USEFUL BOOKS & TOOLS TO EXPLORE MOOD, BEHAVIOR, AND RELATIONSHIPS

ANXIETY & OCD

Freeing Your Child from Anxiety, Revised and Updated Edition: Practical Strategies to Overcome Fears, Worries, and Phobias and Be Prepared for Life-from Toddlers to Teens

by Tamar Chansky PhD

Freeing Yourself from Anxiety: The 4-Step Plan to Overcome Worry and Create the Life You Want by Tamar Chansky PhD

Freeing Your Child from Negative Thinking: Powerful, Practical Strategies to Build a Lifetime of Resilience, Flexibility, and Happiness
by Tamar Chansky PhD

Freeing Your Child from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Powerful, Practical Program for Parents of Children and Adolescents

by Tamar Chansky PhD

* All of Tamar Chansky’s books are useful, concrete, easily understood and readily applied.

Anxiety Website:

Worry Wise Kids http://www.worrywisekids.org/

Freedom from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Personalized Recovery Program for Living with Uncertainty

by Jonathan Grayson PhD

* Explains OCD in easy to understand terms and lays out a method to treat the disorder with or without therapy and with or without medication.

Prozac Diary

by Lauren Slater
* Explores her experience with Prozac to treat her OCD and depression.

UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN'S VARIED LEARNING NEEDS AND DIAGNOSES:

The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self Reliant Children

by Wendy Mogel, PhD

*Dr Mogel provides practical advice for raising children in today’s society, with its unique challenges and biases. The book is easy to read and thought provoking. The use of religious teachings makes it no less useful for members of any spiritual belief system.

Between Parent and Child

Between Parent and Teen

by Dr. Haim Ginott

*Beware, these books are incredibly dated and the examples will make even the non-feminist cringe. Despite the fact that Dr. Ginott was a product of his time, his insights and teachings remain wise and useful and relevant.

A Mind at a Time: America’s Top Learning Expert Shows How Every Child Can Succeed

by Mel Levine MD

* Helps in the understanding and response to the varied ways in which children think and learn. (There are some controversies about Dr. Levine but his writings are incredibly clear and useful and his work is widely respected and influential.)

The Child With Special Needs: Encouraging Intellectual and Emotional Growth
by Dr Stanley Greenspan MD & Serena Wieder PhD with Robin Simons

* An easy to read and understand explanation of varied special needs that children have. Provides concrete suggestions and strategies for the home and the school.

The Sensory Sensitive Child: Practical Solutions for Out-of-Bounds Behavior

by Karen Smith PhD and Karen Gouze PhD

* Helps parents to understand and identify sensory issues in their children and to develop parenting strategies that take these unique challenges into account.

Eating an Artichoke: A Mother’s Perspective on Asperger Syndrome

by Echo R Fling

*A wonderful and joyful book about understanding and parenting a child on the spectrum.

Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls

by Mary Pipher PhD

* Provides insight and strategies for raising girls in a society that does not always support healthy choices.

Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys

by Dan Kindlon PhD & Michael Thompson PhD

* Provides insight and strategies for raising boys in a society that does not always support healthy choices.

ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER:

Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder

by Edward M. Hallowell M.D. and John J. Ratey M.D.

Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary “Executive Skills” Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential

by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention

by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

Taking Charge of Your Child’s ADHD
by Russell Barkley

Straight Talk About Psychiatric Medication for Kids
by Timothy E. Wilens MD and Paul G. Hammerness MD

ADD Online Resources:

ADDitude Magazine and Website http://www.additudemag.com/

CHADD – Children and Adults with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder www.chadd.net

ABUSE:

Strong at The Broken Places: Building Resiliency in Survivors of Trauma

by Linda T Sanford

*This book explores the impact of traumatic experiences during the formative years. These can range from dealing with parents screaming and yelling to severe forms of abuse. The book is hopeful and helpful for survivors and for their family and friends.

The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

by Ellen Bass & Laura Davis

*This book shares stories, information and tools to assist in the healing process.

LOSS:

Necessary Losses: The Loves, Illusions, Dependencies and Impossible Expectations That All of us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow

by Judith Viorst

* While this book explores loss, it is very hopeful. It communicates our need to mourn what we have lost so that we may embrace what we have.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

by Rabbi Harold Kushner

* A book to help move through grief.

The Year of Magical Thinking

by Joan Didion

* Explores the process of absorbing and coming to terms with the loss of a loved one.

THERAPEUTIC WORKBOOKS FOR CHILDREN:

An Elephant in the Living Room: The Children’s Book

by Jill Hastings MS and Marion Typpo PhD

AGES: 9-?

* A workbook for assisting children in understanding the reality and impact of growing up in a home with alcohol abuse; and a tool to help develop some of the tools that may be lacking in this environment.

What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Anxiety

by Dawn Huebner PhD

AGES: 6-?

* This is an educational and interactive workbook to learn about and develop skills to help decrease and manage anxiety.

Up and Down the Worry Hill: A Children’s Book about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and its Treatment
by Aureen Pinto Wagner PhD

AGES: 4-?

* This book explains OCD and provides strategies for managing it.

Anxiety and OCD