My Reading List for Next Year

I love reading to learn new things! It is just so cool to me that there is are so many books out there about various topics, just within psychology, and I won't even be able to read them all within my lifetime. For me, reading a book is like taking a class, except without the stress. I can apply it to my life without any pressure about what grade I might get. Being that I am always looking to improve myself and doing my best to prepare myself for my future career as a counselor, I feel I can never have too much knowledge on all the various topics related to psychology. A few of the books on my list are ones that I got for free from someone who was getting rid of them. And others are ones that sounded interesting to me. Below are the books I plan to read next year!

The Dance of Intimacy: A Woman's Guide to Courageous Acts of Change in key Relationships

It never hurts to learn how to improve relationships of various kinds. Sometimes, relationships become distant or tense and need to be strengthened, other times they can be toxic and need to be healed. I am not a "people-person" but I definitely have many important relationships in my life. I hope to learn how to maintain healthy relationships and let go of any that may not be.

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

This is one that seems a bit different than any other books that I have read. It sounds interesting. I am looking forward to looking at my life from a different perspective and increasing my awareness so that I can potentially increase my happiness and become a better person.

Introduction to School Counseling

School counseling is not necessarily my goal, but I am curious to learn a bit more about it. I've always had my career path mapped out and was determined that is what I wanted. Now, I feel more open to what else may be out there and what options may open up to me once I complete my master's degree. Whenever I have talked about my graduate program and someone says "oh, you want to be a school counselor?" I always kind of rolled my eyes in my imagination. Like, "no! Of course that's not what I'm putting all this effort towards! Why would I want to be a school counselor?" But now, I realize I don't actually know much about it. Still, I probably won't go down that route, but it is always nice to know what my options are.

Helping Children Cope With Divorce

Of course I have no intentions of getting divorced. This one is on my list because I think we all know some people who get divorced and it is usually a big stress on the whole family. If ever necessary, I would like to be a supportive person to a child dealing with the difficulties of their parents going through a divorce. I'd much rather know what to do to help the child find some comfort and healing than not know what to do and cause more harm. Besides, I am sure I will encounter clients who are children of divorce.

The Last Dance: Encountering Death and Dying

Everyone has some experience with death and everyone will eventually die. I've taken developmental classes, but never one specific to death. I am interested to learn what there is to know about death. I've found myself in the position of experiencing the grief that comes with losing someone, being the person who feels the need to help others heal when the grief is so overwhelming to them, I've spoken with the elderly who know death is coming soon, and I too will someday face my own death. It would be nice to increase my knowledge on the subject so I can be better prepared for when I find myself in these roles in the future.

Understanding Research in Personal Relationships

Reading research is not necessarily fun, but it is important, especially as I am going into a field that requires me to understand research. I have read a book before that was similar, as in it was a book of just a bunch of research written in research language, and I found it to be very boring and hard to get through. However, I have now taken graduate-level classes about research, and I am hoping that I will become better at reading the research to a point that I can understand it well.

Own Your Past, Change Your Future: A not so Complicated Approach to Relationships, Mental Health, and Wellness

With this one, I am hoping to change my way of thinking to a way that can help me move forward. For example, sometimes I find myself feeling very invalidated in some of the difficult things I have experienced in my life. It would be nice to know how to change my way of perceiving the events so that I can move forward without some of the hurt and confusion.

If Your Adolescent has an Anxiety Disorder: An Essential Resource for Parents

My son, A, is not yet and adolescent and I hope he does not develop an anxiety disorder, but it does not hurt to be prepared in the case that he does. I am also sure that I will encounter plenty of adolescents with anxiety disorders in my career. As an adult who has taken classes that have taught me about anxiety disorders, I now know with certainty that I had social anxiety disorder as an adolescent. It was awful and I would not wish it on anyone. At the time, I thought I was weird and that something was very wrong with me. Things that seemed easy and natural for others were VERY difficult for me. I want to be someone who gets it. Whatever adolescents that I may come across who have some form of anxiety disorder, my hope is that I can be someone that they feel comfortable around and that I may be able to help them work through it.

Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar Miracle Health System: With the Bragg Healthy Lifestyle Blueprint for Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Improvement

My grandparents have always drank apple cider vinegar every morning because of its health benefits. I have always found it to be disgusting so I have never attempted to make it a daily habit. I am interested to know what healthy benefits it has to offer. Yes, I am sure that when I start reading the book that it won't take me long before I start drinking apple cider vinegar too.

