Bibliotherapy for Black Women and BIPOC Women: Books to Support You on Your Healing Journey
I am headed out on a maternity leave at the end of this month which means I have been talking about transition and healing practices aside from psychotherapy with lots of my clients, especially for my clients who are choosing to take a summer break from therapy and returning to work with me in the Fall.
Healing can come in so many forms from movement to dance to acupuncture to meditation to community organizing to deep and intentional time with friends. One of my favorite healing modalities that you can do alone and on your own time is bibliotherapy! Bibliotherapy involves engaging with specific, relevant, healing oriented texts through reading or writing (think guided journaling).
One of the things I have discovered as a Black woman, a licensed somatic therapist, and a somatic therapist with a focus on trauma and anxiety who loves some bibliotherapy is that a lot of books are not written with the experience of Black or BIPOC women in mind. The guidance and recommendations work for some people or only make sense with a certain level of privilege or ignore certain very important cultural strengths or nuances that make the text ring hollow.
So here is a starter list of books for Black and BIPOC women to help you along your healing journey! These are books that I have read, other therapists that I trust have recommended, or clients have recommended. I hope to add to this list or do a part two that focuses on fiction but this should be a great starting place with options that range from the more straight forward to the more spiritual and woo-woo and these books cover a wide range of topics. Many of the books are written by BIPOC women or, if they are not, the content is relevant and nuanced enough to be applicable for BIPOC women.
How We Heal by Alexandra Elle
Break the Cycle by Dr. Mariel Buque
Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships by Nedra Glover-Tawwab
Rage Becomes Her by Soraya Chemaly
Permission to Come Home by Dr. Jenny Wang
Matters of the Heart: Healing Your Relationship with Yourself and Those Who You Love by Dr. Thema Bryant
I Am Diosa: A Journey to Healing Deep, Loving Yourself, and Coming Back Home to Soul by Christina Guittierez
Grief is Love: Living with Loss by Marisa Renee Lee
The Pain We Carry: Healing from Complex PTSD for People of Color by Natalie Y. Gutiérrez
No Bad Parts by Dr. Richard Schwartz
Wired for Love: How Understanding Your Partner's Brain and Attachment Style Can Help You Defuse Conflict and Build a Secure Relationship by Dr. Stan Tatkin
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find--and Keep--Love by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller
Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Dr. Kristen Neff
Radical Compassion by Tara Brach
Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make--and Keep--Friends by Dr. Marisa G Franco
Briefly Perfectly Human by Alua Arthur
If you are looking for additional support, individual guidance, or direction on how to apply all the healing information you are taking in then schedule a consultation with one of our licensed therapists!
