Recommended Reading List

At Holistically Divine Counseling (HDC), we believe in the transformative power of knowledge and self-discovery.

This curated selection of books reflects our commitment to supporting you on your journey toward personal growth, healing, and overall well-being. Whether you’re seeking practical techniques to navigate life’s challenges, a deeper understanding of psychological principles, or inspirational stories of resilience, this collection offers diverse resources to meet your needs. Each book has been chosen with care, aiming to provide you with insights, comfort, and the tools necessary to embark on a path of self-improvement and emotional empowerment. We may earn a commission when you purchase a book using the links below.

1-18 of 39 books
  • Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself
    • Healing & Trauma
    Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself

    By: Melody Beattie

    Melody Beattie’s compassionate and insightful look into codependency—the concept of losing oneself in the name of helping another— has helped millions of readers understand that they are powerless to change anyone but themselves and that caring for the self is where healing begins.

  • After the Rain: Gentle Reminders for Healing, Courage, and Self-Love
    • Healing & Trauma
    After the Rain: Gentle Reminders for Healing, Courage, and Self-Love

    By: Alexandra Elle

    Part memoir and part guide, Elle shares stirring stories from her own remarkable journey from self-doubt to self-love. This soulful collection is filled with illuminating reflections on loss, fear, bravery, healing, love, acceptance, and more. Readers follow along her journey as she transforms challenging experiences—a difficult childhood, painful romantic relationships, and single parenting as a young mom—into fuel for her career as a successful entrepreneur and author driven by purpose and passion.

  • Master Your Emotions: A Practical Guide to Overcome Negativity and Better Manage Your Feelings
    • Mindfulness & Emotional Intelligence
    Master Your Emotions: A Practical Guide to Overcome Negativity and Better Manage Your Feelings

    By: Thibaut Meurisse

    Do you have a bias toward the negative? Understanding how negative feelings and emotions work is the first step. Then we must learn how to reprogram those emotions and turn them around. A happier life is possible if you follow the steps. You’ll love this practical, no frills program, because the results are easy to achieve once you’ve decided to Master Your Emotions.

  • Woman Evolve: Break Up with Your Fears and Revolutionize Your Life
    • Faith & Spirituality
    Woman Evolve: Break Up with Your Fears and Revolutionize Your Life

    By: Sarah Jakes Roberts

    Everyone faces trials, and everyone will mess up. But failure should not be the focus. Your focus should not be on who you were but rather the pursuit of who you can become. In Woman Evolve, Sarah helps you understand that your purpose in life does not change; it evolves.

  • The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
    • Healing & Trauma
    The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

    By: Bessel van der Kolk M.D.

    Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust.

  • Dangerous Prayers: Because Following Jesus Was Never Meant to Be Safe
    • Faith & Spirituality
    Dangerous Prayers: Because Following Jesus Was Never Meant to Be Safe

    By: Craig Groeschel

    Do you ever wonder, “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” Do you wish you could see the evidence that prayer changes lives? Are you tired of playing it safe with your faith? In Dangerous Prayers, New York Times bestselling author Craig Groeschel helps you unlock your greatest potential and tackle your greatest fears by praying stronger, more passionate prayers that lead you into a deeper faith.

  • Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You
    • Mindfulness & Emotional Intelligence
    Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You

    By: Henry Cloud

    Many of us struggle with anxiety, loneliness, and feelings of inadequacy. We know that God created us in his image, but how can we be loving when we feel burned out? How can we be free when we struggle with addiction? Will we ever enjoy the complete healing God promises? Combining his professional expertise and personal experience, renowned psychologist Dr. Henry Cloud guides us through four basic ways to become joy-filled, mature followers of Christ.

  • Crazy Faith: It's Only Crazy Until It Happens
    • Faith & Spirituality
    Crazy Faith: It’s Only Crazy Until It Happens

    By: Michael Todd

    There are many things that seem normal or average today that at one point in time seemed absolutely crazy. Smartphones, Wi-Fi, and even the electric light bulb were all groundbreaking, history-making inventions that started out as crazy ideas. Our see-it-to-believe-it generation tends to have a hard time exercising true faith—one that steps out, takes action, and sees mountain-moving results. Many of us would rather play it safe and stand on the sidelines, but it’s crazy faith that helps us see God move and reveals His promises.

  • All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living
    • Mindfulness & Emotional Intelligence
    All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living

    By: Morgan Harper Nichols

    A celebration of hope. An encounter with grace. A restoration of the heart. A healing of wounds. An anthem of freedom. All Along You Were Blooming is the ultimate love letter from the pen of popular Instagram poet Morgan Harper Nichols to your mind, heart, soul, and body.

  • Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents
    • Healing & Trauma
    Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents

    By: Lindsay C. Gibson

    In this breakthrough book, clinical psychologist Lindsay Gibson exposes the destructive nature of parents who are emotionally immature or unavailable. You will see how these parents create a sense of neglect, and discover ways to heal from the pain and confusion caused by your childhood. By freeing yourself from your parents’ emotional immaturity, you can recover your true nature, control how you react to them, and avoid disappointment. Finally, you’ll learn how to create positive, new relationships so you can build a better life.

  • The Pain We Carry: Healing from Complex PTSD for People of Color
    • Healing & Trauma
    The Pain We Carry: Healing from Complex PTSD for People of Color

    By: Natalie Y. Gutiérrez LMFT

    If you are a person of color who has experienced repeated trauma—such as discrimination, race-related verbal assault, racial stigmatization, poverty, sexual trauma, or interpersonal violence—you may struggle with intense feelings of anger, mistrust, or shame. You may feel unsafe or uncomfortable in your own body, or struggle with building and keeping close relationships. Sometimes you may feel very alone in your pain. But you are not alone.

  • Hope in the Dark: Believing God Is Good When Life Is Not
    • Faith & Spirituality
    Hope in the Dark: Believing God Is Good When Life Is Not

    By: Craig Groeschel

    Pastor and bestselling author Craig Groeschel hears these words often and has asked them himself. We want to know God, feel his presence, and trust that he hears our prayers, but in the midst of great pain, we may wonder if he really cares about us. Even when we have both hope and hurt, sometimes it’s the hurt that shouts the loudest.

  • Prayer Journal for Women: 52 Week Scripture, Devotional & Guided Prayer Journal
    • Faith & Spirituality
    Prayer Journal for Women: 52 Week Scripture, Devotional & Guided Prayer Journal

    By: Shannon Roberts, Paige Tate & Co

    Prayer Journal for Women: 52 Weeks Scripture, Devotional, & Guided Prayer Journal includes Scripture verses, reflections on the Word, and journaling prompts to guide your walk with God and strengthen your faith.

  • 100 Days of Joy and Strength: A Devotional Journal
    • Faith & Spirituality
    100 Days of Joy and Strength: A Devotional Journal

    By: Candace Cameron Bure

    A 100 day devotional bible journaling adventure by New York Times Best-selling author and actress, Candace Cameron Bure. Set out on a 100-day journey to find overwhelming peace—a peace that only comes from resting in God’s joy and relying on His strength and loving resources every day.

  • Prayers to Share: 100 Pass-Along Notes for Believing Bigger
    • Faith & Spirituality
    Prayers to Share: 100 Pass-Along Notes for Believing Bigger

    By: Marshawn Evans Daniels

    God has big plans for all of us, but sometimes we let doubt and fear get in the way. Prayers to Share: 100 Pass-Along Notes for Believing Bigger gives multiple opportunities to empower and encourage others to boldly embrace the love of God and step out confidently, knowing that He has a magnificent future planned for them.

  • Emotional Self-Care for Black Women: Discover How to Raise Your Self-Esteem, Eliminate Negative Thinking and Heal from Past Traumas Even if Your Life is Chaotic Right Now
    • Healing & Trauma
    Emotional Self-Care for Black Women: Discover How to Raise Your Self-Esteem, Eliminate Negative Thinking and Heal from Past Traumas Even if Your Life is Chaotic Right Now

    By: Alicia Magoro

    Have you been feeling like you can never get a break? Are your days full of conflict and challenges that you constantly have to fight and overcome? Are you tired of riding the rollercoaster of anger, fear, frustration, and overwhelm and wish you could just take a step back from your problems? Being a black woman today comes with unique struggles that others don’t even know about. You face the discrimination that both women and people of color encounter. Your needs are often belittled or dismissed. You have to battle against a lot of unhelpful labels and limitations imposed on you by society.

  • The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read
    • Healing & Trauma
    The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did)

    By: Philippa Perry

    In this Sunday Times bestseller, leading psychotherapist Philippa Perry reveals the vital do’s and don’ts of relationships. This is a book for us all. Whether you are interested in understanding how your upbringing has shaped you, looking to handle your child’s feelings or wishing to support your partner, you will find indispensable information and realistic tips in these pages. Philippa Perry’s sane, sage and judgement-free advice is an essential resource on how to have the best possible relationships with the people who matter to you most.

  • Bible Promises for Moms: Inspirational Verses of Hope & Encouragement for Christian Mothers
    • Faith & Spirituality
    Bible Promises for Moms: Inspirational Verses of Hope & Encouragement for Christian Mothers

    By: Heidi St. John

    God understands the heart of a mom, as well as the daily cares and worries that can weigh you down. No matter where you are in your mothering journey, God’s mercies and promises are for you. This pocket-size book of Scriptures provides hundreds of Bible promises that are relevant to the needs of every mother, interweaving them with personal reflections from popular author Heidi St. John.