Attached

Authors: Amir Levine & Rachel Heller

Category: Attachment & Relationships.

Level: Beginner (Foundational concepts).

Themes: Simple, accessible introduction to attachment styles in dating and love.

Insecure in Love

Author: Leslie Becker-Phelps

Category: Attachment & Relationships.

Level: Beginner.

Themes: For anxious attachers, with CBT-style exercises to develop self-soothing.

Hold Me Tight

Author: Sue Johnson

Category: Attachment & Relationships.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Emotionally Focused Therapy, with practical conversations for couples to build security.

Wired for Love (2nd ed.)

Author: Stan Tatkin

Category: Attachment & Relationships.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Neuroscience-based strategies for creating secure-functioning partnerships.

Polysecure

Author: Jessica Fern

Category: Attachment & Relationships.

Level: Advanced.

Themes: Integrates attachment, trauma, and non-monogamy; best once you already know the basics of attachment.

Re-Regulated

Author: Anna Runkle

Category: CPTSD & Trauma Recovery.

Level: Beginner.

Themes: Straightforward tools for understanding dysregulation and C-PTSD recovery; community-friendly language.

What Happened to You?

Author: Bruce Perry & Oprah Winfrey

Category: CPTSD & Trauma Recovery.

Level: Beginner.

Themes: Conversational neuroscience of adversity; accessible and story-based.

Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving

Author: Pete Walker

Category: CPTSD & Trauma Recovery.

Level: Beginner → Intermediate.

Themes: Accessible language, compassionate roadmap for childhood trauma survivors.

The Complex PTSD Workbook

Author: Arielle Schwartz

Category: CPTSD & Trauma Recovery.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Practical workbook with somatic and mindfulness practices for stabilisation.

The Body Keeps the Score

Author: Bessel van der Kolk

Category: CPTSD & Trauma Recovery.

Level: Intermediate → Advanced.

Themes: Explains trauma’s impact on the brain/body; rich but dense, best not as a first book.

Trauma and Recovery

Author: Judith Herman

Category: CPTSD & Trauma Recovery.

Level: Advanced (theory-heavy).

Themes: Classic, rigorous text outlining trauma stages and socio-political context.

The Happiness Trap

Author: Dr Russ Harris

Category: CPTSD & Trauma Recovery.

Level: Beginner.

Themes: Introduction to ACT, values-based living, and unhooking from thoughts.

Don’t Believe Everything You Think

Author: Joseph Nguyen

Category: CPTSD & Trauma Recovery.

Level: Beginner.

Themes: Accessible mindfulness + CBT-style ideas for reframing thoughts.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook (2nd ed.)

Authors: McKay, Wood & Brantley

Category: CPTSD & Trauma Recovery.

Level: Beginner → Intermediate.

Themes: Highly practical DBT exercises to manage emotions and build resilience.

Mind Over Mood (2nd ed.)

Author: Greenberger & Padesky

Category: CPTSD & Trauma Recovery.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: CBT workbook, structured exercises for managing anxiety, depression, and anger.

The Mindful Way Through Depression

Authors: Williams, Teasdale, Segal & Kabat-Zinn

Category: CPTSD & Trauma Recovery.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Mindfulness-based CBT for breaking cycles of rumination.

Anchored

Author: Deb Dana

Category: Nervous System & Somatic Grounding.

Level: Beginner.

Themes: Polyvagal theory made practical; everyday tools for nervous-system safety.

Waking the Tiger

Author: Peter Levine

Category: Nervous System & Somatic Grounding.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Introduction to Somatic Experiencing; body-based trauma release.

Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness

Author: David Treleaven

Category: Nervous System & Somatic Grounding.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: How to practise mindfulness safely without retraumatisation.

Trauma and Memory

Author: Peter Levine

Category: Nervous System & Somatic Grounding.

Level: Intermediate → Advanced.

Themes: Explores how trauma shapes memory; clarifies the difference between ordinary and traumatic recall.

