Supportive resources

The following list of resources may be useful in gaining a greater understanding of the personal challenges you are facing and the ways in which you can think about addressing them. 

Self-help materials

Self-help materials are most effective when you are motivated to find out more and open to learn from alternative approaches. They can be used independently, or alongside support from a professional such as a GP or counsellor.

• View our online self-help guides

Bibliotherapy

Bibliotherapy has been designed to help you find the most effective books quickly; the right book can help you gain clarity on your situation and better manage your feelings.

The resources are divided by topic and the list under each heading comprises external websites and books stocked in the Birkbeck Library.

Abuse

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Reclaiming Your Life, Susan Forward
  • Homecoming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child, John Bradshaw
  • The Making of Them: The British Attitude to Children and the Boarding School System, Nigel Duffel
  • Victims No Longer, Mike Lew
  • Overcoming Childhood Trauma, Helen Kennerley
  • Beginning to Heal: A First Book for Men and Women Who Were Sexually Abused as Children, Ellen Bass and Laura Davis.
    
• Online guide:
  • Abuse. 

Addiction (including alcohol and drugs)

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Let’s Drink to your Health, Nick Heather and Ian Robertson 
  • Adult Children of Alcoholics, Janet G. Woititz
  • Alcoholism (Your Questions Answered), Liz Hodgkinson
  • Addictions: (Your Questions Answered), Deirdre Boyd
  • Alcohol Awareness Manual, Gaylin Tudhope. 
• Online guide:
  • Alcohol and you. 
• Websites:
  • The Site - online guide to life for 16-25 year-olds in the UK
  • Frank
  • Drinkaware
  • Alcoholics Anonymous
  • Know Cannabis
  • Narcotics Anonymous
  • Sex and Love Addiction
  • Porn Addiction. 

Adoption

• Bibliotherapy:
  • The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child, Nancy Verrier
  • Coming Home to Self: Healing the Primal Wound, Nancy Verrier
  • Adoption Healing … A Path to Recovery - Supplement, Joe Sole. 

Anger

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Managing Anger, Gail Lindenfield
  • Overcoming Anger and Irritability, Dr William Davies. 
• Online guide:
  • Controlling Anger. 

Anxiety and panic attacks

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Mind over Mood, Greenburger and Padesky
  • Self Help for Your Nerves: Learn to Relax and Enjoy Life Again by Overcoming Stress, Dr Claire Weekes
  • Free Yourself From Anxiety: A Self-Help Guide to Overcoming Anxiety Disorder, Emma Fletcher
  • Sane New World: Taming the Mind, Ruby Wax
  • Overcoming Panic and Agoraphobia, Derrick Silove
  • How to Master Anxiety: All You Need to Know to Overcome Stress, Panic Attacks, Trauma, Phobias, Obsessions and More (The Human Givens Approach), Ivan Tyrrel and Joe Griffin
  • Panic Attacks, Christine Ingham. 
• Online guides:
  • Anxiety
  • Panic. 
• Websites:
  • Understand Stress, Anxiety and Panic Attacks
  • Relaxation - breathing technique
  • Mood Gym - interactive help
  • Social Anxiety. 

Assertiveness

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Assert Yourself: Simple Steps to Build Your Confidence, Gael Lindenfield
  • A Woman in Your Own Right: Assertiveness and You, Anne Dickson
  • Self-Esteem Bible: Build your Confidence Day by Day, Gael Lindenfield
  • Beyond Fear, Dorothy Rowe. 
• Website:
  • Effective Communication and Assertiveness (Oxford Brookes University). 

Autistic spectrum conditions

• Websites:
  • The National Autistic Society
  • Autism and 'Caetextia'. 

Bereavement

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Facing Grief: Bereavement and the Young Adult, Susan Wallbank
  • How To Go On Living When Someone you Love Dies, Therese A. Rando
  • A Special Scar: The Experiences of People Bereaved by Suicide, Alison Wertheimer
  • No Time to Say Goodbye. Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One, Carla Fine. 
• Online guide:
  • Bereavement. 
• Websites:
  • Cruse Bereavement Care. 

Bullying

• Websites:
  • Bullying UK
  • Stop Bullying.

Claustrophobia

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Claustrophobia: Finding Your Way Out. Hope for People Who Fear and Avoid Confined Spaces, Andrea Perry
  • Emotional Claustrophobia: Getting Over Your Fear of Being Engulfed by People or Situations, Aphrodite Marsakis. 