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle

Being that I am a mother, a full-time employee, and a full-time student, I occasionally find myself starting to feel burned out. I get stressed and become more easily irritated. It would be nice to have a better understanding of what my stress cycle looks like so I can recognize when I need to take action to prevent burnout. I could use some more relaxation in my life.

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal From Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents

This one caught my attention because, again, I like to know what to do to help support people through their difficulties. Eventually I will have a client who was raised by immature parents. And, we all know someone who was raised by parents who are emotionally immature.

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

I love reading books about how a real person worked through a real-life experience. It can be very entertaining and gives a real-life example of something that can be easily read in a textbook, but in a way that is more visual and easier to understand. We all go through difficult times. Sometimes a life-changing event just hits you, and your whole life is off track from where you ever thought it would be. Sometimes it's easier to look at someone else's life to see the big picture than to look directly at your own.

The Brain fog fix: Reclaim Your Focus, Memory, and joy in Just 3 Weeks

Like I said, I am always looking for ways to improve myself. I like that this book is broken up into steps that have a timeframe. Sometimes I find myself rushing through steps, trying to accomplish it all at once, which usually leads me to become overwhelmed. This one is broken up into a week by week plan to reverse memory fog. I am looking forward to seeing how much improvement there is in just three weeks.

Cleaning up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking

Everyone has some form of mental mess. I know that sometimes mine feels like a big heavy load that I carry around unnecessarily. I am looking forward to taking myself through the steps to work through everything so that I can feel so much lighter.

Look me in the eye: My Life With Asperger's

As I said before, I love reading books about real life! I find autism to be interesting as many people seem to relate to different symptoms and it seems to be very common. Being that everyone knows various people who have autism, I love to learn about it so that I can have a better understanding of what they may be experiencing and so I can become more inclusive of those who may be affected by it.

Unmasking Autism: Discovering the new Faces of Neurodiversity

Like I said above, autism really is so common. We all know people who have autism. Some, we may know and not realize they have autism. I am very interested to learn more about it so I can be inclusive to those who may have it.

Magnificent Mind at any age: Natural Ways to Unleash Your Brain's Maximum Potential

I value my brain very much and love the idea of helping it reach its full potential. I also like that the methods are intended to be used at any age, suggesting that it is never too late to start doing good things for your brain. I look forward to seeing what natural methods are included in the book.

The end of Mental Illness: How Neuroscience is Transforming Psychiatry and Helping Prevent or Reverse Mood and Anxiety Disorders, ADHD, Addictions, PTSD, Psychosis, Personality Disorders, and More

The disorders listed are so common and I found it so hopeful and optimistic that they may be prevented or even reversed. People are so often afraid of being labeled as "mentally ill." I am curious to learn how to help people become more open to receiving the care they need and what language may be the least harmful to use.

The Hilarious World of Depression

This one is inspired by a podcast that the author had by the same title. He also happens to be a comedian. I am hoping the book will be as entertaining as it sounds and help bring a more hopeful perspective to the dark image of depression.

Surviving a Borderline Parent: How to Heal Your Childhood Wounds and Build Trust, Boundaries, and Self-Esteem

I don't know a lot about borderline personality disorder, but I know that it is common and that I likely know people who have it. I am curious to learn more about it and the effects it has on others.

The Mood Cure: The 4-Step Program to Rebalance Your Emotional Chemistry and Rediscover Your Natural Sense of Well-Being

I know I can definitely be moody and it often comes out towards those around me. Being that this book is focused on nutrition, I am looking forward to learning what changes I can make in my diet so that I can feel more emotionally balanced.

What's Eating us: Women, Food, and the Epidemic of Body Anxiety

This one stands out to me because I have always been very insecure about my body, especially now. As a teenager, I would often go without eating for a day or two at a time to lose weight, I tried to eat minimally when I did, drank lots of water, and would pride myself on the accomplishment of my pants feeling looser. I wasn't overweight. I was pretty skinny. Now, I am technically two pounds overweight. Nothing of my diet or lifestyle had really changed. I had become pregnant and have never been able to lose any of the weight since having my son. While I generally do not care much about what people think of me, some reason I still feel so insecure about my body. Some still consider me to be skinny, though I am about thirty-five pounds heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight. I am very interested to learn about why it is so difficult for women to accept their bodies as they are.

Memory Rescue: Supercharge Your Brain, Reverse Memory Loss, and Remember What Matters Most

My memory is something that is very important to me. Much of my life is so important to me that I would never want to forget it. As I get older, I would like to be able to retain my memory and feel like my brain is functioning clearly. I am hoping that I can maintain a healthy brain into my late adulthood.