Books, videos and podcasts

Mental health challenges manifest in all sorts of ways – we might feel miserable, unmotivated, or just plain stuck. Or struggle to manage anxiety, a sense of dread in the pit of our stomach when we wake up. Goals we once dreamed of (the perfect job, partner, owning a home) seem unreachable, and there can be days when we struggle to even put one foot in front of the other. I think almost all of us feel some of these, some of the time – it’s part of the package of being human.

And having some one to one sessions with a counsellor or psychotherapist can be extremely helpful – the sense of being really listened to by someone who is experienced, outside of the situation, offering a safe supportive space. I often recommend books, videos and podcasts to my clients, sources of extra information that we don’t have time to examine during the sessions. These are always ones that I’ve enjoyed and found helpful.

Well-written and researched books (and videos, podcasts etc) can provide not just inspiration, but actionable strategies to shift our mindset, manage emotions, and take small steps toward a more satisfying, meaningful life.

With this in mind, my next few blogs will examine some of the most popular books that you might find in the “psychology” or “personal development” section of the library or bookshop. I’ll look at a wide range: from managing anxiety and low mood, how to build resilience or “grit”, how to swap bad habits for good new habits, how a shift in mindset (from a fixed to a growth mindset) can change how we feel about ourselves and our world, how art and creativity can have a transformational effect on us, and how to find meaning and purpose in a world that can sometimes seem bleak and out of our control.

“I feel a bit stuck”

Clients often tell me that while their lives might seem fine, even pretty good from the outside looking in, it doesn’t often feel that way inside them – they might feel stuck in a job, a relationship, or a routine or bad habit that drains them, or prevents them taking action to achieve what they really want to achieve. “ Why can’t I “just snap out of it” or get motivated?” “ What is the point of everything?” or “I don’t feel much of a sense of purpose.”

Feeling “stuck” can feel lonely and confusing—especially when friends and family encourage you to “just try harder” or “think positive,” which often misses the deeper issues at play. That is where understanding the value of meaning and purpose in our lives, can be really helpful:

Meaning and purpose

Studies in psychology show that a sense of meaning and purpose is one of the strongest buffers against mental health struggles and many of the books that I will recommend will address this. When we feel connected to a goal or cause bigger than ourselves, we find motivation, resilience, and joy—even in the face of hardship. Meaning doesn’t have to be grandiose or world-changing. It could be:

Creating art or music
Helping others in our community
Learning and growing as a person

When we find meaning, our minds shift from black-and-white extremes to more flexible, hopeful perspectives. Our energy returns, and we start to see possibilities where before there were only obstacles.

Here are three of my favourites:

Phil Stutz Life Lessons

I first came across Phil Stutz in the Netflix documentary Stutz where he talks about his very practical approach to therapy, using what he calls “The Tools”. His latest book Life Lessons I found to be an enjoyable and inspirational read.

Despite the fact that he has worked, in his Los Angeles practice, with plenty of Hollywood stars and the super-wealthy (as well as non-starry normal people!), his philosophy emphasises that genuine satisfaction and joy are found in having a daily practice of discipline, gratitude, and self-acceptance, rather than in external achievements or the pursuit of material wealth. In his early days he worked with incarcerated individuals at the notorious Rikers Island prison in New York, and those early experiences would plant the seeds for his radically different approach to therapy – one that emphasizes practical tools and inner work over passive analysis. Stutz is direct, he doesn’t pull punches and I love the practical, actionable steps.

Viktor Frankl Man’s Search for Meaning

Another writer who put the search for meaning and purpose above external achievement and wealth, was Viktor Frankl. His book Man’s Search for Meaning by written in 1946 has been described as one of the most influential books written on meaning and purpose in life. It covers some of the experiences that Frankl, a psychiatrist, endured as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz. He observed that among the fellow inmates in the concentration camp, those who survived were able to connect with a purpose in life to feel positive about and who then immersed themselves in imagining that purpose in their own way, such as conversing with an (imagined) loved one. According to Frankl, the way a prisoner imagined the future affected his longevity. Frankl died in 1997 but there are still some clips of him, speaking on YouTube. One of his most famous quotes is: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

A tale of mice and men!

Something completely different is Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson. It is a short life-lesson story – it only takes about half an hour to read) but the messages contained in it stayed with me for a long time. It’s basically about change and how we deal with it – often disliking and avoiding it as long as we can! and it portrays some important lessons by way of a fun fictional story with four characters: two mice, “Sniff” and “Scurry,” and two little people, “Hem” and “Haw.” The basic premise is that each day the four characters enter a maze (the rat race) to find cheese. At the start they find that all the cheese they could hope for is in one place, a cheese station. But, one day, they arrive to find the supply of cheese at the station has dwindled to practically nothing – how does each character deal with this scenario?

It’s easy, as you read, to self identify with one or more of the little characters and see, day to day, where we might be tripping ourselves up by not anticipating and preparing for change, by not facing and overcoming our fears, envisioning success, and enjoying rather than dreading change.