Faculty Picks
 
 

Books can be purchased from this page through Amazon.com.  You can choose from the recommended list below, or go directly to Amazon and use their search engine.  For those books listed, simply click on the desired book and you will be taken directly to it.  A percentage of the proceeds from all books purchased through this page will benefit the Psychology Department's student organizations and using the links won't cost you a penny extra.

Dr. Alford	Dr. Hogan
Dr. Baril	Dr. Karpiak
Dr. Buchanan	Dr. Norcross
Dr. Cannon	Dr. O'Malley
Dr. Dunstone	Dr. Slotterback

Dr. Alford:

The Meaning of It All : Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist by Richard P. Feynman
The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill
Prisoners of Hate by Aaron Beck

Dr. Cannon:

• House of Cards : Psychology and Psychotherapy Built on Myth, Robyn M. Dawes (If you're interested in Psychology and considering the helping professions--this book is a must read!!)
• The Bell Curve by Richard Herrnstein (A well written book primarily focusing on the issue of general intelligence and intelligence testing.  Commentary on the book, however, primarily focuses on racial issues.)
• On Human Nature, E.O. Wilson  (Simply put, this book changed my life.)
• The Mating Mind, Geoffrey F. Miller (This book changed my perspective on human evolution.)
• The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins
• Evolution of Desire, David Buss
• The Moral Animal, Richard Wright
• Darwin's Dangerous Idea:  Evolution and the Meanings of Life,  Daniel Clement Dennett (This is a very powerful and  thought provoking book.)
• Demonic Males : Apes and the Origins of Human Violence ,  Richard Wrangham, Dale Peterson
• The Cartoon History of the Universe/Volumes 1-7, Larry Gonick
• The Cartoon History of the Universe/Volumes: From the Springtime of China to the Fall of Rome/Volumes 8-13 , Larry Gonick
• The Cartoon Guide to Physics, Larry Gonick
• The Cartoon Guide to Statistics, Larry Gonick
• The Cartoon Guide to Genetics, Larry Gonick
• Feeling Good : The New Mood Therapy,  David D, MD Burns, Aaron T. Beck (Preface)
• The Feeling Good Handbook, David D, MD Burns
• Challenge of Pain, Melzack and Wall (May be hard to find, but a great book for the general public and professionals.)
• The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks
• Phantoms in the Brain : Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind, V. S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee

My colleagues and I have conducted a series of national studies over the past seven years to determine the most useful self-help resources. In each study, a lengthy survey was mailed to clinical and counseling psychologists residing throughout the United States. Across the five studies, more than 2,500 psychologists contributed their expertise and judgment to evaluate self-help books, autobiographies, movies, and internet sites with which they were sufficiently familiar. All of the results are presented in the Authoritative Guide to Self-Help Resources in Mental Health (Norcross, Santrock, Campbell, Smith, Sommer, & Zuckerman, 2000) published by Guilford Press. We believe that the ratings and reviews provide an invaluable resource for sorting through the bewildering maze of recommended books on the market.

The following list presents the highest rated self-help books for seven behavioral disorders and life challenges particularly relevant to college students. (Refer to the book for methodological details and for ratings of self-help resources on an additional 21 problem areas.)

Self-Help Books

* * * * Alcoholics Anonymous by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services
* * * * Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services
* * * The Truth about Addiction and Recovery by Stanton Peele and Archie Brodsky
* * * Sober and Free by Guy Kettelhack
* * * When AA Doesn’t Work for You by Albert Ellis and Emmett Velton

Autobiographies

* * * * A Drinking Life by Pete Hamill,
* * * * Getting Better: Inside Alcoholics Anonymous by Nan Robertson
¨Note Found in a Bottle by Susan Cheever

* * * * * The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund Bourne
* * * * * Mastery of Your Anxiety and Panic II by David Barlow & Michelle Craske
* * * * Anxiety Disorders and Phobias by Aaron Beck and Gary Emery
* * * * Don’t Panic by Reid Wilson
* * * * *S.T.O.P. Obsessing by Edna Foa and Reid Wilson
* * * * Obsessive-Compulsive Disordersby Steven Levenkron

Autobiographies

* * * The Panic Attack Recovery Book by Shirley Swede & Seymour Jaffe
* * * Memoirs of an Amnesiac by Oscar Levant

Self-Help Books

* * * * *Your Perfect Rightby Robert Alberti and Michael Emmons
* * * * Asserting Yourself by Sharon Anthony Bower and Gordon H. Bower
* * * * Stand Up, Speak Out, Talk Back by Robert Alberti and Michael Emmons
* * * * When I Say No, I Feel Guilty by Manuel Smith
* * * The Assertive Woman by Stanlee Phelps and Nancy Austin

Self-Help Books

* * * * Dying to be Thin by Ira Sacker & Marc Zimmer
* * * The Hunger Within by Marilyn Ann Migliore
* * * Healing the Hungry Self by Deirdre Price
* * * Overcoming Binge Eating by Christopher Fairburn

Autobiographies

* * * Am I Still Visible? by Sandra Harvey Heater
¨ Good Enough by Cynthia N. Bitter

Self-Help Books

* * * * * Feeling Good by David Burns
* * * * * The Feeling Good Handbook by David Burns
* * * * * Mind Over Mood by Dennis Greenberger and Christine Padesky
* * * * * Control Your Depression by Peter Lewinsohn and associates
* * * * * Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders by Aaron Beck
* * * * When Feeling Bad is Good by Ellen McGrath

Autobiographies

* * * * * Darkness Visible by William Styron
* * * * Undercurrents by Martha Manning
* * * * Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

Self-help Books

* * * * * The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey
* * * * * What You Can Change and What You Can’t by Martin Seligman
* * * * * Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman
* * * * Changing for Good by James Prochaska et al.
* * * * A New Guide to Rational Living by Albert Ellis and Robert Harper
* * * * Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers
* * * * What to Say When You Talk to Yourself by Shad Helmstetter
* * * * Overcoming Procrastination by Albert Ellis and William Knaus

Self-Help Books

* * * * * The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook by Martha Davis et al.
* * * * * The Stress & Relaxation Handbook by James Madders
* * * * * Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
* * * * * The Wellness Book by Herbert Benson and Eileen Stuart
* * * * Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky
* * * * * The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson
* * * * Beyond the Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson