Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Books
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In this blog post, you will find what is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, as wells as a list of the best 12 cognitive behavioral therapy books that address issues such as anxiety, PTSD, depression, weight management, personality disorders and so much more.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common type of talk therapy (psychotherapy).
You work with a mental health counselor (psychotherapist or therapist) in a structured way, attending a limited number of sessions.
CBT helps you become aware of inaccurate or negative thinking so you can view challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way, according to the Mayo clinic.
CBT can be a very helpful tool ― either alone or in combination with other therapies ― in treating mental health disorders, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or an eating disorder.
But not everyone who benefits from CBT has a mental health condition.
CBT can be an effective tool to help anyone learn how to better manage stressful life situations.
Mental health disorders that may improve with CBT include:
- Depression
- Anxiety disorders
- Phobias
- PTSD
- Sleep disorders
- Eating disorders
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Substance use disorders
- Bipolar disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Sexual disorders
In some cases, CBT is most effective when it’s combined with other treatments, such as antidepressants or other medications.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy books
Below you will find a list of 11 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy books that make CBT easy to understand even for people without clinical or psychological background.
These books address issues such as anxiety, PTSD, depression, weight management, personality disorders and more.
- Cognitive Therapy: Basics and Beyond – by Judith S. Beck
Written in a clear, step-by-step style, this ideal teaching text makes cognitive therapy immediately accessible to students as well as to professionals new to cognitive therapy.
The author uses a single case example to demonstrate how to conceptualize patients according to the cognitive model, plan treatment, conduct an initial session, structure therapy within and across sessions, incorporate homework, and use cognitive and behavioral techniques.
Instructors will appreciate the book’s emphasis on formulating cases, making decisions within therapy sessions, diagnosing problems in therapy, and using advanced techniques to modify core beliefs and underlying assumptions.
Transcripts in every chapter richly illustrate the narrative.
- Stop Feeling So Damn Depressed: A CBT-Based Guide For Men Who Want to Overcome Depression – by Jonas A. Horwitz
How to Stop Feeling So Damn Depressed: The Guide for Men by psychologist Jonas A. Horwitz is a how-to guide that aims to tell men how to take on depression and win.
With this unique guide, you’ll learn why it’s so important to take your severe depression seriously–just as you would if you had cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or any other life-threatening illness.
In addition, by viewing your depression into a separate entity–The Beast–you’ll discover how it tries to trick you when you are most stressed to do things that leave you feeling much more depressed.
Most importantly, you’ll find actionable solutions to put The Beast in its place so you can start feeling better now!
In order to overcome your depression, you must understand its nature.
This book will help you understand The Beast, how to stop feeding it, and take back your life.
- The CBT Anxiety Solution Workbook: A Breakthrough Treatment for Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Panic – by Matthew McKay, Michelle Skeen, Patrick Fanning
If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, you may try to avoid situations that cause you to feel worry, fear, or panic.
You may even believe that terrible things will happen to you if you face the things that make you anxious. But avoidance isn’t a long-term solution, and in the end, it may result in more anxiety.
This book shows you how the simple belief that you can endure your worries and fears—both mentally and physically—can be an extremely powerful treatment.
Using a breakthrough approach combining proven-effective CBT and exposure therapy, this workbook helps you understand how worry and rumination drive anxiety, and offers practical exercises to help you adopt new habits of observing your thoughts, rather than accepting them as the “ultimate truth.”
You’ll also develop mindfulness and self-soothing coping skills to help you manage anxiety in the moment, rather than avoid it.
Over time these practices will show you that you are more powerful than your anxiety.
- Mindfulness and Acceptance for Addictive Behaviors: Applying Contextual CBT to Substance Abuse and Behavioral Addictions – by Steven C. Hayes, Michael E. Levin
Edited by Steven Hayes, one of the best-known clinicians working with acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions, Mindfulness and Acceptance for Addictive Behaviors features articles by leading substance abuse and addiction researchers.
Each article illuminates the mindfulness and acceptance-based treatments that work best for particular addictive behaviors, reviews empirical data, and discusses future directions for research and treatment applications.
One of the articles presents the first controlled study on treating pornography addiction, an increasingly common problem that has been a challenge for therapists to treat in the past.
An essential resource for mental health professionals, researchers, and students interested in the most effective treatments for addiction, this book will dramatically impact the way addictions of all kinds are viewed and addressed in therapy.
- The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Workbook for Personality Disorders: A Step-by-Step Program – by Jeffrey Wood
The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Workbook for Personality Disorders is packed with exercises and worksheets that enable you to put an end to the self-defeating thoughts that hold you back.
