Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D., founder of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model, draws on decades of clinical experience in No Bad Parts. Both introductory and comprehensive, Schwartz presents a guide to understanding and working with internal systems that is readable and conversational. Through a non-pathologizing, trauma-informed lens, Schwartz reframes symptoms and protective behaviors as adaptive parts formed in response to pain, survival, and early wounding.

 

While No Bad Parts clearly introduces IFS concepts, Schwartz emphasizes that deeper therapeutic work should be conducted with a trained IFS clinician. As such, the book serves best as an introductory resource for practitioners curious about how IFS might complement their clinical work or for clients gauging whether they feel receptive to this approach. Clinicians with a background in inner parenting frameworks may find the transition to IFS particularly intuitive, as the emphasis on self-leadership and compassionate internal relationships aligns closely with those models.

 

Counselors may use this text as an entry point for conceptualizing client concerns through a parts-based, non-pathologizing framework, particularly when exploring internal conflict, trauma responses, and self-criticism. The numerous session transcripts included throughout the book provide engaging case examples that illustrate how IFS techniques unfold in practice. These examples also make the book useful for counselor educators and graduate students learning about trauma-informed and integrative approaches to psychotherapy. As counselors consider potential areas of specialization, No Bad Parts provides a helpful introduction to IFS and may encourage further exploration or training in this approach.

Evil Thing is a dark and psychological exploration of Disney's villain, Cruella de Vil. The story delves into her life, motivations, and the events that shaped her vanity and cruelty towards Dalmatians. In her early life, she had a strained relationship with her mother. This challenging upbringing with her mother led to Cruella's deep insecurities and craving for attention and love as an adult. The story takes a sharp turn after Cruella's father's death. Her yearning for her mother's approval becomes the central focus for Cruella. Throughout the story, the desire for her mother’s love was often overshadowed and interfered with her genuine connections to others. Evil Thing depicts how Cruella's desire to please her mother consistently led her to sabotage all her close relationships.

 

Evil Thing presents a case of someone with a disorganized attachment. Counselors-in-training (CIT) can draw correlations between Cruella's early interactions with her mother and later interactions with others. This book could be incorporated into the counseling education curriculum as a supplementary text. It can be utilized in the form of a case study or in a group course to explore John Bowlby’s attachment theory. Evil Thing’s use of the first-person narrative allows CITs to observe the phenomenon of faulty thought processing’s impact on decision-making. Counselors can use the book to examine and discuss the long-term effects of inconsistent caregiving with clients. Exploring this story can help clients examine how unresolved attachment issues affect various aspects of their lives.

Healing Trauma Through Self-Parenting by O'Gorman and Diaz provides an intuitive, holistic approach to understanding dysfunctional relational patterns. It offers a hopeful, destigmatizing framework for conceptualizing, processing, and targeting change. As a counselor-in-training, this book helped me grasp the complexities of codependency. It introduced its origins in a positive light, showing how individuals and families often have good intentions but inadvertently maintain unhealthy patterns through enabling behaviors. Viewing codependency as maladaptive coping offers a path to healing, allowing individuals to address early attachment wounds and trauma. Given the rise in addiction and substance-related deaths, counselors must prepare to support families and loved ones of those in active addiction and early recovery. This book encourages focusing on the codependent individual, even within enmeshed systems lacking clear boundaries. It also offers vignettes demonstrating the use of Internal Family Systems (IFS) in therapy. Lastly, it provides an opportunity for counselors to reflect on their own unresolved family issues. This reflection can enhance self-awareness, helping counselors create a more authentic and conscious therapeutic self.

