The Realm of Hungry Ghosts (Gabor Mate) – Explores the science and human stories behind addiction, offering insight into its roots and paths toward recovery and compassion.

Building a Life Worth Living (Marsha Linehan) - Personal memoir detailing her struggle with severe mental illness, her time as a psychiatric inpatient, and how those experiences led her to develop Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

It’s Not Always Depression (Hilary Jacobs Hendel) - Helps readers understand how buried emotions, trauma and defense patterns — not just “depression” — can undermine well‑being, and offers the Change Triangle as a practical framework to reconnect with core feelings and reclaim authentic self‑understanding.

Social Anxiety:

Improv(e) Your Conversations (Patrick King) – Shows how improv principles can help you communicate more confidently, listen better, and build stronger connections in everyday conversations.

Scattered Minds (Gabor Mate) - explores how ADHD develops through a complex interplay of early childhood environment, emotional stress, and neurological sensitivity.

Children:

Smart but Scattered (Dr. Peg Dawson & Dr. Richard Guare) - A practical guide to supporting executive functioning in kids with ADHD

The Explosive Child (Dr. Ross Greene) - While not ADHD-specific, it offers compassionate approaches for understanding and supporting children with emotional dysregulation

What Your ADHD Child Wishes You Knew (Dr. Sharon Saline) - Written with input from kids with ADHD, providing insight into their experiences and needs.

Adults:

ADHD 2.0 (Dr. Edward Hallowell & Dr. John Ratey) - A modern update on ADHD research, including strategies for thriving with ADHD in today’s world.

Driven to Distraction (Dr. Edward Hallowell & Dr. John Ratey) - Written by two psychiatrists with ADHD, covering both scientific and personal perspectives on ADHD.

Taking Charge of Adult ADHD (Dr. Russell Barkley) - One of the most scientifically rigorous books on ADHD, focusing on executive functioning, treatment options, and practical strategies.

Your Brain’s Not Broken (Tamara Rosier, PhD) - A compassionate and practical book on managing ADHD, especially emotional regulation and productivity struggles.

Women:

Divergent Mind (Jenara Nerenberg) - Focuses on neurodivergence in women, including ADHD and autism, and how it’s often misunderstood.

Women with ADHD (Sari Solden & Michelle Frank) - Explores how ADHD presents differently in women and AFAB individuals, with practical strategies for managing symptoms.

The Wisdom of Your Body (Hillary L. McBride) - Helps you reconnect with your body — offering psychological insight, trauma healing, and practical embodiment practices to reclaim wholeness, presence, and self‑compassion.

Better Boundaries: Owning and Treasuring Your Life (Jan Black) – Empowers readers to recognize their limits, assert their needs, and build a life grounded in self-respect.

Codependent No More (Melody Beattie) - Helps readers recognize and break patterns of codependency, set healthy boundaries, and reclaim personal autonomy in relationships.

Disentangling from Emotionally Immature People (Lindsay Gibson) - Outlines how to recognize emotionally immature behaviors, set boundaries, and reduce the psychological impact of difficult family or relational dynamics.

Set Boundaries, Find Peace (Nedra Tawwab) – A practical guide to identifying, communicating, and maintaining boundaries to create healthier relationships and a calmer life.

Click here to read Erin’s review of Set Boundaries, Find Peace

The Language of Letting Go (Melodie Beattie) – Daily reflections that help readers practice healthy detachment, self-care, and emotional freedom.

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking The Stress Cycle (Emily & Amanda Nagoski) - Explains how to complete the body’s stress response to prevent burnout and reclaim energy, joy, and balance in life.

The Explosive Child (Ross W. Greene) - Practical strategies to build a collaborative relationship with your child to work through problems together.

Big Magic: Creating Living Beyond Fear (Elizabeth Gilbert) - Offers practical insights on managing fear, building consistent creative habits, and approaching work with curiosity and discipline to produce meaningful ideas without being paralyzed by self-doubt.

The Artist’s Way (Julia Cameron) – A guide to unlocking creativity and self-expression through practical exercises, reflection, and reclaiming your inner artist.