Based on cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), a proven-effective treatment for personality disorders, this workbook can help you reconnect with life by teaching you a set of key skills for overcoming difficulties associated with the eleven most common personality disorders.
You’ll learn stress reduction, relaxation, and emotion regulation techniques, and how best to communicate and cope with others while keeping your personality-disorder-related behaviors in check.
- The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Weight Management: A Step-by-Step Program – by Michele Laliberte, Randi E. McCabe, Valerie Taylor
The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Weight Management is a different kind of weight management guide that focuses on helping you stay disciplined and dedicated to your weight management goals by using cognitive behavioral therapy.
This approach has been used by therapists for years to treat a diverse range of mental health conditions, and researchers have found that it also helps people make healthy changes that last.
This workbook includes exercises and worksheets to help you design a customized weight management strategy most likely to be effective for you based on the habits and lifestyle you have now.
You’ll set specific goals to improve your body image and your health and follow a realistic weight management plan designed specifically for you.
It is possible to feel good about yourself as you work toward a healthier lifestyle.
This book will show you how.
Presenting tools drawn from a number of approaches and treatment models—such as ACT, DBT, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), exposure treatment, behavioral activation, imagery rehearsal therapy, and a highly effective, twelve-session cognitive processing therapy (CPT) program, The Cognitive Behavioral Coping Skills Workbook for PTSD can help you overcome the most common and most difficult challenges people with PTSD face.
This practical guide is loaded with research-based skills from the most effective PTSD treatments available to help you manage your symptoms, reclaim your well-being, and maintain your recovery.
- CBT Made Simple: A Clinician’s Guide to Practicing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – by Nina Josefowitz, David Myran, Zindel V. Segal
CBT Made Simple provides a user-friendly, practical approach to learning CBT using up-to-the-minute teaching methods and learning tools—in particular, the “effective adult learning model,” which promotes interactive learning, experiential learning, and self-reflection.
Each chapter presents key elements of CBT in clear, accessible language, and includes client dialogues—including explanations of the therapist’s thinking process in relation to various interventions—and clinical examples.
Practical exercises are incorporated throughout, enabling you to practice and consolidate your learning.
In addition, each chapter mimics the structure of an actual CBT session.
- The Insomnia Workbook for Teens: Skills to Help You Stop Stressing and Start Sleeping Better – by Michael A. Tompkins Monique A. Thompson, Judith S. Beck
The Insomnia Workbook for Teens offers proven-effective tips and strategies to help you get to sleep and stay asleep.
You’ll learn about the different reasons you may experience insomnia, target your own “sleep disrupters” like caffeine and sugar, and discover skills for managing these disrupters so you can stop feeling drowsy and grumpy every day.
It’s hard being a teen in today’s fast-paced world. And it’s even harder to reach your goals when you’re feeling tired and run-down.
Based on up-to-the-minute science, this workbook will give you real solutions for overcoming insomnia and getting that much-needed zzzs
- Overcoming Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors: A Comprehensive Behavioral Treatment for Hair Pulling and Skin Picking – by Charles S. Mansueto, Sherrie Mansfield Vavrichek, Ruth Golomb
In this evidence-based resource, three renowned experts and clinicians offer powerful CBT skills to help you move past BFRB.
You’ll learn why you engage in these behaviors, and how to identify your own sensory “triggers”—places, things, or experiences that cause your behavior to become worse.
Finally, you’ll learn strategies to use when faced with these triggers, and develop your own customized “plan of action” for moving beyond BFRB for good.
With time, practice, and solid skills for managing stress, anxiety, urges, and other triggers, this book will help you break free from BFRB and feel more in control of your life.
- Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy – by David D. Burns
David D. Burns, M.D., outlines the remarkable, scientifically proven techniques that will immediately lift your spirits and help you develop a positive outlook on life.
Now, in this updated edition, Dr. Burns adds an All-New Consumer′s Guide To Anti-depressant Drugs as well as a new introduction to help answer your questions about the many options available for treating depression.
– Recognize what causes your mood swings
– Nip negative feelings in the bud
– Deal with guilt
– Handle hostility and criticism
– Overcome addiction to love and approval
– Build self-esteem
– Feel good everyday
Conclusions
In this blog post, we concluded a list of 12 cognitive behavioral therapy books that address issues such as anxiety, PTSD, depression, weight management, personality disorders and so much more.
These books can be a great resource for CBT students and practicians, and for people who are looking to improve their wellbeing as well.
We hope that you felt inspired by our list, and are looking forward to your questions or recommendations in the comments section below!
References
- Popular Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Books – Goodreads
- CBT books – InfoCounselling
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – Mayo Clinic
Find Hope and Healing Through Online Counseling on BetterHelp