Facilitating couples therapy can be challenging, but with the right preparation, guidance, and support, new and experiences counselors can manage these fears effectively. The Couples Therapy Workbook by Kathleen Mates-Youngman, LMFT, helps alleviate the fear out of planning by providing thirty guided conversations to help couples reconnect and rebuild their relationship. I am a fan of this workbook because it provides the counselor with prompts and detailed questions to support couples with improving communication, strengthening growth, and outlining healthy ways to foster intimacy. The workbook provides practical exercises that are easy to follow, making it an excellent tool for counselors. The thirty guided questions include topics such as trust, fidelity and boundaries, parenting, and staying in sync (pp. 81-94). This workbook is a great tool for creating a safe and supportive environment where couples can explore the pros and cons of their relationship constructively. Counselor educators may utilize this valuable workbook with students across counseling curriculum in a variety of ways to enhance learning and practical skills in facilitating couples’ therapy. This exceptional guide lends itself well to role-play exercises, case studies, guided discussions, and mock therapy sessions, offering a comprehensive approach to skill development. Counselor educators should be mindful that this workbook may not fully accommodate the unique needs of every couple in the therapeutic environment but would be a great benefit for developing therapeutic skills and approaches. The unique approach and evidence-based techniques provided in this workbook contribute significantly to the advancement of the counseling profession.

In Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men, Lundy Bancroft explains various ways abusers behave toward their targets starting with the basics that are common among all abusers. He also describes the types of abusive men including overt abusers, more covert abusers, and he includes multicultural variables. Chapters include information about how abuse starts, how abusers behave in public versus private, abusive men as parents, how abusive men use the legal system, a chapter for those who would ally with abuse targets, and more. Ultimately, Bancroft provides enough information and reinforcement through the end of chapter 'Key Points to Remember' that coming to terms with the realities of abuse may be somewhat easier. This is a well-rounded guide for those struggling to understand or beginning to awaken to the reality of an abusive relationship. It is also a valuable resource for anyone who would ally with abuse targets. Counselors could recommend this book to those who are struggling to come to terms with what is happening to them in their relationship when the counselor understands that they are being abused. Counselors could provide this book as a resource to enable the client to begin processing their experiences so that they will be able to work through them with their counselor, as needed. Counselors who have not experienced abuse may also benefit from the concision of descriptions as an educational tool to help them understand the variety of abusers and their methods.

The world can be an unkind place, especially one that is still reeling from the effects of a global pandemic where mental health issues abound at an unprecedented rate. Deep Kindness (Kraft, 2020) assists the reader in understanding the complexity, challenge, and intentionality of being truly and deeply kind. He creates awareness for his readers that kindness takes practice and requires the skills of empathy, perspective-taking, resilience, vulnerability, forgiveness, emotional regulation, and intersectional thinking. Each chapter begins with stories, insights, and questions for critical self-reflection and ends with suggestions for growing authentically in each skill area. This entire work resonates with the message that “meaningful kindness is generated from the hard work of meaningful connection” (Kraft, 2020, p. 141). This book is an exceptional resource for High School and Higher Ed counselors to assist youth and adults with critical reflections and tools for developing self and other awareness and professional and personal identities. The entire book or individual chapters can be applied during individual counseling for skill building or group counseling sessions on social and emotional development. Counselor educators might utilize this as a reflective tool when teaching fundamental counseling courses. The reviewer read portions of this book while teaching an Intercultural Counseling class which led to emotional and impactful class discussions. These discussions allowed the class and instructor to put labels and political agendas aside to speak about unkind life events experienced, what was learned from them, and how to move forward with a nonjudgmental and growth mindset stance as counseling professionals.

The Body Keeps the Score explores the impact of trauma by challenging traditional perspectives on its etiology and focusing on the neuroscientific foundations of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The book's central premise (i.e., trauma's indelible marks on the human body's neurobiological infrastructure) is meticulously explored across 20 chapters. Van der Kolk (2014) demonstrates how traumatic experiences disrupt stress response systems and lead to cascading physiological and psychological consequences. This novel lens for understanding PTSD is supported by a review of research across various areas, including neuroscience, neuropsychology, and attachment. Van der Kolk (2014) presents this empirical backing alongside personal anecdotes and case studies that succeed in offering a human face to trauma's complexities.

