Best 9 Nonfiction Books About Mental Health

1. Maybe You Should Talk To Someone

By Lori Gottlieb

With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is rev­olutionary in its candor, offering a deeply per­sonal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds and providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly reveal­ing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives and our power to transform them.

2. Good Morning, Monster

By Catherine Gildiner

In this fascinating narrative, therapist Catherine Gildiner’s presents five of what she calls her most heroic and memorable patients. 

Gildiner’s account of her journeys with them is moving, insightful, and sometimes very funny. Good Morning Monster offers an almost novelistic, behind-the-scenes look into the therapist’s office, illustrating how the process can heal even the most unimaginable wounds.

3. Emotional First Aid

By Guy Winch Ph.D.

We all sustain emotional wounds. Failure, guilt, rejection, and loss are as much a part of life as the occasional scraped elbow. 

Drawing on the latest scientific research and using real-life examples, practicing psychologist Guy Winch, Ph.D. offers specific step-by-step treatments that are fast, simple, and effective.

4. Unfuck Your Brain

By Faith Harper

With humor, patience, science, and lots of good-ole swearing, Dr. Faith explains what’s going on in your skull, and talks you through the process of retraining your brain to respond appropriately to the non-emergencies of everyday life, and to deal effectively with old, or newly acquired, traumas (particularly post-traumatic stress disorder).

5. Stop Overthinking

By Nick Trenton

Stop Overthinking is a book that understands where you’ve been through,the exhausting situation you’ve put yourself into, and how you lose your mind in the trap of anxiety and stress. Acclaimed author Nick Trenton will walk you through the obstacles with detailed and proven techniques to help you rewire your brain, control your thoughts, and change your mental habits.What’s more, the book will provide you scientific approaches to completely change the way you think and feel about yourself by ending the vicious thought patterns.

6. Self-Love Workbook for Women

By Megan Logan MSW LCSW

What sets this self-care journal and workbook apart from other self-love workbooks for women:

• Proven techniques—Fall in love with yourself using a variety of compassionate exercises rooted in mindfulness and positive psychology.
• Inspiring prompts and motivating activities—Explore all that you are with quizzes and journaling exercises that will help you tap into your emotions and let go of limiting beliefs. Includes writing space for reflection and introspection.
• Empowering affirmations—Boost your positivity and nurture yourself using the uplifting affirmations interspersed throughout the book.

7. 52-Week Mental Health Journal

By Cynthia Catchings LCSW-S LCSW-C MSSW

This yearlong mental health journal includes:

• Quick and effective prompts―Take just a few minutes each day to reduce stress, increase your connection to others, and find deeper meaning in your life.
• Evidence-based methods―The exercises in this mental health journal are rooted in research-supported techniques like mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy.
• Inspiring quotes―Find wisdom and motivation with poignant words from philosophers, artists, writers, and more.

8. My Therapist Told Me to Journal

By Holly Chisholm

The author HATES journaling. This is the journal she wishes she had had when first starting out in therapy.

From the creator of Just Peachy Comics, this interactive self-care book uses journaling, drawing, and goal-tracking to help improve the user’s overall mental health and well-being. The journal will introduce you to a variety of therapy practices such as CBT (Cognitive behavioral therapy) and EMDR. It will also illustrate the author’s “dot method” of goal tracking to help reduce anxiety.

9. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone – The Journal

By Lori Gottlieb

In Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, Lori Gottlieb gave us a brilliant behind the scenes look at a therapist doing everything to help her patients—and herself. Now, in this gorgeous guided journal, you can put Gottlieb’s compelling ideas into practice in your own life. Structured as a weekly therapy session, the journal takes you through 52 thought-provoking prompts to consider over the course of seven days–just like the time between sessions–opening the possibility for meaningful growth and reflection.