Best Books/ Recommended Books on Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR)

Below is a list of books on Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR). If you'd prefer a more curated list, that's more tailored to your needs, interests and reading preferences you might find our Personalised Book Prescription helpful. You might also find it helpful to undertake a bibliotherapy session or our online Bibliotherapy, Literature and Mental Health course where you can discuss/explore whatever you're going through in more depth.  

 

(a) Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures (Non-fiction) by Francine Shapiro 

There's no better author other than Francine Shapiro to write this book on EMDR. Shapiro, a PhD, is the originator and developer of EMDR, and is a senior research fellow at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California. She has also founded, a non-profit organization, the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs, that provides both training in EMDR and assists with responses to natural disasters.  

EMDR is one of the best treatments for PTSD; and is used to help both adults and children with complex trauma, anxiety disorders, depression and behavioural issues. Used in therapeutic training, this book is the ultimate bible in PTSD and begins with how the discovery of EMDR came to be to, the various therapies and techniques available, in EMDR and how to work with adults, children, veterans and couples across a variety of issues from childhood trauma, addictions, dissociative disorders, sexual abuse, war trauma and grief. 

 

(b) Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy (Non-fiction) by Francine Shapiro 

Another excellent book by Francine Shapiro, this one goes straight to the heart of EMDR, focusing on self-help techniques beyond talk therapy and medication, that will help us process trauma and painful memories and move forward.  The great thing about this book is that Shapiro offers practical self-help tools in the form of simple exercises that we can use without needing to be in therapy with a therapist, all the while detailing why scientifically these exercises work and how the brain is affected by them to promote healing. 

 

Looking for something more specific? Get something more tailored with our personalised book prescriptions within 48 hours. 

You might also find it helpful to explore these feelings in a bibliotherapy session or learn some bibliotherapy techniques to help you process these feelings by completing our online Bibliotherapy, Literature and Mental Health course or our book Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading.

A big hello and thank you for reading! Passionate about literature, psychology, and life I launched Book Therapy as an alternative form of therapy using the power of literature. I train mental health professionals, librarians, teachers as well as readers on using bibliotherapy in their own work through our online Bibliotherapy, Literature and Mental Health course. We also curate reading lists/personalised book prescriptions for clients based on their individual needs. This is our signature personalised reading service.

You can also check out Book Therapy’s other free reading lists and A- Z of book prescriptions (covering both fiction and non-fiction). These suggest books based on your existing life situation (e.g. anxiety, job change, relationship heartache) as well as interests (e.g memoir, historical fiction, non-fiction, crime etc). There’s also a Children’s A — Z of Book Prescriptions. Feel free to check out the blog for more literary gems. There’s also a post on my personal story of how I entered the world of bibliotherapy and book curation.

In this role, I have had the opportunity to publish two books called Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading and The Happiness Mindset, and write various literary essays and pieces for newspapers and magazines. I have undertaken bibliotherapy workshops for The United Nations, various libraries in New York and corporate organisations in the UK and US. My book recommendations have featured in the Guardian, Marie Claire, NBC News, Asian Voice, New York Observer, Sydney Telegraph and various other publications. If you are a parent you might enjoy a podcast I’ve recorded with speech and language therapist Sunita Shah on Raising A Reader & Storyteller. And if you’d like to connect, email me at bijal@booktherapy.io or www.booktherapy.io.

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