Books

The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living - Russ Harris

One of the biggest names in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Russ Harris challenges the assumptions many of us have about happiness and what it takes to be “happy.” He argues that happiness is not the natural state of human beings, and clinging to that idea can be our downfall. Since pain is inevitable in a person’s life, the real challenge is learning how to deal with it. The book takes you through the major ACT techniques, including how to manage intrusive thoughts, learning to “turn off the struggle switch",” and how to connect with yourself in the present moment. Written in accessible language with many practical application exercises sprinkled throughout.

The How of Happiness - Sonja Lyubomirsky

A psychological approach to happiness and how one can attain it. The book helps the reader understand what is or is not in their control, and how that affects their happiness levels. According to Dr. Lyubomirsky, a significant chunk of happiness (40%) does not come from good fortune, material objects, or personal circumstances, but rather how we choose to perceive and live our lives. She offers guidance on 12 strategies for cultivating happiness, which like most things in life, takes constant practice and work.

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find-and Keep-Love Amir Levine & Rachel Heller

Attachment Theory is a longstanding theory that focuses on how the relationship between a young child and their primary caregiver directly influences the type of person they become. Individuals who had neglectful, inconsistent, or absent primary caregivers might have difficulty forming trusting bonds later in life. This book explores the basic attachment types and how they relate specifically to patterns and behaviors in relationships. The authors encourage self-reflection for the reader to determine their own attachment style, how that might manifest in a relationship, and how to notice and break unhealthy patterns.

Drinking: A Love Story - Caroline Knapp

A memoir written by an Massachusetts journalist from an affluent family, Knapp details the situations, emotions, and thoughts that triggered her 20-year struggle with functional alcoholism. Knapp is brutally honest with her words, and the prose itself is equally simple, haunting, and heartbreaking. At different points in the memoir readers may find themselves cheering for Knapp, empathizing with her, and then feeling immensely frustrated with the denial that colored her decades of active use. A must read for anyone interested in addiction struggles, whether for personal reasons, professional development, or simple curiosity.

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness - Kay Redfield Jamison

Dr. Jamison is clinical psychologist, a professor of psychiatry, and one of many people in this world diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. She has made the mood disorder a focus of both her professional and personal life as she dealt with the often unpredictable nature of the disease. She unflinchingly describes the seductive pull of energy and creativity driven by a manic phase, which is then followed by the devastating plunge into absolute despair. The readers bear witness to the fallout these intense highs and lows have on the professional, personal, and romantic parts of her life. We follow her journey to find efficient treatment options, some described as “life-saving,” others being almost fatally ineffective. Overall Dr. Jamison does a wonderful job in humanizing the mood disorder; she is not Bipolar, she is a woman diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

The Dance of Anger: A Woman’s Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationship - Harriet Lerner, PhD

For whatever reason, anger gets a bad rap in our society. The truth is that anger is just as natural and important as happiness, we just don’t deal with it properly. Women especially have been taught to ignore, silence, or deny their anger. Dr. Lerner uses this book to help women challenge their current relationship with anger, teaching them to use it as a tool instead of something to be avoided. Anger is one of our body’s ways to alert us that something is amiss, and it can, if used properly, lead genuine and lasting change.

Rewire Your Anxious Brain: How to use the neuroscience of fear to end anxiety, panic & worry - Catherine M. Pittman, PhD & Elizabeth M. Karle, MLIS

Recent research is giving us the chance to more fully understand the neuroscience behind anxiety, meaning we can develop more effective ways to treat it. It explains the different pathways in the brain that can trigger anxiety (such as through the cortex or the amygdala), and how each pathway requires a different intervention. For years I secretly dismissed deep breathing as an effective intervention, but this book goes into the science of why that practice, along with mindfulness, are actually tremendously powerful.

Podcasts

The Virtual Couch - Tony Overbay, LMFT

An informative podcast directed at anyone who is trying to manage life’s difficulties , including anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and relationship troubles. Tony Overbay is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and his podcast feels more like a private session. Tony is a great proponent of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, teaching people how to acknowledge and manage unpleasant thoughts instead of running away from them. Succeeding in this allows one to live a complete and fulfilling life.

Crisis Resources

24/7 National Suicide Prevention Line: 1-800-273-8255 

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Spanish) 888-628-9454.

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Options for Deaf and Hard of Hearing) 800-799-488   

Crisis Text Line. Text HELLO to 741741                                       

Trevor Project - For LGBTQ+ youth and allies

• 24/7 Lifeline: 1-888-488-7386

• 24/7 TrevorText: Text START to 678-678

24/7 National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-4673