Worth reading
Books I return to
Not a syllabus. Just things that have shaped how I think about people, relationships, and what it means to do this work.
The Road Less Travelled
Love as active effort. Discipline as self-care. One of the most honest things written about what growth actually costs. Starts with three words that earn every page: “Life is difficult.”
Relationships · Philosophy
All About Love
A serious, unromantic examination of what love actually is — not the feeling, but the practice. Particularly useful for anyone who grew up in a home where love and harm lived in the same room.
Love · Honesty
The Body Keeps the Score
How trauma lives in the body, not just the mind. Dense in places but worth it. Note: some of the neuroscience has been contested — worth reading critically, as with anything.
Trauma · Somatics
Scattered Minds
A reframe of ADHD as a response to environment, written by someone who has it. One of the most compassionate books about neurodivergence available.
ADHD · Neurodiversity
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
Quiet, precise, and often devastating in the best way. Helps people name experiences they’ve been carrying without language for years.
Family · Self-understanding
Polysecure
Attachment theory applied to non-monogamous relationships. Useful whether or not you’re in an ethically non-monogamous relationship — the attachment framework applies everywhere.
Relationships · Attachment
Mating in Captivity
Esther Perel nails the thing most couple's therapists tiptoe around: that the qualities that make you feel safe and bonded are often the exact ones that kill desire. Mating in Captivity doesn't pretend you can have intensity and domesticity without tension — instead it maps that tension honestly and gives you something to work with. She's not selling you a fix; she's handing you the blueprint and saying "now what are you going to do with this?" That's why it works.
Relationships · Intimacy
Mind Over Mood
Mind Over Mood does what most CBT books fail at: it doesn't condescend. It's structured without being rigid, practical without pretending thoughts are the whole story. The worksheets actually land because they're built for real patterns, not textbook examples. It's the book I hand to clients who need something concrete to work with between sessions — not as a replacement for the relational stuff, but as a tool that respects their intelligence and meets them where the work actually happens.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy · Self Help · MindfulnessBook links go to Indigo and Booksellers.ca. Some are affiliate links — if you buy through them I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.