The Body Keeps the Score excels in elucidating the theoretical underpinnings of trauma and its effects, but a more robust discussion of evidence-based treatments (i.e., interventions) could perhaps strengthen its practical utility for counselors and counselors-in-training. While the book provides insights into various therapeutic approaches, a systematic review of empirical literature on their efficacy and implementation strategies would be valuable. Overall, The Body Keeps the Score stands as a landmark contribution to how mental health professionals understand and talk about trauma. Van der Kolk (2014) challenges our understanding of PTSD by identifying a comprehensive and trauma-informed approach to mental health care. Despite the suggestion for expanding on evidenced-based treatment methods, the book remains an important resource for counselor educators and counselors-in-training who want greater insight into the impact of trauma on the human mind and body. 

Beginning Your Counseling Career: Graduate Preparation and Beyond is written to benefit counselors-in-training as well as postgraduates who are starting entry-level counseling positions. The book is divided into five sections and addresses: graduate preparation for masters level counseling students and doctoral level counselor education students, key elements when transitioning from student to professional, minority and international students in counseling and counselor education, and special topics for professional school counselors. The book incorporates discussions on completing an online counseling degree, counselor identity, counselors’ role in private practice, completing a dissertation, pursuing licensure, and becoming a supervisor. There is also discussion of balancing school, career and raising a family, and even discussion addressing dual roles when serving as a school counselor and athletic coach.

The book has useful information for those aspiring to be professional counselors, including both traditional (full-time students with no work experience) and nontraditional students (students who work and have a family while attending classes). It stands out in having discussions of many useful aspects of counseling for both school and mental health counselors. This is a must have book for future counselors in practicum and internship classes, as well as those who are seeking additional guidance while completing doctoral research. This book also provides useful information suitable for counseling students within the United States as well as those studying counseling globally.

Mikki Kendall’s book, Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot, takes an intersectional approach in explicating feminist issues ranging from community gun violence and maternal mortality to parenting obstacles and adolescent sexuality. Kendall asserts that the insufficient attention these issues receive is the result of a White Feminist paradigm that prioritizes the needs of middle-class, cisgender, white women at the peril of all other women with compounding marginalized identities. Thus, White Feminism fails those who are most likely to experience the disparate impact that capitalism and patriarchy have on women’s lives and become complicit in capitalist, patriarchal oppression through the maintenance of white supremacy.

Counselors who are attempting to advance their knowledge of anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices would benefit from reading Hood Feminism to add breadth to their understanding of the various life stressors and cultural traumas likely to be endured by their clients experiencing intersectional gender, sexuality, class, and race oppressions. Beyond application to client populations, reading this book offers counselors the opportunity to self-reflect on gaps in awareness, knowledge, skills, and action in terms of their multicultural competence levels. Counselor educators may also benefit from using this as a supplemental resource in classroom discussions about current events that are of consequence to counselors and clients in various communities.

When Breath Becomes Air is Paul Kalanithi’s personal narrative of receiving the life-changing diagnosis of advanced lung cancer. A highly educated neurosurgeon, Paul and his wife Lucy were both on an upward trajectory of achieving their life’s goals when Paul received the diagnosis. In the beginning of the memoir, Paul bravely acknowledges the struggles in his marriage, and through Paul’s eloquent descriptions, readers are able to observe the re-connection of their partnership. Paul weaves the theme of time throughout the memoir: time spent studying to become a neurosurgeon, dreams of his future both professionally and personally, and the time he has remaining. His reflection on time across his own lifespan is raw and honest, and demonstrates the profound challenges such a diagnosis brings.

Counselors can use this book in order to better understand the lived experience of clients living with a terminal illness. Paul describes the physical and emotional impact on the patient, as well as family, friends, and co-workers. Most importantly, Paul highlights the ever-changing experience of the diagnosis by noting the days filled with hope, and conversely, the days filled with despair. It is important to recognize that each client’s experience is unique. However, by reflecting on grief and Paul’s experience, counselors can provide a therapeutic space for clients living with terminal illness. Such a space can then support clients in processing their thoughts and emotions, and counselors can serve as resources and advocates.