Building a Life Worth Living (Marsha Linehan) - Personal memoir detailing her struggle with severe mental illness, her time as a psychiatric inpatient, and how those experiences led her to develop Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

It’s Not Always Depression (Hilary Jacobs Hendel) - Helps readers understand how buried emotions, trauma and defense patterns — not just “depression” — can undermine well‑being, and offers the Change Triangle as a practical framework to reconnect with core feelings and reclaim authentic self‑understanding.

Building a Life Worth Living (Marsha Linehan) - Personal memoir detailing her struggle with severe mental illness, her time as a psychiatric inpatient, and how those experiences led her to develop Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

Every Memory Deserves Respect: EMDR, the Proven Trauma Therapy with the Power to Heal (Baldwin & Korn) - The authors (therapist & client) combine personal narratives and clinical explanation to show how EMDR works, who it helps, and why it is an effective treatment for trauma.

Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy (Francine Shapiro) - EMDR founder Francine Shapiro offers a clear explanation of how trauma shapes present reactions and provides practical EMDR-based self-help techniques for reducing distress and building healthier emotional patterns.

Children:

The Invisible String (Patrice Karst) - A gentle story that helps children understand grief, loss, and the enduring connections of love through the metaphor of an invisible string.

Pet Loss:

Invisible Leash (Patrice Karst) – A comforting story that helps readers—especially children, but meaningful for all—feel connected to a pet’s love even after they’ve passed.

The Last Walk (Jessica Pierce) – A reflective exploration of the final stages of a pet’s life, offering insight, science, and compassion for both animals and their humans.

Braiding Sweetgrass (Robin Wall Kimmerer) - Essays that connect Indigenous teachings with ecological science to examine how humans relate to land.

In My Own Moccasins (Helen Knott) - Personal memoir tracing her experiences with addiction, violence, intergenerational trauma, and the process of reclaiming her Cree-Métis identity.

Unreconciled (Jesse Wente) - Personal analysis of Canadian cultural institutions, Indigenous representation, and the limits of government “reconciliation” efforts.

No Bad Parts (Richard D. Schwartz) - Introduces Internal Family Systems therapy, showing how embracing all aspects of ourselves leads to healing, self-compassion, and inner harmony.

Parts Work: An Illustrated Guide to Your Inner Life (Tom Holmes & Lauri Holmes) - A warm, easy-to-read guide to understanding the different parts of yourself that shape your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Using simple illustrations and practical exercises, it offers tools to build greater self-awareness, self-compassion, and emotional well-being.

You’re The One You’ve Been Waiting For (Richard D. Schwartz) - Introduces Internal Family Systems therapy, showing readers how to understand their inner parts, resolve internal conflicts, and cultivate lasting self-compassion and emotional healing.

Daring Greatly (Brené Brown) - Explains how embracing vulnerability strengthens relationships, leadership, and resilience, drawing on her research into shame and courage.

Rising Strong (Brené Brown) – Describes a step-by-step process for recovering after emotional setbacks by examining our internal stories, taking accountability, and integrating new insights.

The Power of Vulnerability (audiobook) (Brené Brown) – A recorded teaching series in which Brown integrates her research with stories and practical tools to help listeners understand and apply vulnerability, empathy, and shame resilience.

Self-Compassion (Dr. Kristen Neff) - Explores how treating ourselves with the same kindness and understanding we offer others can reduce self-criticism, build emotional resilience, and support greater well-being. Neff combines research with practical exercises to help readers develop a more compassionate relationship with themselves.

Click here to read Erin’s review of Self-Compassion

The Gifts of Imperfection (Brené Brown) – Outlines ten guideposts for letting go of perfectionism and people-pleasing to cultivate authenticity, self-compassion, and meaningful living.

Big Magic: Creating Living Beyond Fear (Elizabeth Gilbert) - Offers practical insights on managing fear, building consistent creative habits, and approaching work with curiosity and discipline to produce meaningful ideas without being paralyzed by self-doubt.

Existential Psychotherapy (Irvin D. Yalom) - A clinical exploration of how confronting core human concerns—death, freedom, isolation, and meaning—can deepen therapeutic work and personal self-understanding.

Man's Search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl) - Combines memoir and psychology to show how meaning, responsibility, and choice can sustain resilience even in extreme suffering.

The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) - A philosophical novel about a shepherd who follows a recurring dream, illustrating how clarity of purpose, persistence, and trust in one’s intuition can guide life decisions and personal growth.

