Recommendations

I often recommend books, podcasts, and other media to clients.  I am sharing them here with you in hopes that you find them helpful as well.

Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristen Neff, PhD

Our culture tends to tell us that the way to motivate ourselves is to be very hard on ourselves until we accomplish our goals. Dr. Neff’s book presents compelling evidence that punishing and shaming ourselves is less effective than being kind to ourselves, mindful of our difficult emotions, and connected to common humanity as a more effective way to motivate ourselves.

Four Ways to Click: Rewire Your Brain for Stronger, More Rewarding Relationships by Amy Banks, MD

Four Ways to Click describes how to identify which relationships in your life are safe and supportive as well as how to use them to heal from relationship difficulties in your past. The book is organized around four ways to change your brain so that you can feel more calm, accepted, resonant, and energetic.

Building a Life Worth Living: A Memoir by Marsha M. Linehan, PhD

Linehan, the creator of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) discusses her early experiences with severe mental health symptoms leading first to hospitalizations and self-harm and then to the creation of DBT to help get other other people "out of hell."

(cw: suicide, self-harm, hospitalizations)

Calming Your Anxious Mind:  How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Free You from Anxiety, Fear, and Panic by Jeffrey Brantley

This book describes both the effects of stress and anxiety on our body as well as ways that we can use mindfulness practice to enhance our sense of well-being.  Brantley describes a variety of mindfulness practices and how to incorporate them into your life.

Hidden Brain, hosted by Shankar Vedantam

From the Hidden Brain website, “Hidden Brain explores the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior and questions that lie at the heart of our complex and changing world.”  The episodes "Edge Effect" from July 27, 2020 and "Both Things Can Be True" from December 6, 2021 (cw: suicide) illustrate principles of dialectics.

Get Sleepy, hosted by Tom Jones

Soothing bedtime stories with minimal plots that you probably will not remember because you will fall asleep before the end.

Maintenance Phase, hosted by Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbs

Maintenance Phase considers the scientific, sociopolitical, and other factors that affect the way that we consume information about health, wellness, and body size.  I particularly recommend the episode "Is Being Fat Bad For You?" from November 16, 2021.

DBT Self-Help

This website includes most of the DBT skills handouts as well as other information about DBT.

"Linehan" playlist on YouTube Channel "Borderliner Notes"

This playlist contains short videos of Marsha Linehan discussing various topics in DBT.

(cw: suicide, self-harm, hospitalizations)