RESOURCES
Listed below are books that have influenced my development as a therapist and as an individual on a journey of self-discovery. This is not an exhaustive list, but represents some titles that stand out for me. They may hold an interest for others, in which to find their own meaning.
Bowlby, John (1969)
Attachment
London: Tavistock
Comment: Ground-breaking text on how humans form – and break – attachments to significant others from the earliest stages of life.
DeYoung, Patricia A. (2003)
Relational Psychotherapy: A Primer
New York: Brunner-Routledge
Comment: DeYoung provides a comprehensive and thoughtful overview of relational psychotherapy, which focuses on self-with-other experiences and the relational patterns that we employ as a result of these experiences. Through reflecting on self psychology, intersubjectivity and feminist therapeutic approaches (among others), DeYoung paints a clear picture of how the empathic being-there of the therapist helps to heal the client.
Frankl, Viktor (1997 reprint)
Man’s Search for Meaning
New York: Simon & Schuster
Comment: A gripping and soul-searching account of Frankl’s survival in Auschwitz concentration camp, laying the ground for his approach to psychotherapy, “logotherapy”. The focus here is on how personal meaning and purpose allows human beings to endure even the most oppressive and traumatic circumstances.
Hendrix, Harville (1988)
Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples
New York: Henry Holt & Co.
Comment: Hendrix introduces us to his Imago approach to understanding how individuals relate to one another in intimate unions. The book addresses what is both conscious and unconscious within relationships and how the search for partnership is also an attempt at healing old wounds and resolving unfinished business. This book is a fascinating read – complete with exercises for couples – for anyone who questions what happens to their individuality in the context of a romantic relationship.
Hoffman, Eva (1991)
Lost in Translation
London: Minerva
Comment: Hoffman describes, in vivid detail, her isolation, disconnection and ultimate flourishing in the experience of being a “stranger in a strange land”. From the cultural passage of her native Poland to Canada and the U.S., her story is a deeply personal one of alienation and transition.
Holmes, Jeremy (1993)
John Bowlby & Attachment Theory
London: Routlege
Comment: Provides a thorough and comprehensive look at the influential psychiatrist and his pioneering theories on attachment.
Jordan, J., Kaplan, A., Baker-Miller, J., Stiver, I., Surry, J. (1991)
Women's Growth in Connection: Writings from the Stone Center
New York: Guilford
Comment: A collection of writings focusing on the experience of women and the meaning of relational connection in their lives. The Stone Center writings, however, go beyond just an understanding of women's emotional experience to explore the roles that both empathic connectedness and unique individuality play in being human and in healing the wounded self.
Kahn, Michael (1991)
Between Therapist and Client
New York: W.H. Freeman
Comment: A comprehensive look at the work of Heinz Kohut and the application of “self psychology” theory to the practice of a client-centred psychotherapy.
Lewis-Herman, Judith (1992)
Trauma and Recovery
New York: Harper-Collins
Comment: This text takes the reader through the horribly difficult and complex world of the trauma sufferer. Lewis-Herman offers a hopeful view of how trauma and post-traumatic stress can be effectively worked with in empathic psychotherapy.
Nietzsche, Friedrich (1996 reprint)
Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Comment: This collection showcases Nietzsche’s most accessible and profound writings on culture, society, relationships and the meaning of existence – all in short and digestible passages.
Parkes, Colin Murray (1986 – 2nd Edition)
Bereavement: Studies of Grief in Adult Life
London: Tavistock
Comment: A seminal text on how people grieve and the roots of bereavement; includes ground-breaking research carried out in the late 1960s when this topic was still relatively unexplored in a humanistic way.
Parkes, C.M., Pittu, L., Young, B. (eds) (1997)
Death and Bereavement Across Cultures
London: Routledge
Comment: This book is a must-read for anyone interested in death and grieving rituals in different cultures – especially for those doing grief work in multi-cultural communities. It elucidates many mysterious rituals in a comprehensive and inclusive fashion.
Sartre, Jean-Paul (1965; originally published in 1938 as La nausée)
Nausea
London: Penguin
Comment: The diary of a man who comes to despair the meaninglessness of his existence, while actively questioning the value of society and human emotions. An often dark but fascinating read, sure to resonate with anyone concerned with the banality of modern culture and their own sense of meaning.
Van Deurzen, Emmy (1997)
Everyday Mysteries: Existential Dimensions of Psychotherapy
London: Routledge
Comment: Van Deurzen provides an overview of philosophical thinkers who have contributed to the development of an existential position of human experience. She expands on these concepts and weaves them into an active and relevant approach, not only to psychotherapy, but to relationships with self and others.
Van Deurzen, Emmy (1998)
Paradox and Passion in Psychotherapy
London: Wiley
Comment: Van Deurzen continues to deepen her development of existential psychotherapy, celebrating the complexities and conflicts of being human and being-in-the-world. Her fresh approach is a direct challenge to traditional modes of therapy and advocates for a creative approach to being in relationship with others.
Yalom, Irvin D. (1981)
Existential Psychotherapy
New York: Basic
Comment: Yalom’s text was ground-breaking in the North American approach to merging psychotherapy with existential philosophy in a lucid way. The book is based on Yalom’s assertion that our four main human concerns are: freedom, meaning (and meaninglessness), isolation and death.
Yalom, Irvin D. (1992)
When Nietzsche Wept
New York: Harper-Collins
Comment: Yalom’s novel is a story of some very familiar characters forming an alliance and an exchange of services between the greatest of minds in an attempt to heal the deeply damaged human soul. The quest for authenticity describes a process that many of us are painfully familiar with.