Cultural issues

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Figuring Foreigners Out: A Practical Guide, Craig Storti
  • The Boy with the Top Knot, Sathnam Sanghera. 
• Websites:
  • UKCISA UK Council for International Student Affairs
  • The CALM Zone
  • Chinese Mental Health Association
  • Latin American Women's Rights Service

Debt advice

• Website:
  • Step Change.

Depression

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Dealing with Depression, Caroline Shreeve
  • I Had A Black Dog, Matthew Johnstone
  • Depression: The Way out of Your Prison, Dorothy Rowe
  • I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression, Terence Real
  • How to Lift Depression ... Fast (The Human Givens Approach), Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell. 
• Online guide:
  • Depression
  • Depression and Low Mood. 
• Websites:
  • Free Depression Recovery Programme
  • Students Against Depression
  • Mood Gym. 

Divorce

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Adult Children of Divorced Parents, Jeffery Zimmerman
  • The long way home: The powerful 4-step plan for adult children of divorce, M. Gary Neuman

Domestic abuse/violence

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Violent No More: Helping Men End Domestic Abuse, Michael Paymar
  • Living with the Dominator. A Book about the Freedom Programme, Pat Craven. 
• Online guide:
  • Domestic Violence. 

Dyslexia and dyspraxia

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Living with Dyspraxia, Mary Colley
  • The Gift of Dyslexia: Why Some of the Brightest People Can’t Read and How They Can Learn, Ronald Davis
  • Dyslexia. How Would I Cope?, Michael Ryden. 

Eating disorders

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Overcoming Anorexia Nervosa: A Self-Help Guide Using Cognitive Behavioural Techniques, Christopher Freeman
  • Hunger for Understanding: A Workbook for Helping Young People to Understand and Overcome Anorexia Nervosa, Alison Eivors, Sophie Nesbitt
  • Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating, Peter Cooper
  • On Eating, Susie Orbach
  • Anorexia and Bulimia: Your Questions Answered, Julia Buckroyd. 
• Online guide:
  • Eating Disorders. 

Gambling

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Overcoming Compulsive Gambling: A Self-Help Guide Using Cognitive Behavioural Techniques, Alex Blazszynski
  • Overcoming Problem Gambling: Advice for the Gambler and the Gambler’s Family and Friends, Philip Mawer
• Websites:
  • Gamblers Anonymous
  • Gamcare

Introverts

• Bibliotheraphy:
  • Quiet, Susan Cain

Leaving home

• Bibliotherapy:
  • The Leaving Home Survival Guide, Nicola Morgan
  • Pulling Up Roots: For Young Adults and Their Parents, Quentin Schenk

Men's issues

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood, William Pollack and Henry Holt

Mental health and suicide

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Reasons to Stay Alive, Matt Haig
• Websites:
  • Mental Health Information
  • Mind
  • Rethink Mental Health
  • Personality Disorders
  • Samaritans
  • Shout (text 85258)
  • The Listening Place 
  • The Campaign Against Living Miserably (tel: 0800 585858)
  • A list of crisis helplines for countries abroad can be found on the International Association for Suicide Prevention website
  • Other international suicide helplines can be found on the Befrienders website
  • Action for Happiness has calendar tips for wellbeing 

Mindfulness and meditation

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Wherever You Go There You Are, J Kabat-Zinn
  • Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World, M Williams and D Penman
  • A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook, B Stahl and E Goldstein
• Downloads:
  • Headspace (App)
  • Smiling Mind (App)
  • Personal Zen (App).
• Websites:
  • The Free Mindfulness Project
  • Be Mindful
  • Frantic World. 

Obsessive and compulsive behaviours

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Overcoming Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, D Veale and R Willson
  • Understanding Obsessions and Compulsions: A Self-Help Manual, Frank Tallis. 
• Online guide:
  • Obsessions and Compulsions. 
• Websites:
  • OCD Foundation
  • OCD UK. 

Parents

• Bibliotherapy:
  • How to Deal with Your Parents When They Still Treat You Like A Child, Lynn Osterkamp. 

Perfectionism

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Never Good Enough: How to Use Perfectionism to Your Advantage Without Letting It Ruin Your Life, Monica Ramirez Basco
  • When Perfect Isn’t Good Enough, M Anthony and R Swinson. 

Phobias

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Coping with Fears and Phobias: A Step-by-Step Guide to Understanding and Facing Your Anxieties, Warren Mansell
  • The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook, E. Bourne. 