The Science of Self-Empowering: Awakening the New Human Story (Gregg Braden) - Explores how beliefs, emotions, and scientific principles intersect, offering a framework for reshaping personal narratives and developing greater resilience, confidence, and self-direction.

Your Second Life Begins When You Realize You Only Have One (Raphaëlle Giordano) - A practical, story-driven novel about identifying dissatisfaction in everyday life and taking structured, achievable steps to reset habits, mindset, and priorities for greater purpose and fulfillment.

Attached (Amir Levine & Rachel S. F. Heller) - Attached explains adult attachment styles and shows how understanding them can help people build healthier, more secure romantic relationships.

Codependent No More (Melody Beattie) - Helps readers recognize and break patterns of codependency, set healthy boundaries, and reclaim personal autonomy in relationships.

Disentangling from Emotionally Immature People (Lindsay Gibson) - Outlines how to recognize emotionally immature behaviors, set boundaries, and reduce the psychological impact of difficult family or relational dynamics.

The Let Them Theory (Mel Robbins) - A straightforward, practical guide that teaches you to stop trying to control other people and instead redirect your energy toward your own emotional well‑being, boundaries, and personal growth with the simple mantra “Let Them / Let Me.”

Romantic Relationships:

Come Together (Emily Nagoski) - Offers practical insights into building stronger, healthier relationships through science-backed communication and connection strategies.

Hold Me Tight (Sue Johnson) - Explores how attachment and emotional connection shape our closest relationships. Using the principles of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Dr. Sue Johnson helps couples understand negative relationship patterns, improve communication, and build stronger, more secure connections.

You’re the One You’ve Been Waiting For (Richard D. Schwartz) - Introduces Internal Family Systems therapy, showing readers how to understand their inner parts, resolve internal conflicts, and cultivate lasting self-compassion and emotional healing.

Friendships:

What Did I Do Wrong? (Liz Pryor) – Offers compassionate guidance for understanding and coping with the pain of an unexpected friendship breakup when the reasons feel unclear.

Self-Compassion (Dr. Kristen Neff) - Explores how treating ourselves with the same kindness and understanding we offer others can reduce self-criticism, build emotional resilience, and support greater well-being. Neff combines research with practical exercises to help readers develop a more compassionate relationship with themselves.

Click here to read Erin’s review of Self-Compassion

It’s Not Always Depression (Hilary Jacobs Hendel) - Helps readers understand how buried emotions, trauma and defense patterns — not just “depression” — can undermine well‑being, and offers the Change Triangle as a practical framework to reconnect with core feelings and reclaim authentic self‑understanding.

No Bad Parts (Richard C. Schwartz) - Introduces Internal Family Systems therapy, showing how embracing all aspects of ourselves leads to healing, self-compassion, and inner harmony.

The Body Keeps the Score (Bessel A. Van Kolk) – Explores how trauma shapes the brain and body, and how healing is possible through both mind- and body-based therapies.

The Myth of Normal (Gabor Mate) – Examines how modern society contributes to illness and disconnection, arguing that trauma is far more widespread—and normalized—than we realize.

The Wisdom of Your Body (Hillary L. McBride) - Helps you reconnect with your body — offering psychological insight, trauma healing, and practical embodiment practices to reclaim wholeness, presence, and self‑compassion.

What Happened to You? (Bruce D. Perry & Oprah Winfrey) – A conversation about how trauma and adversity shape behavior, shifting the question from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”

What My Bones Know (Stephanie Foo) – A memoir detailing the author’s journey through complex PTSD and her process of understanding and healing long-term trauma.

Religious Trauma:

Holy/Hurt (Hillary McBride) - Examination of how religious and spiritual environments can create psychological wounds and offers a trauma-informed, body-centered approach to healing from spiritual harm.

EMDR:

Every Memory Deserves Respect: EMDR, the Proven Trauma Therapy with the Power to Heal (Baldwin & Korn) - The authors (therapist & client) combine personal narratives and clinical explanation to show how EMDR works, who it helps, and why it is an effective treatment for trauma.

Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy (Francine Shapiro) - EMDR founder Francine Shapiro offers a clear explanation of how trauma shapes present reactions and provides practical EMDR-based self-help techniques for reducing distress and building healthier emotional patterns.