My Articles
Is Your Relationship Healthy?
Resources
Books
There is, fortunately, a wealth of information available in bookstores and
on the Web on the following topics. The books I recommend here are those
that stand out for me as exceptional:
On Trauma:
Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery
On Addiction in General:
Caroline Knapp, Drinking, A Love Story
On Coping with a drug-addicted relative:
David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father¹s Journey Through His Son's Addiction
On Eating:
David Kessler, M.D., The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the
Insatiable American Appetite
On Growing up in dysfunctional environments:
Anything by Alice Miller or Melodie Beattie
On Sexual Addiction:
Patrick Carnes, Don't Call It Love
On Attachment:
Robert Karen, Becoming Attached: First Relationships and How They Shape Our Capacity To Love
On Addiction and Relationships:
Philip Flores, Addiction as an Relational Disorder
On Perfectionism:
Carol Dweck, Mindset
On Shame:
Nathanson, Shame and Pride
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9R-Wrpd8w8
On Depression:
Andrew Solomon, The Noonday Demon or William Styron, Darkness Visible
On ADD/ADHD:
Hallowell and Ratey, Driven To Distraction and Delivered From Distraction
On Relationships:
David Richo, How To Be An Adult in Relationships: The Five Keys To Mindful Loving
On Healthy Differentiation:
David Snarch, Passionate Marriage (especially chapter 2)
On Emotional Abuse:
Patricia Evans, The Verbally Abusive Relationship
On Parenting:
Richard Weissbourd, The Parents We Mean to Be, and Madeline Levine, The Price of Privilege
On Group Psychotherapy:
Louis Ormont, The Group Therapy Experience
On Ethics in Clinical Practice:
Kenneth Pope and Melba Vasquez, Ethics in Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Practical Guide
On Mindfulness:
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living
On Neurological determinants of behavior:
Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself
On Narcissism:
Sandra Hotchkiss, Why Is It Always About You?
On Borderline Personality:
Paul Mason and Randi Kreger, Stop Walking on Eggshells
On Women and the Workplace:
Joyce Fletcher, Disappearing Acts: Gender, Power, and Relational Practice at Work
On Women's Issues in General:
The Stone Center in Wellesley, MA
On Men's Issues in General:
Anything by Terrence Real
On Gender Issues:
Amity Buxton, The Other Side of the Closet (about the coming out crisis for straight spouses)
Sarah Holmes and Jennifer Tust, Testimonies: Lesbian Coming-Out Stories
Mitchell Gold and Mindy Druker, Crisis: 40 stories revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay
The movie, Normal, is an exceedingly moving depiction of a person struggling with their gender.
John Colapinta, As Nature Made Him (a very disturbing portrait of children¹s suffering at the hands of a physician)
Further Favorite Readings, In No Particular Order:
Daniel Siegel, The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact
to Shape Who We Are (Every single book by this author is worth reading!)
J. Siegel, What Children Learn From Their Parents' Marriage
J. Freyd and P. Birrell, Blind To Betrayal
Allen Frances, MD, Saving Normal ( An unusually elucidating expose on the current controversy behind psychiatric diagnoses)
A.B. Lynn, The EQ Difference—A Powerful Plan For Putting Emotional Intelligence To Work
T. Real, The New Rules Of Marriage
M. Syed, BOUNCE: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham and the Science of Success ( a fascinating and worthwhile read!)
David Wallin, Attachment in Psychotherapy
Alice Miller, Drama of the Gifted Child
Daniel Stern, The Present Moment in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life
Robert Sapolsky, A Primate's Memoir
Robert Jourdain, Music, The Brain, and Ecstasy
Carol Gilligan and Lyn Mikel Brown, Meeting At The Crossroads
Nic Sheff, Tweak: Growing Up On Methamphetamines
Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo (a true story of the depth of the human spirit)
Malcolm Gladwell, The Outliers
Jeanette Walls, The Glass Castle (about a woman who overcomes adversities, becomes successful, and how she subsequently manages her feelings about her homeless parents)
Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge (wonderful portrayal of a woman so stuck in her ways that she excludes connecting with others from her life)
Esther Perel, Mating in Captivity
Perry and Szalavitz, The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing
Levine and Heller, Attached: The Science of Adult Attachment. A brilliant source for understanding the interplay between neuroscience, our early attachment experiences with our caregiver(s), and our subsequent attachment styles and the relational challenges that accompany them. A fantastic book!
Lionel Schriver, Let's Talk About Kevin. A fascinating and very timely novel that explores the age-old conundrum: are children just "born bad", or to they become "bad" because of early (parental) attachment deficits? This fascinating novel leaves the readers open to interpret this in a variety of ways. Warning: this is an emotionally intense read.
Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Mind-boggling biography of the exploitation of an uneducated woman by the world-wide medical establishment.
Juliann Garey, No Going Back: A Hard Look at Bipolar Disorder. A vivid portrayal of bipolar disorder (a novel).
Daniel Levitin, This is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. A fascinating book, especially if you're entranced by music.
David Randall, Dreamland. The absolute best anecdotal and neuroscientific resource about the importance of adequate sleep. Riveting.
Joannides and Daerick, The Guide To Getting It On! A Book About the Wonders of Sex. By far the most relevant and practical resource for information of all sorts relating to human sexuality I have ever come across.
Judith Siegel, What Children Learn From Their Parents' Marriage. An eye-opening view into how we are relationally impacted by how our parents interact with each other. Mind boggling!
Ian Frazier, The Cursing Mommy's Book of Days. An extraordinarily funny novel. If you've ever been at your wit's end, you will love this book. Warning: Adult Language
David Eagleman, Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. This neuroscientist is a creative genius.
D. Siegel, Mindsight: The New Science of How The Brain Changes Itself . Daniel Siegel is a renown pioneer in the field of neuroscience and brain plasticity.
Matthew Syed, Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success
Brene Brown, (TED TALK) on "The Power of Vulnerability," An eye-opening talk by a brilliant woman-- 20 minutes long. There is no one who couldn't benefit from hearing this.