9 Essential Books on Psychology

Psychology books, also known as self-help books, are among the most highly demanded today. Managing our emotions and understanding how we operate internally is essential to leading a full life. Therefore, psychology books are an excellent tool for knowledge and personal growth.

Self help books cover many issues and areas that are of interest to us on our path of personal growth. Which might help us depends on what we are struggling with or what area of our lives we want to develop or face.

Today we share nine psychology books that we at Exploring Your Mind recommend and consider to be the most influential.

1. The Art of Making Your Life Miserable by Paul Watzlawick

It is a short psychology book written in very simple language and is full of anecdotes that tell us about those wrong attitudes we have each day and prevent us from being happy. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most recommended psychology books for all ages.

In addition, it helps us recognize the patterns we use to face different situations. Through the book we see how we create our own unfortunate and unhappy realities with our thoughts. All of which is an opportunity to start knowing oneself.

2. The Art of Not Making Your Life Miserable by Rafael Santandreu

The quote at the beginning of this article comes from this book. We’re not sure whether this book is a response to the aforementioned book, but the truth is that this one deals with the same topic, although in a very different way.

In this book of psychology, Santandreu, one of the most important psychologists in Spain, speaks about the behaviors and attitudes that are the most dangerous to mental health and how they can harm our quality of life.

3. Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

This is highly recommended and is a reference for many psychologists today. In this book, the author brilliantly analyzes the relationship between thought and emotion.

In addition, Daniel Goleman offers his theory of Emotional Intelligence, and shows us how we can become more well-versed in this intelligence. It is a well-known book of psychology and helps us better understand ourselves and those around us.

4. Your Erroneous Zones by Wayne Dyer

Despite having been written many years ago, it is still a reference for many psychologists today. The book teaches us the wrong behaviors that prevent us from being happy and gives us practical tools to generate a positive change.

Actually, it is one of the most practical psychology books because it offers exercises in each chapter to help you identify what your irrational beliefs are and how sometimes we complicate life through worries, guilt or the need for approval, among others.

5. Love or Dependency? by Walter Riso

This is one of the most recommended psychology books for people who want to understand how to establish positive interpersonal relationships based on healthy love and not emotional dependence.

Love or Dependency gives us the tools to experience love and relationships fully, by overcoming emotional dependency.

6. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks

This psychology is quite atypical. It discusses the pathologies that can be found during a psychology consultation and how they affect patients. He does this by narrating 20 medical records in the form of a novel in a very human way.

7. Powerful Mind by Bernabé Tierno

Currently, there is a belief that we are slaves to what we think. We believe that change is not possible and that the only option is to limit ourselves by resignation. In this book, Barnabas Tierno teaches us that the mind is our best weapon and how we can use it to create positive change. Powerful Mind helps unmask the hidden mechanisms of our brain.

8. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

This book, unexpectedly, became an international success. The author presents two ways or systems that control how we think, and helps us understand how to improve our quality of life through the quality of our thoughts.

Daniel Kahneman surprises us by showing us how unreliable our brain can be. Our brain is full of bias and false and often unfinished reasoning.

9. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Habits are part of our life and also determine our well-being. We must be aware of them and change the ones that are not contributing something positive to our life. This book is an excellent tool to achieve this.

These are the nine psychology books we recommend you read, whether you’ve set a goal to learn more about this field or if you want to pursue higher well-being and satisfaction with your life overall. We hope these suggestions have been useful to you.

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Image courtesy of Christian Schloe