7 Helpful Book Recommendations For Therapists

Therapists and other mental health professionals are used to taking in many different perspectives. Examining a situation through another’s lens is crucial to the profession. There are many different ways therapists might learn from other perspectives to enhance their practice and boost their well-being, from continuing education to consultation with other professionals. Reading or listening to audiobooks is another way therapists may be able to try on new perspectives and learn valuable information to help them in their practice and in preserving their own mental well-being. 

Book recommendations for therapists

The seven books for therapists recommended below contain potentially valuable information of various types for clinicians. While manuals and textbooks are necessary and useful as well, the recommendations below represent a more philosophical collection full of new insights, perspectives, and experiences to help you grow personally and professionally. 

1. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

Lori Gottlieb is a psychotherapist and author based in Los Angeles. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is her real-life tale of role reversal, beginning with a personal crisis that compels her to enter therapy. Over the course of her sessions with her therapist, Lori realizes that her clients are facing many of the same struggles that she discusses in therapy. As her story progresses, Lori shares the insights she gained as both therapist and client. New therapists and experienced practitioners alike will likely find something in it to relate to their own lives. 

2. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

Have you heard the story of the man who woke up to find a strange leg in his bed and, when he pushed it away in disgust, found that he was attached to it? What about the woman who lost the entire concept of “left” relative to her own body? Or the sailor whose Korsakoff’s syndrome kept him permanently trapped in 1945? 

Oliver Sacks was a British neurologist with a knack for treating patients who faced unique challenges. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat tells some of those stories and describes the underlying neuropsychological mechanisms that brought his patients to his door. Sacks’ book is a reminder of the link between mental and physical health, highlighting how little it can sometimes take to change how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. 

3. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, and researcher. Many in the mental health community know him as the inventor of logotherapy, a meaning-centered form of psychotherapy that ended up informing acceptance and commitment therapy, narrative therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and the entire field of positive psychology. 

In addition to his contributions to the psychological community, Frankl is well-known as a Holocaust survivor, having survived for three years in Auschwitz and other concentration camps before being liberated. Man’s Search for Meaning references this time, offering the message that if one cannot avoid suffering, one can at least choose how to cope with it. Frankl’s spiritual practices suggest that humans yearn not necessarily for pleasure but for greater meaning and purpose. 

4. Love’s Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy by Irvin Yalom

Psychotherapist Irvin Yalom tells ten stories from his practice in Love’s Executioner. He describes his patients’ dilemmas but also his own humanity, telling readers how he managed his own human responses and reactions to his patients. His stories provide deep insight into the therapeutic relationship between patient and clinician. The wisdom gained from Yalom’s practice can be a useful resource to any practitioner, whether they are a new therapist or have practiced for years. 

5. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Esther Greenwood, the fictional main character of The Bell Jar, is known for her brilliance, talent, beauty, and success. To the outside world, she is a model of accomplishment, seemingly achieving her great success with ease. Inside, though, her world is slowly falling apart. As the story progresses, the reader is invited to closely observe as Esther’s serious mental health challenges advance—as if Plath has put a window directly into her mind. 

This story parallels Plath’s own life, in which she experienced a mental health crisis and a subsequent suicide attempt. Overall, this book can give practitioners a glimpse into some of the thoughts and feelings that can accompany gradually worsening mental health challenges, which can promote empathy and understanding.

If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or urges, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text 988 to talk to someone over SMS. Support is available 24/7.

6. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

In a fictional story about intellect, compassion, grief, and personal growth, Keyes offers the chance to see how a person’s intelligence changes how they view the world and how the world views them. Flowers for Algernon is written as the journal of Charlie Gordon, a man born with an intellectual disability. One day, he is chosen as a research subject for a new procedure, one that could drastically increase his intelligence. 

The book then follows Charlie’s experiences as his intelligence grows, including receiving vastly different treatment from those around him and raising questions about how those with intellectual or mental health conditions or disabilities are viewed and treated.

7. Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Jon Kabat-Zinn founded the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is also the creator of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a psychotherapeutic technique that research suggests may be helpful in the treatment of anxiety and depression. 

Wherever You Go, There You Are explains the link between mindfulness and stress relief while exploring the scientific underpinnings of meditation. This book can be helpful for anyone who wants to improve their own sense of mindfulness or who encourages the use of mindfulness practices by their clients. Mindfulness could also be helpful for therapists in balancing their own emotions with the input they receive from clients in sessions.

Going beyond books for guidance

Practicing as a therapist comes with unique challenges that typically require proactive effort to manage. Books can be excellent resources for therapists no matter their level of experience, but sometimes, challenges can appear that are difficult to overcome without professional support.

If you’re a therapist seeking guidance from a therapist yourself, you’re likely aware that you can typically meet with a provider in person or online. If you have an especially busy schedule, you might consider online therapy. This format allows you to speak with a licensed professional from home, your office, or anywhere else you have an internet connection. Research suggests that virtual therapy can be just as effective as in-person sessions in many cases.

Takeaway

Therapists have a unique need for a deep understanding of various perspectives to practice at their best. While much of that insight comes from direct experience, it can also be gained from books and other resources that communicate the experience of their fellow therapists, the underlying mechanisms of brain function, or the perspectives of clients. The books listed here may be useful for new or established therapists. For additional support, even therapists can feel empowered to connect with a mental healthcare provider.