[atisketatasket]

I just want to see if there's sort of a "therapeutic canon" of reading material recommended to clients.

And hey, it comes with a poll!

I have been recommended:
- The Highly Sensitive Person (which I actually tried to read and had to give up on - sloppy sloppy sloppy)
- Self-Compassion
- Goddesses in Everywoman

That's all I remember.

Eta: I suppose there should be a fifth poll option, "Yes, my therapist has recommended reading matter, and I have ignored his/her suggestions."

[Deeplyhurt77]

My T. Said I have"traits" of borderline personality and recommended I hate you,don't leave me. Which everyone and anyone could have "traits" of this. But right now I'm reading some humor books like anything Bill Mauer, Chelsea Handler ...

[growlycat]

Originally Posted by Deeplyhurt77

My T. Said I have"traits" of borderline personality and recommended I hate you,don't leave me. Which everyone and anyone could have "traits" of this. But right now I'm reading some humor books like anything Bill Mauer, Chelsea Handler ...

Not to be off topic but I read the ebook "hyena" by Jude angelini. Funny but in a horrific kind of way. I hate shock jocks but this guy although crude and seemingly uneducated kind of paints a sympathetic picture of his sad life. Someone I would probably hate in real life but an oddly funny book

As far as my long term t he recommended Maggie scarfs intimate worlds how families thrive and how they fail. Instead of focusing on dysfunctional families it captured what healthy families look like and what they do differently

Not as such, but he has mentioned specific concepts which I have then read up on, such as affect theory, and object constancy. I'm fairly certain that he does not read pop psy books and would not recommend them to me if he did read them.

I recommended Darkness Visible to him, and after reading it he said he thought it should be required reading for psychotherapy educations.

[stopdog]

The first one came up with some book about a kidnapping victim, a Brene Brown book, and Fun Home.

The second one and I talk about books at times, but nothing specifically for therapy purposes.

My T hasnt recommended any books or reading matter. I haven't asked, i probably wouldn't see the relevance of it.

Originally Posted by stopdog

The first one came up with some book about a kidnapping victim, a Brene Brown book, and Fun Home.

The second one and I talk about books at times, but nothing specifically for therapy purposes.

My T and I have a shared dislike of Brene Brown based on one of her TED talks which we have both suffered through.

We do talk about books, but mainly about fiction. If that counts, I have a couple of titles he's recommended and I've read, but it's not really things that would necessarily be relevant for anyone else's therapy.

[stopdog]

I think the content of what Brown says is simplified pap (I feel this way about Wayne Dwyer and all the other pop pseudo psych books I have read). But I do love listening to her voice. I sometimes listen to her on books on tape just because her voice will lull me to sleep.

Thers not much need for reading. The actually session is where is all worked out.
Of course I use to be 'addicted' to self help books.
I can honestly say, apart from some interest, no book, ever, has changed a dam thing. Only the work we do.

T1 did this much more than T2. He recommended 2 or 3 different Carl Rogers books, a book based on wind in the willows where Toad goes to counselling called 'Counselling for Toads", a book about a therapist's 'use of self', "TA today", and Irvin Yalom's 'love's executioner' (I really disliked Yalom after that, but he has grown on me since I read a couple of his other books).
For all the negative things I say about T1, I do appreciate him introducing me to these writers and ideas. It was eye opening and influential for me.
I can't think of anything current T has recommended, but he might have. I don't think I have read anything he's recommended, but then I don't bear the same burning desire to please current T or to prove myself like I did with T1 (part of the unhealthy dynamic).
I have read one of current T's books though, which was interesting.

[stopdog]

For me, reading books/literature, has changed and helped me in countless ways. Therapy not so much and books recommended by therapists not at all -but reading (mostly novels and plays) in general most definitely.

[awkwardlyyours]

Oh wow....this is such a good topic. I haven't ever gotten any reading recs except for former T who mentioned the Harlow experiments once (didn't ask me to read but when I did read, got all pissy and refused to discuss it). Towards the end, she also mentioned R-DBT -- I checked it out, came back and told her how I found the manual to be 'patronizing, demeaning, condescending, infantilizing' and so on. She at first let it go and then got all huffy about how at the places she trained, it's a legit treatment for someone with borderline traits (but of course, per usual, she endlessly vacillated and would never give me a straight answer on whether she really thought that's my diagnosis or not).

So, maybe this is just me but the Ts I've dealt with have either gotten all weird about my reading or have just been dead silent and stared back at me -- I super much envy folks with Ts who actually discuss this stuff then (Crocus, your T sounds so awesome in taking your reading recs!).

A potential new T drilled into asking why I read psych lit when I briefly referred to it (she thought it was former T's sagacious influence which made me roll my eyes about the pedestals that Ts seem to place themselves and each other on). But, when I told her I just read it like I read on any other topic, she let it go and vaguely recommended some book (I forgot what it was -- I blocked it out of my memory as soon as I heard the subject) on 'somatic experiencing' (which apparently she was not trained in).

Another potential new T -- I was just about ready to switch to her (from former T) but then she mentioned 'Courage to Heal' as a legit resource to consult and based solely on that (considering she billed herself as a trauma expert, she seemed to be unaware of how thoroughly it'd been debunked), I didn't switch to her. I told former T about it (how I didn't switch because of the book) and she said I was "too picky" (and this is why my life sucks etc).

