Book Recommendations
In the Realm of hungry ghosts - close encounters with addiction
Explores addiction as a symptom of distress, from the pain of individual trauma and family history to the spiritual emptiness pervading our entire society. Dr. Gabor Maté weaves brain science, case studies, personal testimony, and social critique into a powerful and kaleidoscopic look at one of our culture’s most perplexing epidemics. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts is a best-selling book that won the 2010 Hubert Evans Award for Best BC Non-Fiction Book.
The Myth of Normal
In The Myth of Normal, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems are actually seeing an upsurge in chronic illness and general ill health. Prescription drug usage, high blood pressure, mental illness, and so many other troubling issues are on the rise.
Hold on to your kids - Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers
Examines parenting from the perspective of attachment theory to illuminate the crucial role parents must play in the upbringing of their children. This book was co-authored by Dr. Gordon Neufeld, a developmental and clinical psychologist.
When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress
This book is a passionately argued thesis that stress has a major role in the onset of most chronic diseases. Warmly received by readers and published in eight languages on five continents, When The Body Says No combines the latest findings of modern science with the poignant and compelling stories of many patients, both ordinary and famous. The book has been greeted with both support and controversy in the medical community.
Scattered Minds
A New Look at the Origins and Healing of Attention Disorder (published in the U.S. as Scattered) offers a groundbreaking and optimistic perspective on this much-misunderstood condition, seeing it not as a disease but as a problem of brain development in the context of a stressed society.
Waking the tiger - by Peter A Levine, PhD
“Animals do not view freezing as a sign of inadequacy or weakness, nor should we.”
An Autobiography of Trauma - A Healing Journey - by Peter A Levine, PhD
Trauma and Memory - by Peter A Levine, PhD
Brain and Body in a Search for the Living Past: A Practical Guide for Understanding and Working with Traumatic Memory.
In an Unspoken Voice - by Peter A Levine, PhD
How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness.
What Happened to you - Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing
Author: Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D.
It Didn't Start With You - by Mark Wolynn
How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle.
The Body Keeps The Score - by Bessel van der Kolk
He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.
My Grandmother’s Hands - by Resmaa Menakem, MSW, LLCSW, SEP
Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies/
The Whole-Brain Child - by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D
12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind, Survive Everyday Parenting Struggles, and Help Your Family Thrive
IntraConnected: MWe (Me + We) as the Integration of Self, Identity, and Belonging - by by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D.
Exploring the nature of how our experience of what we call “self” emerges across the lifespan.
The Developing Mind, 3rd Edition - by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D
How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are.
Practicing the Power of Now - by Eckhart Tolle
Practicing the Power of Now is a carefully arranged series of excerpts from The Power of Now that gives us specific practices and clear keys to show us how to discover for ourselves the “grace, ease, and lightness” that comes when we simply quiet our thoughts and see the world before us in the present moment.
The Biology of Belief – Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles – by Bruce Lipton
Stunning new scientific discoveries about the biochemical effects of the brain’s functioning show that all the cells of your body are affected by your thoughts. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D., a renowned cell biologist, describes the precise molecular pathways through which this occurs. Using simple language, illustrations, humor, and everyday examples, he demonstrates how the new science of epigenetics is revolutionizing our understanding of the link between mind and matter, and the profound effects it has on our personal lives and the collective life of our species.
Other Resources
As a thinker, lecturer and clinician who has devoted his life to helping parents and professionals “make sense of kids”, Gordon is, quite simply, peerless. His work eschews trendy and simplistic parenting “techniques”, emphasizing instead the centrality of attachment relationships and awakening parents’ natural instincts.
A contemporary spiritual teacher whose “Diamond Approach” is a holistic method of realizing wholeness through direct encounter with one’s inner Essence, or true self. Almaas brilliantly combines Eastern spiritual wisdom and Western depth psychology.
Documentaries
The Wisdom of Trauma
Free interviews & webinars: https://www.somaticexperiencing.com/se-interviews
Free experiential Exercises
https://www.somaticexperiencing.com/experiential
Creative Minds Library: Inspiring Reads for Artists and Explorers of the Creative Process
The Creative Act: A Way Of Being
Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day and then ages out. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable.
Over the years, as he has thought deeply about where creativity comes from and where it doesn't, he has learned that being an artist isn't about your specific output; it's about your relationship to the world. Creativity has a place in everyone's life, and everyone can make that place larger. In fact, there are few more important responsibilities.
The Creative Act is a beautiful and generous course of study that illuminates the path of the artist as a road we all can follow. It distils the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime's work into a luminous reading experience that puts the power to create moments - and lifetimes - of exhilaration and transcendence within closer reach for all of us.
The War of Art
A succinct, engaging, and practical guide forsucceeding in any creative sphere, The War ofArt is nothing less than Sun-Tzu for the soul.
What keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do?
Why is there a naysayer within? How can we avoid theroadblocks of any creative endeavor-be it starting up a dreambusiness venture, writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece?
Bestselling novelist Steven Pressfield identifies the enemy thatevery one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer thisinternal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success.
The War of Art emphasizes the resolve needed to recognizeand overcome the obstacles of ambition and then effectivelyshows how to reach the highest level of creative discipline.
Think of it as tough love . . . for yourself.
Whether an artist, writer or business person, this simple, personal, and no-nonsense book will inspire you to seize thepotential of your life.