Mental health is a topic that is often overlooked, especially among high-achieving women. However, it is important to address mental health issues head-on in order to overcome anxiety, sadness & stress, and improve our overall well-being.
If you are looking for mental health books, apps, or resources, then look no further!
In this blog post, I will discuss the top mental health books that I recommend, as well as some great mental health apps and resources. I hope that this information will help you on your journey to better mental health!
12 Mental Health Books a Therapist Recommends
Untamed
by Glennon Doyle
This book includes messaging on getting back to yourself and standing in your own power.
Amazon Description: “Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both an intimate memoir and a galvanizing wake-up call. It is the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them how to fully live.
It is the story of navigating divorce, forming a new blended family, and discovering that the brokenness or wholeness of a family depends not on its structure but on each member’s ability to bring her full self to the table. And it is the story of how each of us can begin to trust ourselves enough to set boundaries, make peace with our bodies, honor our anger and heartbreak, and unleash our truest, wildest instincts so that we become women who can finally look at ourselves and say: There She Is.”
No Bad Parts
by Richard Schwartz Ph.D.
No Bad Parts is helpful for learning more about your internal system and increasing a sense of compassion.
Amazon Description: “Is there just one “you”? We’ve been taught to believe we have a single identity, and to feel fear or shame when we can’t control the inner voices that don’t match the ideal of who we think we should be.
Yet Dr. Richard Schwartz’s research now challenges this “mono-mind” theory. “All of us are born with many sub-minds―or parts,” says Dr. Schwartz. “These parts are not imaginary or symbolic. They are individuals who exist as an internal family within us―and the key to health and happiness is to honor, understand, and love every part.”
Dr. Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) model has been transforming psychology for decades. With No Bad Parts, you’ll learn why IFS has been so effective in areas such as trauma recovery, addiction therapy, and depression treatment―and how this new understanding of consciousness has the potential to radically change our lives.”
Big Magic
by Elizabeth Gilbert
In Big Magic, you’ll gain insights that are helpful in increasing a sense of curiosity and creativity in your life.
Amazon Description: “Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.”
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
by Pema Chödrön
Experience mindfulness and learning to be more present without trying to change things.
Amazon Description: “How can we live our lives when everything seems to fall apart—when we are continually overcome by fear, anxiety, and pain? The answer, Pema Chödrön suggests, might be just the opposite of what you expect.
Here, in her most beloved and acclaimed work, Pema shows that moving toward painful situations and becoming intimate with them can open up our hearts in ways we never before imagined. Drawing from traditional Buddhist wisdom, she offers life-changing tools for transforming suffering and negative patterns into habitual ease and boundless joy.”
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path
by Jack Kornfield
Amazon Description: “Drawing on the experiences and insights of leaders and practitioners within the Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Sufi traditions, this book offers a uniquely intimate and honest understanding of how the modern spiritual journey unfolds—and how we can prepare our hearts for awakening.
Through moving personal stories and traditional tales, we learn how the enlightened heart navigates the real world of family relationships, emotional pain, earning a living, sickness, loss, and death.”
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents
by Lindsay C. Gibson
In Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, you’ll gain a better understanding of family dynamics and placing appropriate responsibility on caregivers for childhood experiences.
Amazon Description: “In this breakthrough book, clinical psychologist Lindsay Gibson exposes the destructive nature of parents who are emotionally immature or unavailable. You will see how these parents create a sense of neglect, and discover ways to heal from the pain and confusion caused by your childhood.
By freeing yourself from your parents’ emotional immaturity, you can recover your true nature, control how you react to them, and avoid disappointment. Finally, you’ll learn how to create positive, new relationships so you can build a better life.”
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
by Brené Brown
Amazon Description: “Daring Greatly is not about winning or losing. It’s about courage. In a world where “never enough” dominates and feeling afraid has become second nature, vulnerability is subversive.
Uncomfortable. It’s even a little dangerous at times. And, without question, putting ourselves out there means there’s a far greater risk of getting criticized or feeling hurt.
But when we step back and examine our lives, we will find that nothing is as uncomfortable, dangerous, and hurtful as standing on the outside of our lives looking in and wondering what it would be like if we had the courage to step into the arena—whether it’s a new relationship, an important meeting, the creative process, or a difficult family conversation. Daring Greatly is a practice and a powerful new vision for letting ourselves be seen.”
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know
by Adam Grant
Amazon Description: “Organizational psychologist Adam Grant is an expert on opening other people’s minds–and our own. As Wharton’s top-rated professor and the bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take, he makes it one of his guiding principles to argue like he’s right but listen like he’s wrong.
With bold ideas and rigorous evidence, he investigates how we can embrace the joy of being wrong, bring nuance to charged conversations, and build schools, workplaces, and communities of lifelong learners. You’ll learn how an international debate champion wins arguments, a Black musician persuades white supremacists to abandon hate, a vaccine whisperer convinces concerned parents to immunize their children, and Adam has coaxed Yankees fans to root for the Red Sox.
