Sometimes it can be difficult to make sense of what is happening in your life,especially if you don’t have any other experience to compare it to. Bibliotherapy aims to bridge this gap by using literature to help you understand what may be going on, to normalise what is happening and give words to what might feel impossible to express.
Bibliotherapy (also referred to as "book therapy" poetry therapy or therapeutic storytelling) involves storytelling, reading or the recommending of specific texts with the purpose of healing. Below are books that I have read (in no particular order!) that I would be happy to recommend.
FINDING YOUR WAY BACK TO YOURSELF
Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl
Poetry by David Whyte
I am Here, Stories from a Cancer Ward – Johannes Klabbers
When the Heart Waits, Sue Monk Kidd
Dibs, In Search of Self, Virginia Axline
TRAUMA
The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel Van Der Kolk
SHAME
The Gifts of Imperfection, Brene Brown
FROM VICITIM TO SURVIVOR
The choice, Edith Eger
Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl
INVITING SIMPLICITY INTO LIFE
The Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet, E.H. Shepard
DEPRESSION
Reasons to Stay Alive, Matt Haig
MINDFULNESS
Sane New World, Ruby Wax
POETRY FOR LIFE SITUATIONS
The Emergency Poet, Deborah Alma
The Poetry Pharmacy, William Sieghart
EXPLORING SPIRITUALITY
Truly Awake & Truly Alive, Rev. Jane E. Vennard
When the Heart Waits, Sue Monk Kidd
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, Sue Monk Kidd
Anam Cara, Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World John O’Donohue
To Bless The Space Between Us, John O’Donohue
Why I left, Why I Stayed, Tony Campolo & Bart Campolo
Beyond Religion, David. N. Elkins
The Power of Modern Spirituality, William Bloom
Undivided, Vicky Beeching (Coming out as gay within the religious community)
Mary Oliver, New & Selected Poems
CONNECTING WITH NATURE
Holloway, Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood & Dan Richards
New & Selected Poems, Mary Oliver
POETRY WHICH INVITES YOU TO MEET WITH YOUR REAL SELF
The House of Belonging David Whyte
Everything is Waiting for you, David Whyte
Pilgrim, David Whyte
POETRY FOR ILLNESS, AGE & BEREAVEMENT
The Poetry Cure, edited by Julia Darling & Cynthia Fuller
EXPLORING DEATH
Being Mortal, Atul Gwande
Until Further Notice, I am Alive, Tom Lubbock
When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
The Unwinding of the Miracle, Julie Yip-Williams
With The End in Mind, Kathryn Mannix
The Death of Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy
Creatures of a Day, Irvin Yalom
I am Here, Stories from a Cancer Ward – Johannes Klabbers
BEREAVEMENT
The Wild Edge of Sorrow, Francis Weller
LEARNING TO PAUSE, CREATIVITY
The Unwinding, Jackie Morris
The Quiet Music of Falling Snow, Jackie Morris
The Book of Symbols
Consolations, (or any poetry!) David Whyte
PARENTING
Sibling Rivalry, Sibling Love, Eileen Hayes
The Highly Sensitive Child, Elaine N. Aron
LISTENING
Feeling Heard, Hearing Others, Rob Foxcroft
BOOKS WHICH DEMYSTIFY THERAPY
Momma & The Meaning of Life, Irvin Yalom
Love’s Executioner, Irvin Yalom
Tales of Unknowing, Ernesto Spinelli
This Too Shall Pass, Julia Samuel
Confessions of a Trauma Therapist, Mary K. Armstrong
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, Lori Gottileb
SEX
Relate, Sex in Loving Relationships
Mating in Captivity, Esther Perel
Sex without Stress, Jessa Zimmerman
FOCUSING
Focusing, Eugene Gendlin
The Radical Acceptance of Everything, Ann Weiser Cornell
SELF ESTEEM & THE INNER CRITIC
The Dog Story, from The Radical Acceptance of Everything, Ann Weiser Cornell
Radical Acceptance, Tara Brach
Counselling for Toads, Robert De Board
NEURODIVERSITY
The Highly Sensitive Child, Elaine N. Aron
Aspergirls – Empowering Female, Rudy Simone