens as they work on their coping skills, including: Feelings Tracker Worksheet Identifying Triggers and Making a Plan Positive to Negative Thoughts Worksheet Journal Pages Wellness Worksheets, including a Self-Care PlanThere's also a rich resource section full of apps, books, card decks, and other resources to help teens deal with stress, anxiety and anger.
"From my favorite go-to expert on coping skills, Janine Halloran does not disappoint with her latest book! I love her simple, yet comprehensive way of explaining anxiety to teens. Her exercises are spot on and can really catapult a teen’s progress. This workbook will definitely be used in my therapy practice and a favorite resource to recommend."Natasha Daniels, LCSW, Child Therapist & Author, Hill Child Counseling & creator of AT Parenting Survival. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Janine knows so many great ways to cope with the problems that come up in life.As I read this book my 15-year-old and I were under a tremendous amount of stress, Janine's book helped not just my teen – but me as well. We read together about the adolescent brain, which Janine writes so helpfully about in Coping Skills for Teens.We gained a new understanding of why stress happens, and how coping skills are crucial for helping people feel better in times of stress.We've put several of Janine's coping skills into place!
I watched my teenager use these coping skills in getting better, getting home, and stepping into this new normal. He is thriving because of Janine's wonderful book. As an educator and parent, I see this book as crucial for not just every teen – but every teen's family. Required reading that you will enjoy, learn from, and feel better every time you return to it for another coping skill."Karen Lock Kolp M.Ed., Child Development Expert, Parent Coach, Podcaster"Once again, Janine has created an essential resource packed with education, activities, and simple worksheets. The Coping Skills for Teens workbook empowers teens to understand their emotions and manage them in a variety of healthy ways. I appreciate how the skills are broken up by type, giving teens numerous options to choose from depending on the situation. They can also record the coping skills they've used as a reference when they feel stuck, frustrated, or overwhelmed in the future."Nicole Schwarz, MA, LMFT, Parent Coach"
"A humorous and insightful look into what advice works, what doesn't, and what it means to transform yourself, by the co-hosts of the popular By the Book podcast.
In each episode of their podcast By the Book, Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer take a deep dive into a different self-help book, following its specific instructions, rules, and advice to the letter. From diet and productivity to decorating to social interactions, they try it all, record themselves along the way, then share what they’ve learned with their devoted and growing audience of fans who tune in.
Before they began their podcast, Jolenta wanted to believe the promises of self-help books, while Kristen was very much the skeptic. They embraced their differences of opinion, hoping they’d be good for laughs and downloads. But in the years since launching the By the Book, they’ve come to realize their show is about much more than humor. In fact, reading and following each book’s advice has actually changed and improved their lives. Thanks to the show, Kristen penned the Amish romance novel she’d always joked about writing, traveled back to her past lives, and she broached some difficult conversations with her husband about their marriage. Jolenta finally memorized her husband’s phone number, began tracking her finances, and fell in love with cutting clutter.
In How to Be Fine, Jolenta and Kristen synthesize the lessons and insights they’ve learned and share their experiences with everyone. How to Be Fine is a thoughtful look at the books and practices that have worked, real talk on those that didn’t, and a list of philosophies they want to see explored in-depth. The topics they cover include:
Getting off your device
Engaging in positive self-talk
Downsizing
Admitting you're a liar
Meditation
Going outside
Getting in touch with your emotions
Seeing a therapist
Part memoir, part prescriptive handbook, this honest, funny, and heartfelt guide is like a warm soul-baring conversation with your closest and smartest friends.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio."
"The mental well-being of children and adults is shockingly poor. Marc Brackett, author of Permission to Feel, knows why. And he knows what we can do.
"We have a crisis on our hands, and its victims are our children."
Marc Brackett is a professor in Yale University’s Child Study Center and founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. In his 25 years as an emotion scientist, he has developed a remarkably effective plan to improve the lives of children and adults – a blueprint for understanding our emotions and using them wisely so that they help, rather than hinder, our success and well-being. The core of his approach is a legacy from his childhood, from an astute uncle who gave him permission to feel. He was the first adult who managed to see Marc, listen to him, and recognize the suffering, bullying, and abuse he’d endured. And that was the beginning of Marc’s awareness that what he was going through was temporary. He wasn’t alone, he wasn’t stuck on a timeline, and he wasn’t “wrong” to feel scared, isolated, and angry. Now, best of all, he could do something about it.
In the decades since, Marc has led large research teams and raised tens of millions of dollars to investigate the roots of emotional well-being. His prescription for healthy children (and their parents, teachers, and schools) is a system called RULER, a high-impact and fast-effect approach to understanding and mastering emotions that has already transformed the thousands of schools that have adopted it. RULER has been proven to reduce stress and burnout, improve school climate, and enhance academic achievement. This book is the culmination of Marc’s development of RULER and his way to share the strategies and skills with readers around the world. It is tested, and it works.
This book combines rigor, science, passion and inspiration in equal parts. Too many children and adults are suffering; they are ashamed of their feelings and emotionally unskilled, but they don’t have to be. Marc Brackett’s life mission is to reverse this course, and this book can show you how."
"In this book you will find 102 new and exciting ways to turn ordinary games into Therapy Games. Each game used in the book comes with five or more ways to make simple changes that create a new and unique therapeutic experience. In addition to the 102 game options, there s also a section on how playing the game itself without any changes can have therapeutic value. Each game also comes with Discussion Prompts to add to the therapeutic experience of the game.
You will find a chapter for each of the following games or game supplies: APPLES TO APPLES, OPERATION, TABOO, CHUTES AND LADDERS, MONOPOLY, THE UNGAME, JENGA, LET'S GO FISHIN', RORY'S STORY CUBES, SCRABBLE or BANANAGRAMS, IMAGINIFF, Cards and Dice, Jigsaw Puzzles, and Foam Balls.
Just pull a game off the shelf, follow the directions found in this book, and occasionally add some simple items like paper and pens. You re now ready to play fun, engaging, and brand new therapy games!"
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