My Grandmother’s Hands

Author: Resmaa Menakem

Category: Nervous System & Somatic Grounding.

Level: Intermediate → Advanced.

Themes: Body-based healing for racialised/intergenerational trauma; deep social focus.

Daring Greatly

Author: Brené Brown

Category: Shame, Vulnerability & Self-Compassion.

Level: Beginner.

Themes: Vulnerability reframed as courage; shame resilience.

The Gifts of Imperfection

Author: Brené Brown

Category: Shame, Vulnerability & Self-Compassion.

Level: Beginner.

Themes: Core guideposts for authentic, whole-hearted living.

Self-Compassion

Author: Kristin Neff

Category: Shame, Vulnerability & Self-Compassion.

Level: Beginner → Intermediate.

Themes: Core evidence-based practices for cultivating self-kindness.

Atlas of the Heart

Author: Brené Brown

Category: Shame, Vulnerability & Self-Compassion.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Emotional vocabulary for greater connection and clarity.

The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook

Authors: Neff & Germer

Category: Shame, Vulnerability & Self-Compassion.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Structured programme for reducing self-criticism and strengthening compassion.

Set Boundaries, Find Peace

Authors: Nedra Glover Tawwab

Category: Boundaries & Codependency.

Level: Beginner.

Themes: Practical, modern scripts for everyday boundary-setting.

The Joy of Being Selfish

Authors: Michelle Elman

Category: Boundaries & Codependency.

Level: Beginner.

Themes: Accessible and unapologetic take on boundary-setting, guilt-free.

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents

Authors: Lindsay C. Gibson

Category: Boundaries & Codependency.

Level: Beginner → Intermediate.

Themes: Helps readers name childhood patterns and heal from emotional neglect.

It’s OK That You’re Not OK

Authors: Megan Devine

Category: Boundaries & Codependency.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Compassionate reframing of grief, with focus on boundaries and validation.

Introduction to Internal Family Systems

Authors: Richard Schwartz

Category: Parts Work & Inner Child (IFS).

Level: Beginner.

Themes: Clear overview of IFS concepts and practices, written as an accessible entry point for new readers.

No Bad Parts

Authors: Richard Schwartz

Category: Parts Work & Inner Child

Level: Beginner → Intermediate.

Themes: Introduction to Internal Family Systems (IFS), embracing protective and wounded parts.

You Are the One You’ve Been Waiting For

Authors: Richard Schwartz

Category: Parts Work & Inner Child (IFS).

Level: Beginner → Intermediate.

Themes: Applies IFS to relationships, teaching how to lead with the “Self” instead of protective parts.

Richard Schwartz Collection
3 Book Set

Author: Richard Schwartz

Category: Parts Work & Inner Child (IFS).

Getting Past Your Breakup

Author: Susan J. Elliott

Category: Break-up Recovery & Relational Healing.

Level: Beginner.

Themes: Structured no-contact and recovery roadmap post-breakup.

Getting Back Out There

Author: Susan J. Elliott

Category: Break-up Recovery & Rebuilding.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Practical guide to dating again after loss or heartbreak, with a focus on healthy boundaries and secure self-worth.

Whole Again

Author: Jackson MacKenzie

Category: Break-up Recovery & Healing.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Healing from toxic bonds, rebuilding secure sense of self.

The Journey from Abandonment to Healing

Author: Susan Anderson

Category: Break-up Recovery & Healing.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Step-based process for moving through abandonment grief.

The State of Affairs

Author: Esther Perel

Category: Infidelity & Relationship Dynamics.

Level: Intermediate.

Themes: Explores the psychology of affairs, self-justification, and compartmentalisation.

Why We Lie

Author: David Livingstone Smith

Category: Deception & Self-Justification.

Level: Intermediate → Advanced.

Themes: Examines the evolutionary and psychological roots of lying, self-deception, and moral rationalisation.