The 10 Best Psychotherapy Training Books

Editor's Notes

June 10, 2020:

Looking over the selections from our last ranking, a number of the included books, while comprehensive and useful to a point, were somewhat outdated, and we wanted this iteration to include texts that were more reflective of current trends in psychoanalysis and society at large. That's why we sent off titles like 1998's Psychodynamic Psychotherapy in favor of something like 2019's Training For Change, which emphasizes the importance of understanding behavioral patterns from various cultures. That way, a clinician can avoid a misdiagnosis that results from cultural ignorance.

We also saw a few too many titles geared specifically toward dynamic approaches, like Treating Affect Phobia, and decided to reduce that group down to its most recent and most effective text in Jon Frederickson's Co-Creating Change, which can be immensely helpful when dealing with walled-off patients. Finally, we thought it would be appropriate to include the latest Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders, as it's a standard reference used in both educational and practical settings that you'll see on every psychiatrist's bookshelf, even if it isn't exactly a page-turner.