Resources

Books

 

These are books written within the field of Psychology that I have reviewed and used and highly recommend. Clients have found them very helpful.  With the exception of Healing the Wounds In Couple Relationships, the books are all available through Indigo or Amazon.ca.

GRIEVING:

The Grief Recovery Handbook by James and Friedman.
This book offers a complete guide to dealing with grief. It explains the grieving process and has many practical exercises to help one work through grief and understand its stages.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner
This is another popular book that has helped many people deal with loss in their life

Explanation of difference between grief and morning, exploring mourner’s need to acknowledge death and explore the pain of loss; examines the many factors that make each person’s grief unique.

FORGIVENESS:

How To Make Peace With Your Past And Get On With Your Life by Dr. Sidney B. Simon and Suzanne Simon.
A great book on the healing process and the part forgiveness plays

MENTAL HEALTH:

The Last Taboo by Scott Simmie and Julia Nunes
The Canadian Mental Health Association refers to this book as “the best and most practical book ever written about mental illness and mental health in Canada. Over three million Canadians suffer from mental disorders. This book helps to dispel the stigma associated with mental illness.

Neurosis And Human Growth: The Struggle Towards Self-Realization by Karen Horney
An in-depth and fascinating book looking exploring our real-authentic-possible self vs. our idealized-imagined-impossible one.

RELATIONSHIPS:

Getting The Love You Want by Harville Hendrix
This hopeful book has been used effectively by many couple therapists. It is written by a relationship expert who tells us how we choose partners at an unconscious level that relates to our family of origin. He also gives many concrete helpful ways to improve our significant other partnership.

Keeping the Love you Have by Harville Hendrix.
An excellent follow-up to his earlier book Getting the Love you Want.

Healing the Couple Wounds in Couple Relationships  by Martin Rovers
This is another very good book on healing couple relationships. It gives us much insight and many practical approaches to improving couple relationships. .

The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work by John Gottman, a practical guide to a long-lasting marriage written by a giant in the couple therapy world

Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence by Esther Perel.
An examination of the complexities of sustaining desire by a well-respected voice on erotic intelligence. We are invited to explore the paradoxical union of domesticity and sexual desire and learn what it takes to bring lust home.

Family of Origin: Healing The Shame That Binds. Merle A. Fossum
A great book which compares the shame-based family system with the respectful family system. It is directed to therapists and to lay people and takes the reader through the stages of therapy.

Absent Fathers, Lost Sons (especially for men) by Guy Corneau
A renowned and powerful book by an international lecturer and Jungian analyst on the impact on sons of growing up with an unavailable or absent father. This book has big impact on its reader. .

The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: Poems for Men (with James Hillman and Michael Meade) by Robert Bly
This is an author and poet who is widely known for his work with men. This book is said by some to be one of the deepest and most varied collection of poems about the male experience ever assembled.

The Road Less Travelled by Scott Peck M.D.
A classic all-time best seller on the new psychology of love written by a forerunner in the field of spiritual psychology. This book has made him an international lecturer. It combines love science and religion into a map for personal growth. It’s a compassionate and compelling story where the author shares his own life and struggles.

Hold Me Tight by Sue Johnson
Based on the Emotional Focused Therapy, this approach has been well researched and has proven itself to offer valuable insight for couples.

After the Affair; Healing the Pain and Rebuilding Trust When a Partner Has Been Unfaithful by Janis Abrahms Spring
Provides invaluable information and advice for both partners—the betrayed and the betrayer. Discusses the typical reactions of both parties and how to respond to these reactions, helping you to understand what is happening to you and what you can do about it.

ADDICTION:

I’ll Quit To-Morrow by Vernon Johnson

It’ll Never Happen to Me by Claudia Black

Another Chance by Sharon Wescheider-Cruse

I Want To Change My Life: How To Overcome Anxiety, Depression And Addiction
Steven M Melemis

Of Course You’re Angry: A Guide to Dealing with the Emotions of Substance Abuse by Gayle Rosellini, Mark Worden

The Spirituality Of Imperfection: Storytelling And The Search For Meaning by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketchan.
This book successfully relates the spirituality of Alcoholics Anonymous and its Twelve Step program, to the other major spiritual traditions of the world. It is related in such a way that the non member of these programs can appreciate the depth and importance of this movement for everyone

Anger:

When Anger Hurts by Matthew McKay, Peter Rogers, Judith McKay
An excellent and practical book on managing anger problem.

Stop The Anger by Kathy Garber
Also, a first-rate, useful book on managing anger problems.

The Dance of Anger (especially for women) Harriet J. Lerner.
This book is directed more toward women, but is helpful for women and men alike. The author has written many books particularly for women’s issues. She helps all of us learn to express our anger in an effective way and describes the traps into which women, in particular, tend to fall in expressing their anger so that it becomes ineffective.

The Dance of Intimacy by Harriet J. Lerner
Directed toward women in intimate relationships.

Anxiety and Panic:

The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne, Ph.D.
A great book with practical strategies on how to overcome panic, anxiety and stress.

Don’t Panic, Taking Control of Anxiety Attacks, by Reid Wilson

Boundaries:

Boundaries When to Say Yes When to Say No by Cloud and Townsend.
This book is immensely popular and one of the best books written on boundaries. It is written by psychologists from a Christian perspective. It shows how to set reasonable boundaries and makes personal boundaries easier to define and view them in the context of personal growth. This is one of the best books written on the necessity of putting boundaries in place in relationships and their use as a way of being assertive. It has many scriptural references so may not appeal to all.

Codependence:

Codependent No More by Melody Beattie

Beyond Codependence by Melody Beattie
These are two popular books on co-dependent issues

Depression:

Feeling Good by David Burns.
This book has helped many people to help themselves when they are suffering from depression. However it is not to be substituted for therapy.

Mind Over Mood by Dennis Greenberg and Christine Padesky
A cognitive therapy treatment manual for clients; offers valuable tools and practical strategies to help those who are suffering from depression.

Life Meaning:

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl ( Harold S. Kushner, William J. Winslade)

Meditation:

Turning The Mind Into an Ally by Sakyong Mipham
A very useful book for you to use to teach yourself how to meditate.

Obsessions / Compulsions:

Stop Obsessing; How to Overcome your Obsessions & Compulsions, co-authored by Reid Wison

Self-esteem:

Definitive work on self-esteem by the leading pioneer in the field.

The Psychology of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden
The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden

Sexuality:

As it is of prime importance to be informed about your partner’s anatomy and sexual physiology, I am including the following books for your consideration –

Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort (a classic)

For Each Other by Lonnie Barbach

The New Male Sexuality by Bernie Zibergeld

Shame and Guilt:

Shame & Guilt, by Ernest Kurtz

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