Recommended Reading

I have found the following books to be helpful and often recommend them to clients.  Here, I will offer a brief synopsis and rationale for these recommendations. Please check back for new titles and updates:

Couples

Couple Skills:  Making Your Relationship Work by Mathew McKay, Patrick Fanning & Kim Paleg
Based on cognitive behavioral therapy, this book is straight-forward and practical.  It offers couples helpful ways to improve communication and cope better with problems by building essential skills. 

Beyond Orgasm:  Dare to be Honest about the Sex You Really Want by Marty Klein, Ph.D. 
Years ago, I had the privilege of seeing Dr. Klein make a presentation on sex therapy for therapists and thought he was a great role model for the profession.  He promotes sexual honesty without judgment.  He writes about the most intimate and taboo aspects of sexuality with acceptance, compassion and humor.  A useful book for everyone.

Depression

When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
One of my favorite books for inspiration and coping.  It is so full of compassion and wisdom, it can be read over and over again.  An excellent choice for developing compassion towards self and others.

The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
This book is a well researched history of depression and its treatments.  It is also a humane and personal first person account of the author’s struggle with the illness. 

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David M. Burns, M.D.
Dr. Burns uses a cognitive therapy approach to recognize and treat mood problems.  I particularly like his descriptions of the types of distorted thinking that underly depression and anxiety and the exercises he proposes to counter such thoughts. 

Grief/Loss & Death/Dying

Heaven’s Coast by Mark Doty
Poet Mark Doty’s memoir about losing his life partner to AIDS.  A loving, painful and beatiful story of personal loss.  A truly beautiful book.  

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
The well-known writer’s account of her husband’s sudden death and her subsequent survival.  A raw and moving account of grief.

Who Dies?:  An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying  by Stephen Levine
A spiritual book about living as much as dying.  Provacative, thoughtful, wise and compassionate.  It is the kind of book that can change your life.

Health & Prevention

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey, MD
This is a fascinating book that further illustrates the mind-body connection.  Dr. Ratey presents the latest in scientific research that shows that physical exercise is one of the most essential activities we can engage in to improve mood, reduce stress, sharpen cognition and prevent disease. 

Suicide

Night Falls Fast:  Understanding Suicide by Kay Redfield Jamison
An important book that brings much needed awareness about suicide and suicide prevention.  I am a great admirer of Dr. Jamison because she is not only a great writer, researcher, and professor of Psychiatry at John Hopkins University, but she has courageously written about her own stuggles with Bipolar Disorder, helping to illuminate and de-stigmatize this and other mental illnesses.