Just about anyone could benefit from some time with a therapist. They can help us manage stress, improve our relationships, and so much more—but therapy is expensive. So if you don’t have the resources to speak with a professional, what should you do?
Fortunately, the seven superb books below contain many key insights that you might receive from a therapist. Reading them may not provide all the benefits of seeing a shrink, but until you’re ready to try therapy, checking out these books might be the next best thing.
Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself
By Nedra Glover Tawwab
Rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the techniques shared by influential therapist Nedra Glover Tawwab help us identify and express our needs clearly—and resolve a key issue behind codependency, power struggles, anxiety, depression, burnout, and more.
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The Socrates Express: Searching for Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers
By Eric Weiner
The bestselling author of The Geography of Bliss embarks on a rollicking intellectual journey, following in the footsteps of history’s greatest thinkers and showing us how each—from Epicurus to Gandhi, Thoreau to Beauvoir—offers practical and spiritual lessons for today’s unsettled times.
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Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
By Lori Gottlieb
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone offers a deeply personal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds, providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly revealing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives—and our power to transform them. View on Amazon
My Inner Sky: On Embracing Day, Night, and All the Times in Between
By Mari Andrew
Writer and illustrator Mari Andrew explores all the emotions that make up a life, in the process offering insights about trauma and healing, the meaning of home, the challenges of loneliness, and finding love in the most unexpected of places.
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Being the Person Your Dog Thinks You Are: The Science of a Better You
By Jim Davies
Your dog thinks you’re probably the best person in the world. After all, enduring your absence for even half an hour stresses her out. So if you want to become every bit as kind, generous, and wise as she thinks you are, crack open this book by cognitive scientist Jim Davies.
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The Child in You: The Breakthrough Method for Bringing Out Your Authentic Self
By Stefanie Stahl
At long last, this million-copy international bestseller is available for English-speaking readers. Clinical psychologist Stefanie Stahl explains how to shed past traumas and societal pressures to uncover your most joyful, most authentic self.
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The Book of Moods: How I Turned My Worst Emotions into My Best Life
By Lauren Martin
With a good job and healthy relationships, Lauren Martin seemed to have it all—but she couldn’t shake persistent feelings of inferiority, irritability, and more. The Book of Moods is her deep dive into what causes such negative emotions, what purpose they serve, and how anyone can manage them more effectively.
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