Books Sarah recommends

For chronic worriers who have tried arguing with their worries and lost. Carbonell explains why fighting anxious thoughts feeds them, and offers a lighter approach: notice the 'what if' story, humor it, then get back to your day.

For people whose anxiety shows up as overthinking, procrastinating or freezing before decisions. Short, practical chapters help you spot your personal stuck points and try small experiments, such as taking action before you feel completely sure.

For people worn out from battling painful thoughts and feelings. Harris introduces Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in plain language, with simple exercises for getting unhooked from unhelpful thoughts and putting your energy into what you care about.

For readers who want a whole-life approach to low mood. Jantz, a counselor, looks at sleep, food, movement, stress, screen habits and spiritual life as practical places to begin feeling more like yourself.

For readers interested in the social side of depression and anxiety. Journalist Johann Hari explores how loneliness, unfulfilling work and lost purpose can affect mood, and highlights ways people and communities rebuild connection.

Read with care: Some psychiatrists and researchers say it understates the evidence for antidepressants and oversimplifies the science; others welcome its focus on loneliness, work and other social causes of distress.

For anyone wondering how childhood shapes adult life. In an accessible conversation, a child psychiatrist and Oprah Winfrey explain how stress affects the developing brain, and why caring relationships are central to healing.

For people who survived hard things and have kept busy ever since. Psychologist Thema Bryant offers a warm path back to yourself, drawing on therapy and spirituality: feel your emotions honestly, reclaim neglected parts of you, and lean on community.

A memoir for adults living with the long shadow of a hard childhood. Journalist Stephanie Foo weaves her own story together with clear explanations of complex trauma and the many approaches she explored, offering honesty and hope without easy answers.

For anyone puzzled by their own patterns in dating or partnership. A readable introduction to adult attachment styles that helps you recognize anxious and avoidant dynamics, choose partners who can meet your needs, and handle conflict more securely.

For people who tend to lose themselves in relationships, worrying about closeness and over-giving. Baum, a therapist, pairs attachment ideas with body awareness to help you trace old wounds and practice setting limits from a steadier place.

For adults who find friendship harder than it used to be. Franco draws on attachment research to explain why we hold back, then offers encouraging steps: reach out first, expect to be liked, and work through friend conflict with care.

For adults who grew up with parents who were distant, self-focused or hard to reach. Gibson helps you name what was missing, step out of old family roles, and relate to your parents on calmer, more realistic terms.

For couples stuck in the same argument on repeat. Menanno, a couples therapist, helps you treat the pattern as the shared problem rather than each other, and offers fill-in-the-blank scripts for sharing deeper feelings without blame.

For couples who slip into old roles under stress. Real shows how coping habits from childhood play out in conflict, and offers practical alternatives, like calming down before trying to repair and opening with appreciation when raising a concern.

For parents of worried kids. Chansky shows families how to treat anxiety as a separate voice their child can talk back to, and how to practice facing fears in small, planned steps, with tools suited to different ages.

For parents of teens whose stress shows up as avoidance, perfectionism or irritability. Josephs lays out a clear plan: empathize first, then help your teen question anxious thinking and take small, brave steps instead of steering around fears.

For parents whose worry about their kids crowds out the enjoyment of raising them. Three anxiety specialists offer brief CBT and mindfulness exercises to quiet your own fears, clarify what matters to you, and stay present with your family.

For parents of toddlers and preschoolers. Full of playful, realistic ideas for mornings, mealtimes, sibling fights and bedtime, built on one simple habit: put your child's feelings into words first, and cooperation usually comes more easily.

For parents who want to understand what is going on in a child's brain during a meltdown. Siegel and Bryson turn neuroscience into everyday tools, like connecting emotionally before redirecting, and helping kids find words for big feelings.

A classic for parents of school-age kids and teens. Through cartoons, exercises and real family stories, Faber and Mazlish teach everyday skills: acknowledging feelings, inviting cooperation without nagging, and solving problems together instead of punishing.

For parents and educators weighing phones, social media and childhood. Haidt argues for delaying smartphones, phone-free schools and more unsupervised play, with practical ideas for families who want to act together with other parents.

Read with care: Researchers disagree on how strong the evidence is: some find only small links between social media use and teen mental health, while Haidt and others read the data as showing real harm.

For parents of kids at any age, and parents-to-be. Psychotherapist Philippa Perry focuses less on techniques and more on the relationship, including how your own childhood shapes your reactions and how to repair after you get it wrong.

For people who shape themselves around what others want. Using family systems ideas, Smith helps you notice your automatic moves in relationships and slowly act from your own values, without cutting people off or trying to fix them.

For chronic people-pleasers ready for a push. Gazipura's direct, energetic style helps you see what constant niceness costs you, then practice saying no, speaking up and making direct requests, while riding out the guilt afterward.

For adults who know or suspect they are autistic, and the people who love them. Price explains masking and the toll it takes, then offers reflective exercises for building a life around your real needs, values and interests.

For parents, teachers and caregivers of autistic kids. Prizant reframes puzzling behaviors as understandable ways of coping, and shows why building trust and helping a child stay regulated matter more than trying to stop the behavior.

For women who are kind to everyone except themselves. Neff, a leading self-compassion researcher, shows how gentleness and strength work together, so you can comfort yourself and also hold boundaries, say no, and push for change.

For anyone who wants better words for what they feel. Brown maps out dozens of emotions and experiences, from envy and regret to awe and joy, explaining how they differ so you can understand yourself and others more clearly.

For women running on empty from work and caregiving. The Nagoski sisters explain why solving a stressor does not release the stress itself, and how to let it go by moving, resting, connecting with others and being kind to yourself.

For anyone overwhelmed by laundry, dishes and clutter, especially when energy, focus or mood are low. Davis, a therapist, takes the shame out of housework and offers flexible, low-effort ways to make your home work for you.

For anyone trying to build a new routine or break an old one. Clear's framework centers on tiny, repeatable steps, tying new habits to ones you already have, and arranging your surroundings so the better choice is the easier one.

For anyone whose loss happened years ago but still surfaces. Edelman explores how grief changes over a lifetime, why it can flare at anniversaries and milestones, and how to make room for it instead of expecting it to end.

For anyone curious about what really happens in a therapy room. Gottlieb, a therapist, writes candidly about her clients and her own time as a client, making therapy feel human, funny and much less intimidating.