Books that you recommend to patients

[Pershing]

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What books do you recommend to patients? In residency, I mostly read books that were written for clinicians, so I don't always know what to recommend. I've used workbooks and psychoeducational materials, but rarely do these actually transform a patient's treatment.

One of the reasons I ask is because one of my patients had an "epiphany" of sorts after picking up "The Depression Book: Depression As an Opportunity for Spiritual Growth" by Cheri Huber when she was on the psych ward one evening. A lot of her intense guilt and shame seemed to dissolve as she was able adopt an attitude of kindness to herself. I realize that this capacity for self-compassion was probably already there and was simply elicited by reading the book and that she will probably struggle with guilt and shame again in the future, but it's these types of "epiphanies," however big or small, that I believe are important for the therapeutic process.

I still need to read the Huber book myself. Any books that your patients have especially benefitted from? Thanks.

 

[Bartelby]

I like The Confidence Gap by Russ Harris and Feeling Good by David Burns. The first does a great job of describing an ACT-based approach, the second is classic CBT.

 

[nitemagi]

Man's Search for Meaning - Frankl.

 

[masterofmonkeys]

The Happiness Trap - ACT-ish
The Four Agreements - Really helpful in processing trauma/abuse/whatever

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

"I'm OK, you're not so hot", I have a copy at work so I'll try and get the author. There is also an "I'm OK, your so so" edition. (satire of course)

 

[gotname]

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom - can be an eye opening book about life in general.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

I hate you--Don't leave me: Understanding the Borderline Personality

Stop Walking on Eggshells: Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care About Has Borderline

 

[DD214_DOC]

Games People Play

 

[Ceke2002]

The Golden Cage by Hilde Bruch was a bit of a revelation to many Anorexics when it was first released and also throughout the 80s. It's probably considered outdated by now, but it might still speak to today's generation in some way.

 

[birchswing]

I bought one of the ACT books recommended. Looking forward to it. I had a difficult time with CBT, but it was so long ago it's hard to know if I was being trained in it correctly.

In 10th grade I read Albert Ellis' book How to Stubbornly Refuse to Make Yourself Miserable About Anything, Yes, Anything. I remember in the front of the book it had a list of his other books and one was on how homosexual men could "cure" their issue of being homosexual--that was another scary message from the world, but not uncommon for my time. I remember being around that age and looking for a book on homosexuality. Our library had exactly one book, but it was about conversion, and had a foreword by Dr. Laura. I always remembered thinking that Ellis trying to convert someone who was homosexual was at odds with his belief that nothing in the world had to make you unhappy. Although Ellis in his How to Stubbornly Refuse book even mentioned suicide as a means of overcoming unhappiness. At the time I took it seriously, but now I'm not sure if it was mean to be glib. His book ended up not being very helpful to me. I found the techniques to be tedium in the face of anxiety which itself was tedium.

 

[nexus73]

I've had a few patients with schizophrenia read The Center Cannot Hold. They seem to get a lot out of it.

 

[shan564]

Depending on the patient's education, temperament, and type of psychopathology, I usually recommend either Mind Over Mood (usually my first choice), Feeling Good (the one by Burns, not the one by Cloninger - even though I really like Cloninger), Cognitive-Behavioral Workbook for Depression, or Cognitive-Behavioral Workbook for Anxiety. For patients who are comfortable with a computer, I usually prefer to recommend MoodGYM, which is a free online CBT resource, just because there's more evidence for online CBT than there is for bibliotherapy, although I'm sure that there are plenty of specific patients for whom it's better to use the latter. I haven't started recommending any of the new CBT apps yet just because I haven't had a chance to figure out which one is the best, but I'll probably start doing that soon.

 

[DD214_DOC]

Emotional Vampires

 

[aspiringdoc09]

Love is Letting Go of Fear by Gerald G. Jampolsky

The goal of the book is to present 12 lessons for peace of mind. Very easy read. It works for a range of illnesses. Stress, anxiety, etc

 

[Dharma]

Man's Search for Meaning - Frankl.

I actually just clicked on the thread to post this title. Only 1/2 way through but wow!