This has replaced “Dark Side of the Inner Child” as the best therapy book I’ve ever read. It emphasizes the analysis of happy memories as well as cultivating happiness, gratitude, and a stronger mind-body/conscious-subconscious connection. You can read an in-depth article about this book’s methods here: How to Heal by Being Happy.

One of the best therapy books I’ve ever read (only second to Kerth Barker’s book); and more effective than the $200/hour therapist I used to pay in San Francisco. If you’ve ever heard of “integrating the shadow self” and never knew what that meant, then this book is for you!

It helps you reach into the subconscious mind: a process that unearths the specific reasons behind anxiety, depression, procrastination, self-sabotage, and relational issues. As a result of this deep work, the repressed feelings are surfaced—and brought into the light of consciousness.

That expansion in awareness leads to a much richer understanding of yourself; which helps to develop self-compassion. The new perception expands your access to inner resources—it helps you come up with better solutions to your problems.

This is the book that helped me see I could be recovered instead of “in recovery” indefinitely. Life-changing is an understatement!

Somatic meditation to help release trauma from the body—and the energetic field. Helps you find the ground and to feel grounded in life; to feel a healthy sense of sexuality, power, compassion, love, understanding, intuition, and wisdom—an essential for those who’ve suffered trauma, or for anyone wanting to realize their true potential!

Yoga has been a pillar of my recovery and healing process. Our bodies hold memories within them, and especially with traumatic memories: it is important to have a way to release these body memories.

I do the Sun Salutations yoga poses; along with the Warrior 1, Warrior 2, Dancing Warrior, Tree Pose, Child’s Pose, and the Half Forward Bend Pose.

The sequence is a great way to get physical exercise while stretching out the muscles. It also strengthens the muscles around the diaphragm—this allows me to breathe more deeply.

Yoga has brought a profound change in my awareness of body posture and movement throughout the day. It’s helped me breathe better and sleep more deeply. This practice has empowered me to feel more grounded in my physicality.

The sense of solidity and power is so important to survivors of trauma: they often leave their bodies energetically due to fear and loss of groundedness.

For this reason, yoga gets top marks from me!

The best shame healing book ever. It pulled to the surface all of my subconscious shame and helped me heal it. Everyone who suffers from self-sabotage, low self-esteem, and relationship problems will do well to read this.

Dr. Burns was the first therapist whose books helped me heal. This book covers the cognitive behavioral therapy techniques he uses in his practice. It helped me dissolve a big chunk of my anxiety disorder—all within a month of regularly doing the written exercises! My favorite techniques were the downward arrow and the exposure techniques. CBT has its limits; they can be overcome by the resources listed above. It’s still a great introduction to bibliotherapy that works!

The key to doing self-administered therapy is to focus on building a consistent routine and to reward yourself for sticking with it. Consistency and rest are the most important parts of recovery and healing—it’s the same with self-healing through books and CDs!

This app has a coaching option where you can subscribe to have live SMS chat sessions with a certified therapist. I was wary of therapy due to the expensive therapists who delivered subpar results compared to my self-healing through books and meditation. But I reached a point in my healing where I wanted a trained therapist to give me an outsider’s perspective.

My Wysa therapist agreed to read “Dark Side of the Inner Child” after I told her that I’ve been having great success with healing due to this book. We used Wolinsky’s integration process throughout our sessions; weaved in with her own methodology based on REBT. It’s been the best therapy I’ve had to date. My therapist was willing to work with the methods that worked well for me and she’s great at digging deeper into my thought process—this helped me to realize things faster than I would on my own.

Since they are based in India, the Wysa therapy rates are very affordable. I paid $180 for a 3-month subscription. This nets about 2 live chat sessions per week and unlimited texting in-between sessions where the therapist answers within 24 hours.

Give it a try if you’re looking for more affordable therapy!