Best Books That Will Help You Understand Your Emotions
Emotions can be difficult to accept sometimes.
Nobody wants to feel emotions such as sadness, shame, discouraged, hurt, grief and anger. However, it’s not healthy to ignore your emotions. Your emotions are here to tell you a message. Suppressing them would do more harm to your body and well-being.
Below are books which help you understand and heal your emotions. Don’t wait till your emotions become so intense, then find a solution for it. It may be too late. Regular emotional upkeep is as important as our daily habits such as brushing our teeth.
So take care of your emotion now. Choose a book below which best suits your needs and helps you get started.
Bonus: My Book on Healing Childhood Emotional Pain
Note: The way I look at my books will never be the same as the way I look at other books, so to be fair I rather keep them off the list.
Parent Yourself Again by Yong Kang Chan
As a child, you might face overwhelming emotions such as fear, helplessness, grief, and anger. These emotions are difficult for an adult to handle. Let alone a child.
If we didn’t process these emotions in our childhood or our parents weren’t there to help us with our emotions, there is a high chance that these emotional pains are still residing in our bodies.
Even though we are adults now and we thought that we have already overcome our childhood traumas, our past is still pretty much sabotaging our life and controlling our actions now.
If you have unresolved emotional pain or have a bad childhood, this book is for you. It helps you love yourself the way you have always wanted to be loved by your parents.
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10 Best Psychology Books on Controlling Emotions
Disclosure: Please note that the links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and Bookshop Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase, but it will be at no additional cost to you.
1. Calming the Emotional Storm by Sheri Van Dijk
When you have trouble managing your emotions, your whole life seems to be out of control. This book offers practical and easy to implement strategies to help you manage emotions effectively.
Even though this book is based on dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), it’s is not technical at all. In fact, it’s so reader-friendly with many examples, anyone will be able to understand the concepts easily.
If you find it difficult to cope with intense emotions such as anger, hurt, grief and worry, this book is for you. Apart from behavioral techniques, the author also includes mindfulness practices to help you accept and let go of your emotions.
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2. Rising Strong by Brené Brown
When you are hurt, what is your first response? Suppress, express or make your hurt feelings go away?
If you are always numbing or avoiding your emotions, this is the book for you. This book is about falling, getting up and trying again. The author says most of us either try to numb hurt with alcohol, drugs, food, sex, relationships, work, shopping and etc, or we keep quiet about it and keep everything inside. This is unhealthy.
Instead, we should face our failure and emotions bravely.
This is a good book for those who want to learn more about their emotions and how to get back up after failure.
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3. Healing Your Emotional Self by Beverly Engel
Intense emotions are commonly associated with unresolved past issues. If you were abused or had a difficult childhood, this book is for you.
This book provides a program for healing emotional wounds. Through insightful and compassionate exercises and tools, this book helps you to heal your emotions and find peace.
It is not a substitute for those who may need additional help but it serves as a useful resource for someone who wants to focus on self-esteem and confidence issues.
If you are always critical towards yourself and want to be kinder to yourself, this book will be ideal for you.
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4. The Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin
The Sedona Method is a simple method to let go of any emotions, thoughts, and beliefs you have. It’s a set of questions to ask yourself whenever you have intense emotions or face issues in your life.
Don’t be deceived by how simple the method is. It’s effective and the benefits are immediate. To get the most benefit from this method though, it’s better to practice the releasing technique every day until it becomes a habit and second nature to you.
This book is supplementary to the author’s audio course and live seminars. Even though the book can be read on its own, it’s most useful when accompanied by listening to the seminars. However, if you are not ready to invest too much, the book is good enough.
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5. Mind and Emotions by Matthew McKay, Patrick Fanning, and Patricia Zurita Ona
This award-winning book presents a systematic program for dealing with emotional disorders that can have a profound effect on happiness and well-being.
Using mindfulness techniques, self-assessments, exercises and coping strategies, the reader ends up prepared with an arsenal of skills to cope effectively with emotional issues and work towards happiness and resiliency.
This book is best suited for someone who is very “hands-on” and enjoys workbook style texts.
6. Mind Over Mood by Dennis Greenberger and Christine Padesky
Having sold over one million copies, this blockbuster book is a favorite among therapists.
Using the powerful techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), this book presents practical and useful strategies for coping with depression, anxiety, worry, panic attacks, anger, guilt, shame, low self-esteem, relationship problems and more.
There are sections that include information on setting goals, maintaining progress, rating scales, gratitude journals, exercises for practicing mindfulness, acceptance, and forgiveness, worksheets and more.
If you are someone who wants a practical blend of information and tools, you will not be disappointed by this book.
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7. Don’t Let Your Emotions Run Your Life by Scott E. Spradlin
This book harnesses the power of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to help you take control of your emotions.
Through the blending of information and exercises, you will identify and understand your style of emotional reaction. You will also learn successful strategies on emotional regulation and how to cope with emotionally charged situations.
Learning to manage painful emotions will allow you to peacefully coexist with your emotions. This book is especially helpful for people who tend to be highly reactive emotionally and find themselves struggling with the intensity of emotions.
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8. The Emotionally Sensitive Person by Karyn Hall
If you’re often told you’re “too sensitive”, then this book is for you.
Written with the emotionally sensitive person in mind, this book offers real solutions for dealing with feelings. Using cognitive behavioral and mindfulness techniques, you’ll learn how to deal with any emotions at the moment, identify their triggers and change your negative thought patterns.
Reading this book will help you be confident and have more control over your life and your relationships. It’s suitable for empaths and those who are tired of feeling overwhelmed by their own emotions.
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9. Living Beyond Your Feelings by Joyce Meyer
This New York Times bestseller offers a direct, no-nonsense approach to understanding and managing emotions. You will learn how the brain processes emotions, why personality type matters and how emotions affect us physically, psychologically and spiritually.
With a set of specific and effective coping strategies, you will have a toolbox that you can rely on to deal with emotions in healthy ways that promote happiness and well-being.
Written by a well-known spiritual leader, this book combines sound psychological research with the wisdom of the Bible. It is best suited for those who are open to both scientific and spiritual ways of addressing emotional issues.
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10. Why Do I Do That? by Joseph Burgo
Written for the person seeking not only help but understanding, this book unravels the mystery of psychological defense mechanisms and why we react the way we do.
Specific exercises help the reader to identify his or her own defense mechanisms that are in play. The remaining part of the book offers guidance and suggestions for disarming those defenses and coping more effectively with the unconscious feelings behind them.
This book is not a typical self-help book in that it does not rely on behavioral strategies. Rather, it is more a journey of self-exploration and understanding of the internal factors that affect one’s life.
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Hey there, I’m Yong Kang, best known as Nerdy Creator. I’m an author of seven books. I write about spirituality, self-compassion, and mindfulness. I love reading books, especially non-fiction. The list above is a combination of what I have read and my research. Each year, I create a Top 10 list of my favorite books.
