Top 6 Books Therapists Recommend to Clients: From Self-Help to Graphic Novels

There are so many ways clients can engage in healing work between sessions—and reading great books is one of them. We asked several therapists what book they most recommend to clients, and here’s what they said.

The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde

In this book, a black, lesbian feminist, who’s also a mother and activist, grapples with a breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and convalescence in the 1980s. It offers divine, existential insights that will resonate with clients facing all kinds of hardship today. Bursting with the kind of wisdom drawn from urgent circumstances, her journals explore political, historical, and sociocultural aspects of breast cancer survival, alongside her personal experience. The book is a roadmap to viewing suffering as an affirmation of existence. As Lorde says, “I work with the consciousness of death at my shoulder, not constantly, but often enough to leave a mark upon all of my life’s decisions and actions.”

Wayne Scott, LCSW,
Portland, Oregon

Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel

Described as a “comic drama,” this book encourages us to reflect on our relationship with our caregivers. It also conjures the multilayered experience one often has in therapy, when the present meets the past in a way that emboldens you to move toward the future. There are even a few literal—and delightful—cartoon therapy scenes woven in, and an exploration of Winnicott’s concept of “hate in the countertransference” that may be the best elucidation of his work I’ve ever seen. Ultimately, with the help of Winnicott and her therapist, Bechdel accepts that though her mother loved her very much, she was also limited (as we all are), and had moments (as we all do with people we love) in which she struggled to give the care and attention Bechdel needed. But to experience through Bechdel’s eyes the deeply loving connections we can find with people when we accept them and ourselves as we are, is nothing short of a revelation.

Mark O’Connell, LCSW-R, MFA
New York, NY

10 Foundations for a Meaningful Life (No Matter What Happened) by Pam Cordano

In this under-the-radar gem, a therapist who was born to a mentally ill 18-year-old, adopted by unloving parents, and unsure she wanted to be alive for the first 45 years of her life manages to emerge in midlife as a playful, vulnerable, and wise woman who’s deeply attuned to what makes life worth living. An homage to Victor Frankl, whose writing was a life-saving influence, Cordano shares her hard-won wisdom through a mix of memoir, core ideas, questions for reflection, and “actions to immediately increase your life force.” Drawn from her work with cancer patients, widows, and adoptees, Cordano’s writing is funny and compassionate, and challenges readers to choose bravely between what she calls “healthy suffering vs. misguided suffering,” “creativity vs. holding back,” and “unconditional love vs. against-ness.”

Ethan Seidman, PhD
Cambridge, MA

Keys to Unlocking Depression by Michael D. Yapko

Young people—and particularly those that are struggling—can be both rigid in their beliefs and fed up with therapeutic pablums; so when you suggest a book, it better be digestible and intriguing enough to pull them in. Yapko’s book is exactly that. “Your feelings can deceive you” and “Dare to be superficial” are just two examples of nuanced concepts he accompanies with clear explanations and concrete actions for readers to try. In sessions, I hand teens a copy of the book and have them mark it up, putting stickies on the most compelling pages. The conversations that follow are amazing. Getting an anxious and depressed teen curious is a victory—the opposite of what their disorder demands—and this book makes it possible. Works with adults, too!

Lynn Lyons, LICSW
Concord, NH

Come Together by Emily Nagoski

My current favorite book for women and their partners experiencing low sexual desire, Nagoski’s most recent work is grounded in the latest sexuality research. It also identifies—in a wry, friendly, conversational tone—common barriers to intimacy and the powerful impact of cultivating a pleasure-focused mindset. Her practical, actionable strategies can even provide conversational starting points for sessions, where clients dig into what it will take to prioritize and create their own conditions for responsive desire.

Megan Fleming, PhD
New York, NY

Barakah Beats by Maleeha Siddiqui

Sometimes, when I’m working with a parent who wants to build a connection with their older elementary school-aged child or young teen, I recommend they read a book together. Barakah Beats touches on the diversity of faith practices as a young Muslim woman decides which interpretation of Islam she’ll follow, and how to remain in connection with others who choose differently than she does. It’s a dynamic canvas for families parenting through puberty as minorities who also often feel marginalized and stigmatized.

Fatima Mirza, PhD, LCSW
McLean, VA