There’s a lot of information out there. Some of it is right, some of it is sort of right, and some of it is not just wrong, but dangerous. This article explores what we have been seeing in our office with self-diagnosing and not just self-diagnosing, but identifying, and even more deliberately celebrating, with a diagnosis, as a “brand”.
Then there is this article that might be read by some as right and some as wrong. I can read it and relate, and that to me is a good article. My own venture into Instagram and TikTok with my recent themes (Borderline Personality Disorder, Trauma, and right now I am in the middle of a slew of Marital/Couples Therapy posts) aims to do this. People will disagree with my perspectives, and I am the first to say I am not the only resource for these topics, but hopefully some will relate and be able to nod along or think differently or even learn.
In 2022, I posted about books I have referred to and it is time to update my list for this year. This is what I wrote last time: Some of my clients who have known me for a long time smile when I open my office closet doors during a session, perhaps in anticipation of what I am going to show them. Quite often, I pull out a book that is verbatim in the discussion we just had, out loud, in my office.
The books don’t always teach, but they offer more information. The books can rarely fix, but they offer tools. The books may feel unhelpful and even that is telling. I have bought hundreds of books over the years, and I made a list of the ones I have pulled off the shelf just in (2023) for one reason or another.
In no particular order, the books are all listed below. The *** means it seems to be more often on my desk than on my bookshelf.
I learn most from you, so please send me a message if you also love one of these, or if there are any you reference you would have added that I did not.
Eating Disorders
Reference: Eating Disorders (Mehler and Anderson)
***Treating the Eating Disorder Self (Cohen)
The Radically Open DBT Workbook for Eating Disorders
Journal
Start Where You Are
***I am the Hero of My Own Life (West)
Self-Reflection/ Understanding YOU
Anger (Hanh)
Please Understand Me (Keirsey & Bates)
Gene Keys (Rudd)
***Come as You Are (Nagoski) & Burnout (Nagoski)
Self Love Poetry (Godfried)
***Letting Go (Hawkins)
***How to Not Kill Yourself (
No Bad Parts (Schwartz)
Marriage
Marriage Rules (Lerner)
Trauma
***The Body Keeps the Score (Van Der Polk)
***Repeat After Me (Black)
***Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma (Fisher)
Depression
***Feeling Good (Burns)
Parenting
Giving the Love that Heals (Hendricks and Hunt)
***Girls on the Brink (Nakazawa)
***No Drama Discipline (Siegel)
***How Do I Feel (Lipp and Phillips)
OCD/Anxiety
OCD in Children and Adolescents (March, Mulle)
***Stop Obsessing (Foa, Wilson)
(ALL *** in this category)Understanding YOU
The Drama of a Gifted Child (Miller)
Adult Children of Alcoholics (Wolitz)
Others
Disarming the Narcissist (Beharir)
DBT Skills Workbook (McKay, Wood)