Being Mortal is a book that explores issues of aging, death, and mortality. Throughout the book’s structure (i.e., eight chapters, an introduction, and an epilogue), the author provides personal and professional recollections about the various stages of aging, illness, and dying. Notably, Being Mortal succeeds in calling attention to issues that society often ignores (e.g., end-of-life care, hospice care). In addition to defining differences in the individual and social experiences of death and dying in collectivist and individualist cultures, Gawande (2014) also challenges the medicalization of aging and dying and calls for helping professionals to support patients (i.e. clients) to age with autonomy and die with dignity, highlighting the need for a departure from helping professionals focusing primarily on the extension of life.

Given the inevitability of death, it is arguably unavoidable that counselors will work with clients facing issues of death and dying. In addition, Being Mortal provides counselors and counselor educators with the opportunity to critically reflect on supporting clients facing these issues and to interrogate their own beliefs, values, and narratives surrounding the issues of aging, death, and mortality. Hence, Being Mortal can potentially support counselors in identifying how to create supportive and encouraging spaces for clients facing issues of aging, death, and dying in which they are validated and heard. Regarding counselor educators, the book can perhaps be used to facilitate discourse in master’s and doctoral level counseling classes, specifically surrounding areas of grief and loss, human development, multiculturalism, and family systems.

On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy is written by Carl Rogers, largely considered one of the pioneers of the humanistic approach to counseling. Since his necessary conditions and person-centered approach are critically foundational to the field of psychotherapy, there are some sections of the book that most counselors will be familiar with, such as unconditional positive regard and the importance of accurate empathy. Throughout the pages, he explores in-depth each of the concepts that are the backbone to humanistic therapy and explains the reasoning, case studies, and research behind his methods. The book is lengthy because it is a collection of papers, lectures, and notes spanning many years of Rogers’ career; yet all of the entries are worth reading carefully.

The area of a counselor’s practice that can likely be impacted the most by this book is the conceptualization of both clients and the counseling process. Rogers’ authentic approach to counseling truly takes counselors back to the roots of the therapeutic relationship and the counselor’s presence of being.  As is one of the themes in Rogers’ book, counselors sometimes move too quickly in building the therapeutic alliance and neglect the foundational relationship that must often be built before conducting successful person-centered therapy. No matter how many years in the field, reading On Becoming a Person can be an eye-opening experience or a gentle reminder of the humanness we all share that takes us back to the basics of successful counseling.

The Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism and Engage in Collective Healing by Dr. Anneliese A. Singh, LPC, stimulates internal and external growth in its vast array of readers. When considering its applicability, the need for social justice transcends time and space; social justice remains relevant everywhere. Though not specific to counseling, the handbook prompts counseling professionals to improve our work with clients through considering our own understanding of culture. It also provides advocacy tools that promote ethical multicultural counseling practices. After providing a relational illustration of racism and its impact, Singh normalizes its presence in everyday society. The ten chapters of the handbook include some of the following titles, prompting readers to “Catch Yourself in the Flow of Racism,” “Reclaim Your Whole Racial Self,” “Be A Racial Ally” and “Engage in Collective Racial Healing” (pp. 7-8).

Counselor educators might utilize material found within the handbook across counseling courses to inspire critical consciousness and cultural humility. The impact of utilizing this handbook may heal tensions within counseling students’ cross-cultural relationships, while also solidifying therapeutic alliances in their sessions. All clients can serve to benefit from the handbook’s material, as it is necessary to dismantle systemic oppression for those who are impacted by and perpetuate racism. Counseling professionals can expect this handbook to prompt the need to lean into challenging areas of discomfort; but the journey found in the handbook is well worth the effort to uphold the tenets of the counseling profession.

