A carefully curated selection of psychology books recommended by Moss & Mind to help you understand your experiences, develop new perspectives and explore practical ways of supporting your mental health…
How to Hug a Porcupine – June Edings
For those of us struggling to manage individuals in our lives that are tricky to maintain relationships with. The book offers suggestions for hope to cope with these challenging relationships using a compassionate approach to protect ourselves as much as we can from the potential damage these relationships can cause.
Written in an easy-to-read, accessible format avoiding psychological jargon. Non-judgmental style.
Could be beneficial for clients with developmental trauma or those struggling to maintain a relationship with their parents / caregivers
The “Yes” Brain – Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
Helps parents / caregivers to nurture a child in ways that help them become confident in saying ‘yes’ to possibility, learning, relationships and growth, which incidentally doesn’t mean saying ‘yes’ to everything.
Not just as a Psychologist, but as a parent, this book made so much sense to me in terms of prioritising emotional safety for a child before trying to correct behaviour. Just like adults, a child does not have access to their best, most helpful way of thinking when they are overwhelmed by strong emotions.
This could be useful to the client who would like to know more about how a child’s brain works. Written with reference to basic neurology it makes suggestions for helping your child learn and grow within a positive framework.
The Gendered Brain – Gina Rippon
A comprehensive, accessible and scientifically informed book. Highlights the importance of acknowledging the differences between male and female brains, and how women have been underrepresented in mental health and why this is problematic
The Happiness Trap – Russ Harris
The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris is the first book I read when I began training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in 20XX. So many clients come to therapy thinking “positive thinking” is the answer to their problems. Instead this book challenges society’s depiction of people desiring “happiness”. Instead it normalises emotions such as anxiety, sadness and anger viewing them as central to the human experience. It suggests that rather than trying to eliminate them we accept them as present and learn to “unhook” from the thoughts and feelings that arise. A thought is not a fact and should not be responded to as such. Creating distance unhooks you from the power your thoughts can have and stops you having an argument with yourself inside your head encouraging you to step back into an observer role.
A central component of the Happiness Trap is taking action in accordance with your values. Goals can easily be thrown off track by situations in our lives that we can’t control but values help to move us towards purposeful and meaningful life so that we can live our best lives no matter what’s happening.
I find an ACT approach works well for clients who find themselves stuck in their heads a lot. Maybe you’re rewinding past mistakes or spiralling over things that haven’t even happened yet. The Happiness Trap is great as an introduction to the concepts of this approach with some helpful strategies to start you on your journey.
Fix the System Not the Woman – Laura Bates
Accessible and easy reading which highlights key disparities and the important impacts of a system not designed for women on females. Touches on the gender divide in mental health.
