Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Just after I graduated from college I got my very first introduction to mindfulness meditation when a friend brought me with her to a workshop taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn. That experience changed my life and my career!

Kabat-Zinn is an inspiring teacher and was one of the first to use mindfulness meditation as an integrative medicine intervention. He developed an 8-week program for managing stress called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) that is now taught all over the world. MBSR has been proven time and time again through rigorous research to reduce stress, and improve health. This book is the “bible” of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction.

Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
Tara Brach is a Buddhist psychologist who has written this wonderful guide to cultivating more self-compassion and acceptance. Accepting ourselves with compassion can be one of the most difficult emotional challenges we face. Brach shares her personal journey and insightful wisdom in this book that teaches the reader how mindful awareness can help transform our experience of ourselves and our lives.

Love Your Enemies by Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman
Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman are two of the most gifted and inspiring Buddhist teachers in the world. Both have been influential in my life and my understanding of Buddhist philosophy and meditation. I am honored to call Bob Thurman my teacher and my friend.

This book (like all of Bob and Sharon’s books) offers an insightful and accessible guide to a complex and challenging topic—the destructive emotions of anger, hatred, self-loathing and alienation. Love Your Enemies shows the reader how to take back the power from all of our enemies – the real, the imagined, and the self created.

Skills Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder by Marsha Linehan
This is THE book of Dialectical Behavior Therapy. The first half of this book serves as a training manual for therapists. It outlines Dr. Linehan’s comprehensive treatment program, and details precisely how to implement DBT behavioral skills training procedures.

The second half of this book serves as the workbook that all DBT therapists use to teach their patients the four sets of DBT skills: Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, Distress Tolerance, and Mindfulness.

YOU: The Owner’s Manual by Mehmet Oz, M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
What can I say about this important book—Dr. Oz is America’s doctor for good reason!!! He has taught all of us what we need to know about our bodies in order to stay healthy. This is the first book in his series, a great primer on everything you need to know to be an informed patient and to live a healthy life. It was an honor to be able to contribute to several of Dr Oz and Dr Roizen’s books, and it is a true blessing to have Dr. Oz as my mentor and friend.

Stop Walking on Eggshells: Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care About Has Borderline Personality Disorder by Paul Mason, MS and Randi Kreger

I recommend this book to all of the family members and partners of my patients with Borderline Personality Disorder. Understanding the disorder is the key to being able to have a better relationship with a loved one, but even more importantly, I think it is the key to being able to truly accept and have compassion for a loved one’s struggle.