Book shelves · Emotional Truth Diaries

30 books on psychology

How the mind works, why we love the way we do, and what childhood leaves behind. Clear books by psychologists and thinkers, not self-help slogans.

30 books 3 shelves mind · love · healing

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How to use it

Books are not therapy. If something here hurts, it’s a good reason to talk to a specialist.

Thinking, deciding, dreaming.

1
Two systems of thinking, and the mistakes our brain makes without us noticing.
2
Six principles that make us say yes, and how to spot them.
3
The state of complete absorption, and why it makes us happy.
4
Why introverts are a strength in a world that never stops talking.
5
How stress affects the body, and why people get ill from it when zebras don’t.
6
Why we’re so bad at predicting what will make us happy.
7
Why people behave as they do, from envy to self-sabotage.
8
The hidden “games” we play in relationships without realising it.
9
Jung’s accessible introduction to dreams, symbols and the unconscious.
10
Freud’s founding work: dreams as a road to hidden wishes.

Why we choose who we choose.

11
Love as a skill you learn, not a feeling that simply happens.
12
Why you can love each other and still both feel unloved.
13
How to keep desire alive in a long relationship.
14
Why we’re drawn to partners who hurt us, and how to break the cycle.
15
An expert on abusive men explains how control works, and why it isn’t your fault.
16
A way of speaking that replaces blame with needs.
17
How to use anger to change relationships, not destroy them.
18
A popular classic about how differently partners can express what they need.
19
A psychiatrist on discipline, love and growth. It opens with “Life is difficult.”
20
A therapist writes about her patients, and about going to therapy herself.

What we carry, and how to put it down.

21
How to recognise the wounds of a painful childhood and stop repeating them.
22
If you felt alone next to your parents as a child, this book explains why.
23
How children learn to meet their parents’ needs and lose touch with their own feelings.
24
For daughters of cold or controlling mothers: to understand and to heal.
25
A doctor on the link between hidden stress and illness.
26
Why so many people are unwell in modern life, and what trauma has to do with it.
27
A journalist looks for the real causes of depression and anxiety.
28
How not to get stuck in difficult thoughts and feelings.
29
A classic of cognitive therapy: how thoughts shape mood.
30
Letting go of who you think you should be, and embracing who you are.