The 15 Best Self-help Books Recommended By Psychologists
Are self-help books really good for our mental health? What are the best self-help books out there? Discover a list of the best self-help reads.
A self-help book Well chosen can help you clarify your ideas and motivate you to work on your inner self. So much so that in many cases psychologists can recommend these personal motivational books or interesting books on human psychology to help a patient during therapy. Although these readings are good books to read while working with a mental health professional, you should know that they are not a substitute for the work they can do with us. Even so, if you are interested in knowing which are the best books recommended by psychologists, here we will show you a list of them.
The self help books They are usually written with the intention of transmitting certain stories about people who once went through bad times and felt sunk but who managed to overcome them and move forward.
The guidelines that these books follow to motivate people to overcome their problems, concerns, or misfortunes are very diverse, but they are based on the importance of strengthening self-esteem and maintaining positive thoughts towards a reality at all times. In some cases self help books They are based on the personal experiences of the author himself, who tells in first person his story, his discomfort and his motivation to move forward.
The self help books They can be a good psychological tool to learn to see life from another perspective. However, many critics claim that basically they are nothing more than a collection of objective statements and phrases that try to approach problems in a positive way, without being a useful tool that truly ends the anxiety and sadness of the people who do it. use of these books.
According to some psychologists, a self-help book It can serve as a way to open the mind and from them you can get practical advice to improve your mood and improve self-esteem. They can be highly recommended to change certain behaviors as long as they are not of pathological origin. However, they should never be seen as a substitute for psychological therapy received by a professional, although they can form a complementary part of the therapy when the psychology expert deems it appropriate.
The self help books They may contain ideas that will be interpreted differently depending on the patient’s approach, so they could have different effects for each person, which is why the professional will be of great help when it comes to understanding the premises of this type of text. .
Definitely, self help books They should always be used as a complement, a way to learn different perspectives and ways to face a problem, but never as the definitive solution to a certain problem.
The best self-help books
In the following list we will show you some of the best self-help books recommended by psychologists so that they can give you a little boost with your therapy. As we have highlighted, the self-improvement books or psychology and self-help books They do not function as a replacement for a psychological consultation. If you require personalized attention, it is important that you ask for help from a professional psychologist.
1. “What are you going to do with that duck?” by Seth Godin (philosopher)
In this self improvement book Philosopher Seth Godin focuses on reflection on the big questions that we should all ask ourselves to find happiness in our lives. Thanks to one of these interesting books to read about philosophy, you will be able to see the world from a new perspective. Therefore it is recommended for those people who feel lost or do not know what to do with their lives.
2. “The 48 laws of power” by Robert Greene (psychologist)
All the stories of this self-help book They deal with the theme of power. That is, the influence we have around others and how others influence us. From Caesar to Goethe, Sun-Tzu to Machiavelli, this insightful book covers a wide range of examples of personal development and improvement. Suitable for those people with low self-esteem or who need to work on their self-love.
3. “The 7 habits of highly effective people” by Stephen R. Covey (businessman)
Businessman Stephen Covey became known to the world through one of these emotional self-help books In this reading you will find the formula to be able to create in yourself effective habits for everything you want to achieve. Obviously this is not as easy as it may seem at first glance, but the reality is that this book helps a lot to have more personal motivation for those people who feel that they have lost their willpower.
At some point or another, we all have our minds invaded by negative thoughts that cause us discomfort. In this personal motivation book You will find the key to breaking this spiral and starting to work on what we want so much. If you are looking for motivational books to achieve your goals, this will undoubtedly be the perfect choice for you.
5. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (writer)
Don’t let the title of this one fool you. self-help book , in it you will not find the formula to amass a large amount of money. This is one of the essential books if you want to change your life and start being more positive about what happens to you in your daily life. In this reading we will not discuss materialistic wealth, but rather mental wealth that we should all work on.
6.”The attention revolution” by Alan Wallace (writer)
In a world where technology captures all our attention, you must keep in mind what this means for your mental health. In one of these emotional self-help books The author explains why maintaining the focus of our attention is so important. All this accompanied by a Buddhist philosophy that can be highly recommended for those who feel frustration in their lives.
7.”Mindsight: The new science of personal transformation” by Daniel J. Siegel (psychiatrist)
Psychiatrist Segel helps us through one of these essential books to read to be able to understand the importance of our emotional and social intelligence. In this self-help book we can discover what is bothering us and why it is important to understand ourselves and ourselves. Thanks to this reading on self-improvement you will be able to understand how neuroplasticity works and how to use it for your benefit.
8.”How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie (businessman)
This is one of the essential books if you want to improve your social relationships. Although the title may seem to advocate manipulation, the reality is that this is one of the most ideal self-help books for those people who suffer from communication problems or social anxiety and do not know how to approach others.
9.”Feel good” by David D. Burns (psychiatrist)
One of the most effective therapies used by psychologists is cognitive-behavioral. In one of these books to learn You will be able to understand what this therapy consists of and why it works so well. In many cases these types of methods are used above all to break our destructive cycles. In this way, having this information will allow you to better follow your therapy to address problems related to depression, anxiety, stress and lack of self-esteem.
10.”The new psychocybernetics“by Maxwell Maltz (Plastic Surgeon)
What can a plastic surgeon tell us about happiness? In this self-help book We find the stories of the patients of Maxwell Malz, plastic surgeon. Within each of them, this doctor realized the insecurity problems that his patients had and how in many cases, even though their external appearances changed, they continued. An interesting reflection on how to overcome our insecurities and how changing on the outside may not have an effect on our interior.
eleven. “Think, fast and slow” by Daniel Kahneman (economist)
Nobel Prize winner in economics Daniel Kahneman surprised the world with one of the best self help books that you can find. In it we are told that we have two types of thoughts, one fast and the other slow. These ways of thinking affect how we make our decisions and our perspective on the world. A very interesting story about how our thinking works.
12.”An astronaut’s guide to life on Earth” by Chris Hadfield (astronaut)
Some extraordinary people travel to the edge of our world and return with a unique story to tell us. Astronaut Chris Hadfield tells us the thoughts and reflections that arose when he saw the world from, literally, another perspective. Thanks to these self improvement books You will be able to understand what is really important in our lives from the hands of someone who has made a trip beyond Earth.
13.”Failed forward” by John C. Maxwell (writer)
At some point or another we all make a mistake in our lives, so it is not normal for us to get frustrated over it. In one of these motivation books You will find the tools to know how to manage these negative thoughts around a mistake that we can all make.
14.”The last conference” by Randy Pausch (computer scientist)
What would you say when you only have a few months to live? This is the question Randy Paush had to ask himself before a conference he gave a week after hearing this news. In these self improvement books We find a very realistic story of what it really means to pursue our dreams, be a good person and give value to our lives. Surely one of the most indispensable books for those who fear death.
“It’s not about the cards you’re dealt, it’s about how you play the hand”
Randy Paush, writer and computer scientist
15. “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Victor. E. Frankl (psychiatrist)
Sometimes we don’t know how lucky we are. Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl wrote this book about the eye-opening (and traumatic) experience of being in four Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz. Thanks to one of these essential books to read We can realize that our attitude towards life is very important more than anything else.
The personal improvement or self-help books They can be a source of knowledge that helps you understand certain aspects of your life and personality. Despite this, you must understand that to work well within yourself it is essential to go to a professional psychologist. What is more important than yourself?
