Books like Running on Empty: Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect

01

Daring Greatly

Brené Brown · Health

Daring Greatly is Brené Brown's argument, drawn from twelve years of qualitative research on shame and vulnerability, that the willingness to show up without guarantees — to be seen, to risk failure, to remain open in the presence of uncertainty — is not weakness but the foundation of courage, connection, and meaningful achievement.

A kindred psychology read.

02

Lost Connections

Johann Hari · Health

Lost Connections is Johann Hari's argument that depression and anxiety are not primarily chemical imbalances in the brain but responses to social and environmental conditions — disconnection from meaningful work, close relationships, the natural world, a secure future, and status that feels deserved.

A kindred psychology read.

03

The Body Keeps the Score

Bessel van der Kolk · Psychology

The Body Keeps the Score is Bessel van der Kolk's account of four decades spent studying and treating trauma, from Vietnam veterans at the VA in the 1970s to survivors of childhood abuse, accidents, and domestic violence.

A kindred psychology read.

04

Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman · Psychology

Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence, published in 1995, made a widely influential argument: that the cluster of abilities involved in managing emotions — self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skill — predicts life outcomes at least as well as IQ, and possibly better in many domains.

Both dig into self-awareness.

05

A General Theory of Love

Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon · Psychology

A General Theory of Love is a 2000 book by three psychiatrists at the University of California, San Francisco — Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon — who set out to explain love scientifically without stripping it of its significance.

Both dig into attachment.

06

Atlas of the Heart

Brené Brown · Psychology

Atlas of the Heart is Brené Brown's attempt to map eighty-seven distinct human emotions and experiences — not as a clinical taxonomy but as a practical vocabulary for people who want to communicate more precisely about what they feel.

Both dig into self-awareness.

07

Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love

Sue Johnson · Psychology

Hold Me Tight is Sue Johnson's accessible introduction to Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), a model of couples therapy she developed over decades of clinical practice and research.

Both dig into attachment.

08

Immunity to Change

Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey · Psychology

Immunity to Change is Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey's attempt to explain why intelligent, motivated people fail to change behavior they genuinely want to change.

Both dig into self-awareness.

09

Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation

Daniel J. Siegel · Psychology

Mindsight is Daniel Siegel's case that humans have a distinct capacity he calls "mindsight" — the ability to sense and shape one's own mental processes and to perceive the inner lives of others.

Both dig into self-awareness.

10

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson · Psychology

Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson's premise is that much of what frustrates parents — tantrums, defiance, emotional meltdowns — is best understood not as bad behavior but as immature brain function.

Both dig into attachment.

11

Wanting

Luke Burgis · Psychology

Wanting is Luke Burgis's attempt to bring René Girard's theory of mimetic desire to a general audience.

Both dig into self-awareness.

12

Authentic Leadership

Bill George · Business

Authentic Leadership arrived in 2003 in the aftermath of Enron, WorldCom, and the first wave of corporate governance scandals.

Both dig into self-awareness.