Literature can be incredibly healing, validating, and informative. Here is a collected list of books I recommend for healing, self-exploration, and growth.
Highly Sensitive People & Empaths
- The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine Aron
- Brain Training for the Highly Sensitive Person by Julie Bjelland
- Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn’t Designed for You by Jenara Nereberg
- Highly Sensitive People in an Insensitive World: How to Create a Happy Life by Ilse Sand
- The Empowered Highly Sensitive Person: How To Harness Your Sensitivity In A Chaotic World by Julie Bjelland
- The Highly Sensitive Person in Love: Understanding and Managing Relationships When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine Aron
- Thrill: The High Sensation Seeking Highly Sensitive Person by Tracy M. Cooper
- The Power of Sensitivity by Ted Zeff
- The Empath’s Survival Guide by Dr. Judith Orloff (see my book review here.)
Highly Sensitive Children & Teens
- The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When The World Overwhelms Them by Elaine Aron
- Understanding the Highly Sensitive Child: Seeing an Overwhelming World through Their Eyes by James Williams
- Supporting the Highly Sensitive Child: Making Sense of Meltdowns by James Williams
- The Strong, Sensitive Boy by Ted Zeff
- Diary of a Teenage Empath by Jeannette Folan
-
The Grown-Up’s Guide to Teenage Humans: How to Decode Their Behavior, Develop Unshakable Trust, and Raise a Respectable Adult by Josh Shipp
Introverts
- The Introvert Advantage: How Quiet People Can Thrive in an Extrovert World by Marti Olsen Laney
- Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverted Kids by Susan Cain
-
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
-
Book by Susan Cain
- Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbie Tung (see my book review here.)
Soul Work
- Your Fearless Soul by Christin Myrick (Colorado Author)
- Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore
- Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
PTSD & Trauma Recovery
- Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving: A Guide and Map for Recovering from Childhood Trauma by Pete Walker
- Trauma Recovery Handbook for Survivors by Rachel Walker
- Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence–From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror by Judith L. Herman
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van de Kolk
- The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook by Martha Davis
LGBTQ Trauma & Resilience
- Queering Sexual Violence: Radical Voices from Within the Anti-Violence Movement edited by Jennifer Patterson
- Transgender Sexual Violence Survivors: A Self Help Guide to Healing and Understanding by FORGE (e-book)
- The Queer and Transgender Resilience Workbook by Anneliese Singh