Current (new) T hasn't recommended anything but her bookshelf is rather solid -- the most 'pop' it seems is the inclusion of Daniel Siegel's Mindsight and one of Alice Miller's books. The rest are all heavy-duty psych tomes. I didn't want to be disappointed and so, at first, tried not to stare too much at the bookshelf in session -- so thankful then that at least she doesn't have any pablum out on display. She asked me about my adventures in T-interviewing-land and I told her about the other T I was about to switch to but didn't because of the 'Courage to Heal' rec -- she didn't say anything other than how it was totally okay for me to do that etc. (Nausea alert) I kinda wanted to give her a (mental) hug then.

Hit and miss.

Hit: The Anxiety & Phobia Handbook (middle chapters) was excellent. I worked through those chapters in great detail and found what I learned hugely helpful.

Miss: The Mindful Way Through Depression. He recommended this when he got into his mindfulness phase. I detest mindfulness and this book did not change my viewpoint. It is probably a good book for those that find mindfulness useful. I'm just not one of those people.

He and I have very similar tastes in pleasure reading material. Those were almost always hits both ways. We kind of had a two person book club going.

My former therapist only ever mentioned one book by Hyman Spotnitz that is sort of his Bible for his therapeutic orientation. I read it and was not impressed at all (similarly not impressed with his therapeutic style).

Current T and I talk about books often, mostly psychology and philosophy, sometimes some fiction. Too many came up to list but I tend to pay attention to the books he mentions because he and I have similar tastes and interests in many ways. Sometimes I forget them, other times take a note while in session and check them out later. We have both read a couple books the other mentioned and discussed them a bit in sessions. I now try to consciously limit the book discussions though because I think it could easily dominate the sessions and it's not what I pay him for.

In general though, I've learned much more about human nature from books, science and art than from therapy.

[ruh roh]

There was a long dry spell during which no books were recommended, but there have since been some. One is The Body Keeps the Score and the others are specific to something I'm struggling with and trying to manage and would rather not go into here, but they are very helpful and I can see now why they weren't recommended earlier.

[therapyishelping777]

He doesn't necessary "recommend" books.. but when he mentions them I always take note and get them, and they are always good. The last one was kind of clinical but really insightful.

[Unrigged64072835]

My T gave me an article by David Burns on perfectionism. He also gave me the name of a book by the same author but now I think it's out of print.

[therapyishelping777]

My very first T, told me about the Boundaries book by Cloud and Townsend, only good thing she did,, she was a horrible therapist, and I quickly left her, but the book was life changing.

[LonesomeTonight]

My T has recommended Don't Panic and How to Stop the Voices in your Head, which are both by the same author (I joked that it was actually her husband's pen name, since he's a retired psychologist), who I can't recall right now. Read the first one, helped a little, bought second but haven't read much of it.
She lent me the Dance of Anger, which is about women having trouble with anger. I think I still have that one somewhere, but haven't really read it.

Oh, and she gave me some printout on introverts, but it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know...I'd already read The Introvert Advantage, which I highly recommend! It helped me understand myself so much more. Even though I know now everyone is all about that more recent Quiet book.

Marriage counselor hasn't recommended anything. He co-wrote a book, but it's targeted for parents of teens--so maybe in 8 years I'll check that one out! Though honestly, I've been tempted to read it, partly to see if it's more in his voice or his co-author's (who also works at the same practice). Title definitely seems like he wrote it (but definitely not sharing that on here!)

[justdesserts]

T hasn't "recommended" books, so much as he has talked about books that have changed his life and I have read them on my own. I read much more than he does and have given him books as gifts on occasion.

My t has recommended

- Women who Run with the Wolves
- Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth
- Artemis: The Indomitable Spirit in Everywoman

The last 2 I borrowed from her and devoured initially and then bought my own copies. There have been others that I have read and can't remember the names of. These three were the best and most helpful (and I continue to refer back to them from time to time, especially WWRWTW, I keep a copy of that in my desk at work even.)

[ruh roh]

Originally Posted by LonesomeTonight

My T has recommended Don't Panic

I hope the book is more calming than the title. As soon as I read that line in your post, I felt instant PANIC.

[Bipolar Warrior]

My university therapist recommended "They F*** You Up" by Oliver James, which I enjoyed. She also told me to read George Orwell's "1984" (which I haven't done yet, though bought a copy ages ago) because I do a thing called "doublethink"? I don't understand how I have contradicting views about myself, but okay, then.

My private therapist once lent me a book on mindfulness which was all spiritual, written by a former Buddhist monk. I gave up after 30 pages, convinced that mindfulness was pretentious meditation. Then I was taught otherwise by Ruby Wax (who studied with Mark Williams at Oxford); mindfulness is simply a way to slow down through observation without criticism. It's a method of mental training. My therapist initially put me off something that's actually quite useful, lol. She has also recommended Yalom's "Love's Executioner" (mostly because of my relationship with my uni therapist) though I have yet to read that one. I've been meaning to read Yalom for ages now, so I will get around to it eventually.

[Bipolar Warrior]

Originally Posted by ruh roh

I hope the book is more calming than the title. As soon as I read that line in your post, I felt instant PANIC.

This is a phrase that has always amused me greatly. "Don't panic" = there is obviously reason to panic. F***ing run. Right now.

My ex recommended women who run with Wolves! I have to say I absolutely loved this book, she recommended the ugly duck story because she said it reminded her of me. At first I was highly offended but when I read it I was like wow, this t really gets me