For counselors-in-training, there are many questions and worries that arise when thinking about establishing a counseling career. Adams and Doss (2011) created a book that helps “map out” what the start of a counselor’s career may look like, ranging from locating an internship site to addressing common concerns pertaining to licensure. The authors provide first-hand knowledge for navigating the beginning stages as a new counselor, including how to create and maintain appropriate client relationships while also staying focused on counselor self-care.  Emerging professionals learn how to market themselves successfully to the public as well as gain pointers on finding a supervisor. Adams and Doss laid out the pros and cons to interning at various locations, and provide suggestions for narrowing down your site based upon theoretical approaches or specialty areas of interest.

Reading through these tips of experience from seasoned counselors gives students the confidence they need to go out and find training experiences that are fit for them. This book is ideal for emerging counselors looking for a helping hand when tackling the unexpected aspects of the field. Adams and Doss have compiled an amazing wealth of knowledge that every new counselor can benefit from. In addition, this book can serve as a resource for counselor educators, as it serves as a refresher on what field experiences can be like. This collection of tips, tricks, and general information can help both educators and students alike gain a better idea of what to expect when entering the field of counseling.

The intersectionality of sexual-identity and faith can be difficult terrain to navigate for sexual-minorities, especially students on conservative Christian college campuses. Listening to Sexual Minorities: A Study of Faith and Sexual Identity on Christian College Campuses offers perspectives from sexual-minority students’ lived experiences on Christian college campuses throughout the United States. Mark Yarhouse and team utilize data from three qualitative and quantitative research studies to provide insight into the experiences of faith, sexuality, attitudes and beliefs, and campus climate for sexual-minority students on conservative Christian college campuses. Throughout the book, readers are reminded of the unique stories, life experiences, and diverse levels of sexual attraction and faith of each sexual-minority student. Additionally, the authors provide the readers with insights into how sexual-minority students fit into their Christian college campuses, reminding them that these students should not be stereotyped based on preconceived assumptions.

 
For counselors, this book is relevant when working with individuals who identify as a sexual-minority and are applying for, attending, or have graduated from a conservative Christian college. This text illuminates the challenges these individuals may face on Christian college campuses, which may help counselors gain greater insight and awareness, as well as understand how to better provide beneficial resources to support sexual-minority students’ college or post-college experience. In addition, counselor educators may consider utilizing this book in relevant courses to introduce the intersectionality of sexual-identify and faith when attempting to offer perspectives that may be unfamiliar to students outside of this faith tradition.

Robert “Bob” Arctor is an undercover special agent who is addicted to Substance D. The book identifies his usage of Substance D with others along with marijuana usage. Bob and his drug-using peers consume Substance D daily with increased frequency. Bob and Donna are married; however, they experience marital decline and decreased physical intimacy. To thwart Bob’s marital woes, he engages in marital infidelity with Connie. Bob and Connie share a sexual relationship in addition to drug usage. Bob is dependent on Substance D for daily interactions and common existence and eventually experiences decreased brain deterioration and limited mental functioning. Although employed, Bob’s work satisfaction and productivity declines. Continued use of Substance D induces continued dependency and demotivation towards recovery.

A Scanner Darkly when utilized as a reference text can empower counselors, clients, and family members regarding the effects of chemical dependency and addiction. The book highlights prior Substance D history for Bob, a life with no previous mental illness, hallucinations, delusions, nor suicidal behavior. Bob lives a normal and content life, healthy, married with two children. This book educates the destruction of substance abuse and addiction. Bob’s drug usage began and increased. He socialized with drug using peers. Counselors and clients can increase their understanding of the factors associated with Bob’s drug usage and its impact on his marital and parental decline and infidelity engagement. The book highlights the tragedies of drug dependency and addiction (e.g., death). Conversations can lead to recovery factors such as identified triggers, connection with healthy supportive structures, and acknowledged resilient qualities of individuals and families towards recovery.