Think Again reveals that we don’t have to believe everything we think or internalize everything we feel. It’s an invitation to let go of views that are no longer serving us well and prize mental flexibility over foolish consistency. If knowledge is power, knowing what we don’t know is wisdom.”
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
by Yvon Chouinard
This is somewhat of a business book, but it includes discussions on sustainability in life and work.
Amazon Description: “From his youth as the son of a French Canadian handyman to the thrilling, ambitious climbing expeditions that inspired his innovative designs for the sport’s equipment, Let My People Go Surfing is the story of a man who brought doing good and having grand adventures into the heart of his business life-a book that will deeply affect entrepreneurs and outdoor enthusiasts alike.”
The Man on the Mountaintop
by Susan Trott
Amazon Description: “The Man on the Mountaintop tells the story of Holy Man Joe, an ageing and unassuming man who lives in a hermitage on top of a mountain. During the summer months, thousands of hopefuls line the single-file path leading to his door, seeking his wisdom.
From bombastic, wealthy nobles intent on cheating their way to the top to drunkards who gradually build the physical and mental strength they need to quit their addiction, The Man on the Mountaintop is a rousing tale full of humour, wit and life lessons.”
4 Mental Health Apps a Therapist Recommends
Spirit Junkie Card Deck App
by Gabrielle Bernstein
Apple App Store Description: “52 energetically charged cards featuring beautiful watercolor illustrations and empowering messages to provide divine guidance, inspiration, and support as you strengthen your spiritual connection.
These cards will guide and uplift you on your journey to living an inspired life. Let them support you as you release old fears and patterns, step into your power, and choose love. Each message brings you back to the truth: that you can find grace in every challenge, that miracles are available to you in every moment, and that you already have within you everything you need to shine.”
MyFLO App
by Alisa Vitti
Website Description: “Hormones can be complicated. Taking care of them should be easy. Research proves that you can dramatically improve and correct your hormonal symptoms through nutrient therapy and dietary changes.
This app has helped thousands of women around the world address their PMS, Missing or Irregular periods, PCOS, Heavy bleeding, Endometriosis, Fibroids, Infertility, and Perimenopause naturally and effectively.”
Calm
Description: Calm is an app designed to help you tackle struggles with sleep, meditation, movement, and focused studying. They also have free journals and exercises to assist in your daily mindfulness practice.
“Calm creates unique audio content that strengthens mental fitness and tackles some of the biggest mental health challenges of today: stress, anxiety, insomnia, and depression. The most popular feature on Calm is a 10-minute meditation called, ‘The Daily Calm,’ that explores a fresh mindful theme and inspiring concept each day. Calm also contains 250+ Sleep Stories (bed-time stories for all ages), plus sleep music, meditation lessons, nature sounds, Calm Masterclasses delivered by world experts, and more.”
Headspace
Description: Headspace says they have one mission: to improve the health and happiness in the world. Like Calm, Headspace offers meditation and mindfulness tools to help you lower your daily stress and anxiety, while creating habits to move you forward on the path to mental wellness.
“Through science-backed meditation and mindfulness tools, Headspace helps you create life-changing habits to support your mental health and find a healthier, happier you.”
5 Mental Health Resources a Therapist Recommends
YouTube
Description: YouTube is a great free resource if you’re needing additional support for your mental health. A quick search for “morning meditation”, “guided meditation”, or even “5-minute meditation” will give you access to thousands of videos to get you started with a daily meditation practice.
TED Talk: The Power of Vulnerability
by Brené Brown
This TED Talk by Brené Brown is a great starting point for increasing awareness of why vulnerability is difficult and very powerful in relationships.
Description: “Brené Brown studies human connection — our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk at TEDxHouston, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity. A talk to share.”
We Can Do Hard Things Podcast
by Glennon Doyle
Apple Podcast Description: “Life is freaking hard. We are all doing hard things every day – we love and lose; we forge and end friendships; battle addiction, illness, and loneliness; care for children and parents; struggle in our jobs, our marriages, our divorces; we try to set and hold boundaries – and we fight for equality, purpose, joy, and peace right in the midst of all the hard.
On We Can Do Hard Things, Glennon Doyle, her wife Abby Wambach, and her sister Amanda Doyle, do the only thing that has ever made life easier: talk honestly about the hard. They laugh and cry and help each other carry the hard so we can all live a little bit lighter and braver, free-er, less alone.”
This Is Water
Original Audio by David Foster Wallace
Description: This is David Foster Wallace’s original 2005 commencement speech set to soothing music and a beautiful nature backdrop. It’s helpful to coming back to the moment and giving you the power of perspective
You can find the audio of the original speech given to the graduating class at Kenyon College and the full transcript here.
Meetup
Meetup.com is a great resource to get involved in community in a structured contain way to build healthy connections.
Description: “Whatever you’re looking to do this year, Meetup can help. For 20 years, people have turned to Meetup to meet people, make friends, find support, grow a business, and explore their interests. Thousands of events are happening every day—join the fun.”