Postgraduate studies

• Bibliotherapy:
  • How to Manage your Postgraduate Course, Lucinda Becker
  • The Essential Guide to Postgraduate Study, David Wilkinson. 

Post-traumatic stress

• Bibliotheraphy:
  • Understanding Your Reactions to Trauma, Claudia Herbert
• Online guide:
  • Post-Traumatic Stress
• Website:
  • ASSIST Trauma Care. 

Procrastination

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Mindfulness for Study: from procrastination to action ISBN: 978-1-909876-06-4
    
  • Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About it Now, J Burka and L Yuen
  • The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play, N Fiore
  • The Procrastination Equation, Dr Piers Steels.

Psychiatric diagnosis

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Lost in the Mirror: An Inside Look at Borderline Personality Disorder, Richard Moskivitz
  • Overcoming Paranoid and Suspicious Thoughts, D and J Freeman and P Garety. 

Racism

• Bibliotherapy:
  
  • Taking Up Space, Chelsea Kwakye  Ore Ogunbiyi
  • Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire, Akala 
  • Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging, Afua Hirsch
  • Overcoming Everyday Racism: Building Resilience and Wellbeing in the Face of Discrimination and Microaggressions, Susan Cousins
  • My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, Resmaa Menakem 
• Websites and email:
  • Black Lives Matter UK
  • Birkbeck Union (Birkbeck Union has a Black Students’ Officer)
  • Email Birkbeck Students Anti-Racist Network (SARN)
  • Follow Birkbeck Students Anti-Racist Network (SARN) on Twitter

Relationships

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Loving Yourself Loving Another, Julia Cole
  • Co-Dependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself, Melody Beattie
  • Moving on: Breaking Up without Breaking Down, Suzie Hayman
  • Better Relationships: Practical Ways to Make Your Love Last, Sarah Litvinoff. 

Self-esteem

• Bibliotherapy:
  • 10 Days to Great Self Esteem, David Burns
  • Manage Your Mind: The Mental Fitness Guide, Gillian Butler and Tony Hope
  • Self-Esteem for Women: A Practical Guide to Love, Intimacy and Success, Lynda Field
  • Change for the Better, Elizabeth Wilde McCormick
  • Self esteem bible, Gael Lindenfield
  • Helping Adolescents and Adults to Build Self-Esteem, Deborah Plumme. 

Self-harm

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Self-Harm Help Book, L Arnold and A Magill
  • Healing the Hurt Within, Jan Sutton. 
• Online guide:
  • Self-harm. 

Sexual health and relationships

• Websites:
  • NHS Advice
  • STIs - BBC article. 

Sexuality and sexual identity

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Assertively Gay: How to Build Gay Self Esteem, Terry Sanderson
  • Loving Ourselves: The Gay and Lesbian Guide to Self-Esteem, Kimeron Hardin. 
• Websites:
  • Switchboard - the LGBT+ Helpline
  • The Lesbian and Gay Foundation
  • Transgender Support
  • LGBT Muslim People
  • Being Gay is OK (information for under 25s)

Sexual violence

• Websites:
  • Rape Crisis
  • NHS advice following rape or sexual assaultt
  • Men's Advice Line

Shyness

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Triumph over Shyness: Conquering Shyness and Social Anxiety, M Stein and J Walker. 

Sleep problems

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Overcoming Insomnia and Sleep Problems, Colin Espie
  • The Good Sleep Guide, Sammy Margo. 
• Online guide:
  • Sleeping Problems
  • The Complete Guide to Insomnia, How to Sleep

Stress

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Teach Yourself: Managing Stress, T Looker et al
  • How to Stop Worrying, Frank Tallis
  • The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, M Davis et al
  • Stress and Relaxation, A Practical Guide to Self-Help Techniques, Jane Madders. 
• Online guide:
  • Stress
  • Student Space (COVID)
  • Every Mind Matters

Study skills

• Bibliotherapy:
  • How to Pass Exams Every Time: Proven Techniques That Will Boost Your Confidence and Guarantee Success for Any Exam, Mike Evans
  • Passing Exams without Anxiety: How To Get Organised, Be Prepared and Feel Confident of Success, David Acres. 

Student life and study

• Bibliotherapy:
  • Fresher Pressure: How to Survive as a Student, Aidan Macfarlane
  • How to Succeed at University: An Essential Guide to Academic Skills and Personal Development, B Smale and J Fowlie
• Websites:
  • Student Advocacy Service