Into the Wild is the biography of Christopher McCandless, a recent college graduate who decides to give up his affluent life to hitchhike across the United States to fulfill his dream of living in solitude in the wilderness of Alaska. Author Jon Krakauer guides readers into the psyche of McCandless through his journal entries, letters, and interviews with family. Through these personal accounts of McCandless, the reader is guided through his journey of hitchhiking across the United States, recounting people he met, odd jobs he took, and his 113 days of living alone inside of an abandoned bus in the Alaskan bush. The story also explores the abusive childhood trauma of McCandless and the effect it may have had on his journey for isolation. Freedom, identity, happiness, and self-reliance are guiding themes explored throughout the book, which assist in shaping the view of McCandless’ motivations and journey. The lessons he learns throughout the story come at a tragic cost and will keep readers thinking of their own interpretation long after the final pages are read.

This tome can assist counselors in understanding the effect of childhood trauma. Professional counselors can use the journey of McCandless and his motivations for isolation and adventure to assist in understanding clients’ motivations. The trauma McCandless experiences can assist counselors in understanding some symptoms and outcomes of trauma. Counselors can use the book and story of McCandless as an opportunity to become further educated on trauma. Counselor educators can use the book as a case study in trauma and counseling techniques classes. Students will be able to discuss the effects of trauma within the book and how they might work with McCandless as a client.

Working with grieving clients can bring unique challenges to the counseling process. The Counseling Strategies for Loss and Grief book provides a comprehensive look inside an often unpredictable and challenging journey. Dr. Keren Humphrey offers counselors a unique perspective on grief and loss, including the historical understanding of grief and loss, relevant models, and appropriate strategies to fit various counseling styles and approaches. This book addresses several types of losses that highlight grief as an experience unrestricted by a timeline or having one correct way to grieve. Instead, Dr. Humphrey covers an integrated approach that helps counselors understand the characteristics of grief and how best to work with grieving clients. Further, she recognizes that counselors are not immune to loss and grief and offers strategies for stronger self-awareness and accountability for counselors to process their own grief.

Readers can utilize this book as a tool to productively work with clients to manage their grief in healthy ways. Whether counselors have extensive knowledge and experience in grief and loss or are curious about how to best connect with a grieving client, counselors can refer to this book when they are looking for best practices. This book provides in-depth but flexible guidelines that any counselor can adopt to fit their client’s developmental level, along with cultural considerations that may influence the grieving process. Dr. Humphrey provides examples of several interventions that are clear and practical for counselors with different specialties and backgrounds. In addition to finding strategies that are adaptable to the client, Dr. Humphrey covers several counseling approaches, such as Cognitive-Behavioral and Solution-Focused Therapy that can help counselors view grief through a theoretically based lens. This sets this book apart from other grief and loss materials and make it relatable to counselors. Because grief is a universal experience, it is essential for counselors to enhance their understanding of grief and loss. This book fulfills that necessity while enriching readers with a holistic overview, theoretical models, and intentional strategies to assist all clients grieving many types of losses.

Elyn Saks is a graduate of Yale Law School, a Marshall Scholar, and graduate of Oxford University. Dr. Saks is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and holds a Ph.D. in psychoanalytic science. She is Associate Dean and Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry at the University of Southern California, and is a prolific academic and educator. Dr. Saks also lives with schizophrenia. In her gripping memoir, Dr. Saks described the progress of navigating her early symptoms of schizophrenia as a child, leading up to her first psychotic break during her studies at Oxford University. Later, as a student at Yale, Dr. Saks was force-fed antipsychotic medications and left in restraints for hours at a time. By the time her diagnosis was confirmed, doctors declared her prognosis as "grave." In her story, Dr. Saks wrote with intimacy and vulnerability as she shared details of her hallucinations and delusions, her passion and perseverance for her work, and how she has found love and friendship while living with schizophrenia.

Saks' memoir is profoundly insightful for counselors who may work in a hospital setting or with any client living with schizophrenia. Dr. Saks described how talk therapy helped her to live a healthy life and continues to help her struggles with not only the symptoms of her illness but also the stigma of taking medication. It is worth noting the amount of financial resources she has had in her life to help her with this journey and to be mindful of how privilege impacted the prognosis of living with schizophrenia. Overall, Dr. Saks' story is a testimony to the healing power of talk therapy, and how – combined with the right medication – it saved her life.