St Vincent's Hospital, Fairview
Useful Information
Self-help Materials
Self-help Books, Bibliotherapy and Library resources:
There is good evidence that the best self-help books can be very effective
in helping people during stressful times. The aim of the Healthy Reading Scheme
is to make high quality self-help books more accessible to families and adults
experiencing mild to moderate emotional problems. The scheme involves GPs recommending
specific books to their clients from a list compiled by psychologists, counsellors
and psychotherapists. A recommendation form is issued by the health professional.
This can be exchanged for the book at your local library. For further information,
search the internet for:
www.dublincity.ie (search for library service)
Dublin, Fingal, Meath Healthy Reading Schemes
Some Top Rated Self-Help Books:
Self-help books are designed to help a person work through a problem or a difficulty in a systematic way. It is also recognised that reading autobiographies can be helpful in gaining insight and understanding into psychological and interpersonal difficulties.
Following are a list of books that people have found helpful:
- The Relaxation and Stress Reduction by Martha Davis et al. (relaxation skills)
- Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder by Marsha Linehan (borderline personality disorder)
- Becoming Orgasmic by Julia Heiman and Joseph Piccolo (sexual dysfunction)
- The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund Bourne (anxiety)
- The 36-hour Day by Nancy Mace and Peter Rabins (Alzheimer’s)
- The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis (abuse and recovery)
- Mastery of your Anxiety and Panic III by Michele Craske and David Barlow (anxiety)
- Feeling Good by David Burns (depression)
- Wherever you go there you are by John Kabat-Zinn (meditation and relaxation)
- Mind Over Body by Dennis Greenberger and Christine Padesky (depression)
- Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman (trauma and PTSD)
- Taking Charge of ADHD by Russell Barkley (ADHD)
- How to Survive a Loss of a Love by Melba Colgrove et al. (grief)
- Mind over mood by Padesky and Greenberger
- Manage your mood by David Veale and Rob Willson
- Overcoming depression by Paul Gilbert
- Overcoming social anxiety and shyness by Gillian Butler
- Overcoming low self-esteem by Melanie Fennell
- Overcoming mood swings by Jan Scott
- Overcoming panic by Derrick Silove and Vijaya Manicavasagar
- Overcoming bulimia nervosa and binge-eating by Peter J Cooper
- Overcoming anorexia nervosa' by Christopher Freeman
TOP RATED AUTOBIOGRAPHIES:
- Letting Go by Morrie Swartz (terminal illness and dying)
- Breaking Free From Compulsive Eating by Geneen Roth (compulsive eating)
- A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis (grieving)
- Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom (aging and death)
- Elegy for Iris by John Bayley (a spouse’s Alzheimer’s)
- Night Falls Fast by Kay Jamison (suicide)
- Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther (a parent’s loss of an adolescent)
- A Man named Dave by Dave Pelzer (childhood abuse)
- Broken Cord by Michael Dorris (fetal alcohol syndrome)
- An Unquiet Mind by Kay R. Jamison (bipolar disorder)
- Darkness Visible by William Styron (depression)
- Motherless Daughter by Hope Edelman (loss of a parent)
- Feeding the Hungry Heart by Geneen Roth (weight management)
- I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg (schizophrenia)
- The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon (depression)
- Out of the Depths by Anton Boisen (schizophrenia)
- Girl, Interrupted y Susanna Kaysen (borderline personality)
- ADHD Handbook for Families by Paul Weingartner (ADHD)
- Too Much Anger, Too Many Tears by Janet Gotkin and Paul Gotkin (schizophrenia)