Awe, by Dacher Keltner

• The science behind, and the benefits of, the feeling of Wonder

Between The World And Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

• “The struggle to understand is our only advantage over this madness.” p. 106

Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson

• Sometimes a single word can recontextualize something familiar in a powerfully useful way

The Discovery Of Being, by Rollo May

• Therapy fails when it reduces people to mechanisms and techniques

F**K Death, by Steve Case

• “An Honest Guide to Getting Through Grief…”

The Heart of Couple Therapy, by Ellen F. Wachtel

• Highlight what's already working between them, see one’s own part in a cycle, and build on strengths

The Heart of Trauma, by Bonnie Badenoch

• Designed to be read together, with structured discussions

How Emotions Are Made, by Lisa Feldman Barrett

• Emotions aren't hardwired reactions triggered in the brain but are constructed in the moment

How to Know A Person, by David Brooks

• Deeply seeing and understanding others is a learnable skill built through curiosity, attentive listening, and generous questions, and practicing it is essential to healing a lonely, fractured society

I Don’t Want to Talk About It, by Terrence Real

• Many men carry a hidden, "covert" depression and that healing requires reconnecting with the emotions and relationships they were taught to abandon as boys

I Heard There Was A Secret Chord, by Daniel Levitin

• Brain science to show how music can help with conditions like pain, depression, Parkinson's, and memory loss

Incognito: The Secret Lives Of The Brain, by David Eagleman

• A deep look at what goes on in the brain and it’s impact on what we call Free Will

The Johns Hopkins Guide to Psychological First Aid, by George S. Everly & Jeffrey M. Lating

• A step-by-step method to stabilize and support those in acute crisis after disasters and trauma

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach

• A parable about transcending limits, following one's inner calling, and returning to teach others that freedom is their true nature

The Joyous Cosmology, by Alan Watts

• He puts psychoactive substances and philosophy together resulting in fresh insight into perennial questions about existence and the sacred

Love Sense, by Dr. Sue Johnson

• Shows how understanding that romantic love is not random or irrational but an attachment bond helps couples build and repair lasting relationships

Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl

• "…the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any set of circumstances, to choose one's own way” p. 66

The Mud People, by Laney Mackenna Mark

• A simple fable about recovery and the courage to want something different than the world you came from

Music and Mind, by Renée Fleming

• Essays from neuroscientists, musicians, writers, and creative arts therapists show how music and the arts can support health and healing

The Paradox of Power and Weakness, by George Kunz

• Qualities like humility, simplicity, and patience become the ground of genuine community

Psychedelic Healing, by Neal Goldsmith, Ph.D.

• Psychedelics heal not through chemistry alone but by catalyzing peak or spiritual experiences, and that careful attention to set, setting, and ritual can make them valuable tools for psychotherapy and personal growth

The Secret Chief Revealed, by Myron J. Stolaroff

• Leo Zeff kept doing underground psychedelic and MDMA-assisted therapy after these substances were outlawed, this preserves his methods alongside reflections from his children and former clients, making it a key record of the hidden history of psychedelic therapy.

The Tools, by Phil Stutz & Barry Michels

• Five simple, practical exercises designed to help people stop waiting for insight and instead take immediate action to move through pain, fear, and avoidance

Why Does The World Exist?, by Jim Holt

• Lively, and personal, conversations with philosophers, physicists, theologians, and writers exploring the question that became the title.