Making therapy work for you means taking what we talk about in our sessions and putting it into practice in real life— I know that’s not easy which is why you might want extra help. I often get asked what resources clients can do, read, or learn to supplement our sessions. This is an ongoing and updated list of resources, mostly books, I recommend.

Books For Couples To Rebuild Trust, Communicate, & Make Marriage Work

Clearly I’m a fan of Dr. Sue Johnson! No matter what I read I always come back to these 4 books to rebuild trust, improve communication, preserve friendships, and deepen your connection with your partner. 

• Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love by Dr. Sue Johnson

• Love Sense: The Revolutionary New Science of Romantic Relationships by Dr. Sue Johnson

• The Seven Principles for Making Marriages Work by John Gottman, PhD

• Ten Tips for a Strong, Vibrant Marriage by Dr. Sue Johnson

Recommended Books For New Parents

You love your partner so you made a baby. Now you don’t know how you feel about that same partner? You aren’t the first and you definitely won’t be the last. You don’t have to do it alone and it never hurts to hear guidance on how to maintain your relationship with your partner while navigating the highs and lows of parenthood.

• And Baby Makes Three: The Six-Step Plan for Preserving Marital Intimacy & Rekindling Romance after Baby Arrives by John Gottman, Phd & Julie Gottman, PhD

• Mother Shock: Loving Every (Other) Minute of it by Andrea Buchanan

• Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year by Anne Lamott

Books on Infidelity & How to Recover From An Affair

Infidelity can be devastating, like an Earthquake split your life apart and opened a giant crack to the center of the Earth right in front of you. Sometimes you really want to jump down that hole. But healing and moving forward is possible. You can rebuild and recover from an affair or infidelity and be happy again. 

• Not Just Friends: Rebuilding Trust and Recovering your Sanity After Infidelity by Shirley Glass, Phd

• Getting Past the Affair: A Program to Help you Cope, Heal, and Move On – Together or Apart by Douglas Snyder, Phd et al

Books to Restore Intimacy & Sex

Whether it’s always been a taboo topic for you, your body has changed, or desire has faded from your relationship over time, opening up conversations around intimacy, sex & desire can help you create a satisfying sex life full of connection and intimacy (and dare I say fun). 

• Come as you Are: The Surprising New Science that will Transform your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski, Phd

• Becoming Orgasmic: A Sexual and Personal Growth Program for Womenby Julia Heiman et al,

• Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence by Esther Perel

• Rekindling Desire by Barry & Emily McCarthy

Books For Stepparents & Blended Families

As an adopted, divorced, and blended family parent myself I understand the incredible difficulties and complexities of stepparenting and feeling like you’re inserting yourself into a new family — the good, the bad, and the ugly. The key to creating a cohesive family unit and fostering healthy relationships amongst everyone is patience, understanding, and a little bit of humor. 

• Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn’t by Patricia Papernow

• Stepmonster: A New Look at why Stepmothers Think, Feel, Act, and Feel the Way We Do by Wednesday Martin, PhD

• The Happy Stepmother: Stay Sane, Empower Yourself, and Thrive in your New Family by Rachelle Katz, EdD, LMFT