10 Books That Sit on My Shelf: A Reading List from a Black Trauma Therapist in Seattle

As a therapist, the conversation of latest readings is never far from my personal and professional spaces. If you are curious what books a therapist actually reads when not busy taking notes, perhaps this blog post may be for you.

Why a Therapist's Bookshelf Matters

People are sometimes surprised to learn that therapists read for fun. Like, actual for-fun reading, not just clinical journals and diagnostic manuals (though yes, I have my fair share of those too, as you will soon see). But here's the truth: the books I return to again and again shape how I show up in the therapy room. They inform how I think about healing, identity, community, and what it means to be a whole person. 

Being a Black therapist in Seattle means I often get to be someone's first experience of feeling truly seen in a therapy space. That's not a small thing to me. A lot of what helps me hold that space with care comes from books — some clinical others just really good storytelling.

My 10 Book Recommendations

So, in the spirit of sharing a little piece of my world with you, here are 10 books I recommend to just about anyone who asks. These books are in no particular order and I am not being paid to endorse them:

1. Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson

2. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare

3. What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

4. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

5. A Spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo

6. Mere Christianity by C.S Lewis

7. The Sun Sets in Singapore by Kehinde Fadipe

8. Running from Mercy by Anthony Carter

9. Black and Reformed: Seeing God’s Sovereignty in African-American Christian Experience by Anthony J. Carter

10. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson

A Few Final Thoughts

If any of these books end up on your own nightstand, I'd genuinely love to hear what you think of them. Books have a unique way of opening doors that therapy sometimes opens too.

And if you're looking for an EMDR trained Black therapist in Seattle who brings that same anti-racist curiosity, warmth, and love of a good story into the therapy room, I'd love to connect. Healing doesn't have to be heavy all the time. Sometimes it starts with a good book and an even better conversation.

Next on the reading list is Honor Thy Mother:How to Grieve, Heal, and Make Peace with Your Mother Wounds by Dr. Sarita Lyons