Books by topics

                                                    Please also visit my top picks in books

Chronic Pain

The Mindfulness Solution to Pain: Step-by-Step Techniques for Chronic Pain Management by Jackie Gardner-Nix

The book is small enough to not overwhelm, rests easy in my hands, and fits perfectly onto my bedside table. I also loved a chapter showing the art of participants. The authors don’t shy away from difficult topics, add brief notes on pertinent research, and the science behind chronic pain, but mostly they encourage personal exploration. This book takes up and deepens topics that are addressed more briefly in some of the more comprehensive pain management books and is a good place to start. Also see my review of this book.

The Pain Survival Guide: How to Reclaim Your Life by Dr. Dennis C. Turk

This is the book I chose for my pain management class reading. It is lightweight, easy to hold, has a kindle version and is based on more than 30 years of research and experience. I especially like the chapter Activity, Rest and Pacing. Each chapter finishes with a number of helpful activities.

Yoga For Pain Relief by Kelly McGonigal, PhD

“Written by a yoga instructor and former chronic pain sufferer, Yoga for Pain Relief is packed with gentle postures and practical strategies for ending pain. This complete mind-body tool kit for healing also includes deep relaxation practices drawn from the yogic tradition and psychological techniques for helping you make peace with your body and dissolve pain. As the ancient practice of yoga releases the hold that chronic pain has over your life, you will begin to feel more like yourself again. It’s no secret that yoga increases muscular flexibility and strength, but you may not know that yoga is a proven treatment for back pain, knee pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other chronic pain conditions. Yoga also helps to ease the stress, anxiety, and depression that can create and reinforce pain, making you feel more comfortable in both your mind and your body.” Text from the website. Also read my book review and watch a video with Kelly explaining chronic pain.

Managing Pain Before It Manages You by A. Caudill

Take a look at the first 70 pages here. I used this book in my pain classes and like a lot about it. If you like using worksheets and work well with a structured program this book may be great for you. Free downloads of relaxation exercises are included.

Pain Recovery: How to Find Balance and Reduce Suffering from Chronic Pain by Mel Pohl, Frank Szabo, Daniel Shiode, Robert Hunter

If you are concerned about using opiod pain medication and possible addiction, this book will help you with many excellent, mostly psychological approaches to manage without them.

Freedom in Pain by Peter Tamme

Written by a German psychologist this book introduces “a new type of psychotherapeutic method for self-help with pain and for the treatment of chronic pain patients: mindfulness-based pain therapy MBPT. It is based on the 2,500-year-old ancient techniques of the Buddhist mindfulness practice that have found their way into modern Western psychotherapy and medicine during the past few decades”.

Insomnia

Say Good Night to Insomnia by Gregg Jacobs

Definitely my favorite book on insomnia. It provides all the information you need to address this serious issue. “The bestselling guide to curing insomnia without drugs by “a pioneer” of the field, now updated with the latest research (The Wall Street Journal) For the past ten years, sleep-deprived Americans have found natural, drug-free relief from insomnia with the help of Dr. Gregg D. Jacobs’s Say Good Night to Insomnia. Jacobs’s program, developed and tested at Harvard Medical School and based on cognitive behavioral therapy, has been shown to improve sleep long-term in 80 percent of patients.” (from the website).

Restful Sleep: The Complete Mind/Body Program for Overcoming Insomnia by Deepak Chopra

A sweet little volume, that is a quick read and quite helpful.

 

The Insomnia Solution: The Natural, Drug-Free Way to a Good Night’s Sleep by Michael Krugman

Michael has developed a great program to help people develop the kind of relaxation in their lives that leads to better sleep. See more here.

 

Depression and Anxiety

The Mind-Body Mood Solution: The Breakthrough Drug-Free Program for Lasting Relief from Depression by Jeffrey Rossman

 

 

Breaking the Patterns of Depression by Michael Yapko

“Focusing on future prevention as well as initial treatment, the book includes over one hundred structured activities to help sufferers learn the skills necessary to become and remain depression-free.”

Hand-me-down Blues by Michael Yapko

“Dr. Michael Yapko carefully describes how the family can play a crucial role in the development of and recovery from depression”.

 

Guided Imagery

Healing and Transformation Through Self Guided Imagery by Leslie Davenport

“This inspiring guide provides contemporary techniques… to transform moments of pain, emotional turmoil, and interpersonal conflict into opportunities for growth and self-realization.”Check out her website for free audios of guided imagery.

 

Mindfulness

Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time by Rick Hanson

“This guide offers simple things you can do routinely, mainly inside your mind, that will support and increase your sense of security and worth, resilience, effectiveness, well-being, insight, and inner peace. For example, they include: taking in the good, protecting your brain, feeling safer, relaxing anxiety about imperfection, not knowing, enjoying your hands, taking refuge, and filling the hole in your heart”. German/Deutsche Version von Just 1 Thing.

Inspiration

Poetic Medicine by John Fox (see my review)

A fabulous book, whether you like to read poetry, immerse yourself in ways to write about your issues or actually write your own poetry.