Resources:
A compiled list of helpful material
- RELATIONSHIPS
- Divorce Busting: A Step-by-Step Approach to Making Your Marriage Loving Again by Michelle Weiner Davis. This is a great book, if you feel like you are at the end of your rope in your relationship. The author is very practical in giving you specifics of what you can do to effect change in a relationship.
- The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown, Ph. D., L.M.S.W. I especially like this book because she addresses how shame, worthiness and how never being “good enough” prevents us from living our lives to the fullest.
- The Dance of Fear: Rising Above Anxiety, Fear, and Shame to Be Your Best and Bravest Self by Harriet Lerner PhD. In this book, Dr. Lerner explores our dance of intimacy with out partners.
- The Serenity Principle: Finding Inner Peace in Recovery by Joseph Baily I really like this book and often recommend it to my clients. It is just a little book that really explains the pattern behind addictive behavior. It is a great book for understanding any addiction.
TRANSITIONS
- Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, Revised 25th Anniversary Edition by William Bridges Bridges does a great job in guiding the reader through the many phases when undergoing change in your life, whether it be an identity change, career change or a major loss.
- Read Two Books and Let’s Talk Next Week: Using Bibliotherapy in Clinical Practice by Janice Maidman PsyD LP and Donna Dimenna PsyD LP
WEIGHT LOSS
- Eat It Up! The Complete Mind/Body/Spirit Guide to a Full Life After Weight Loss Surgery: This book offers skills and strategies for overcoming difficulties following weight loss surgery.
- The Emotional First + Aid Kit: A Practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery, Second Edition:This is a very good resource aimed to give you practical tips for navigating psychological issues after weight loss surgery. The author covers a lot of territory but without a lot of depth. I still think it is very but still very helpful in covering many different topics facing weight loss surgery patients.
- Fat No More – Long Term Success Following Weight Loss Surgery: This book covers preparation for surgery and the many changes one needs to make to be successful after surgery. Although, it covers some psychological aspects, its main focus is on changing eating habits
- Gastric Bypass Surgery: The Psychological Journey: A very short book, less than 100 pages, which is a general overview of some of the psychological aspects of bariatric surgery. It is written by a therapist and a weight loss patient thus gets both perspectives.
- Joining the Thin Club: Tips for Toning Your Mind after You’ve Trimmed Your Body : Written by a bariatric patient and a psychologist, the book explores the many emotional changes one goes through as they move from an obese person to a thin person. This is one of my favorite books for looking at post weight loss issues. I am not too sure about the “thin club” premise but I really liked the book.
- Weight Loss Surgery: Finding the Thin Person Hiding Inside You, FOURTH Edition
- by Barbara Thompson. Written by a woman who went through bariatric surgery and is now a author, presenter and motivator for weight loss patients.
- The Weight Loss Surgery Coping Companion: A Practical Guide for Coping with Post-Surgery Emotions by Tania Miller Kabala, Ph.D. This is a book, written by a practicing psychologist It is a workbook with each chapter focused on the different emotions a person might encounter post-surgery.
- Anatomy of a Food Addiction: The Brain Chemistry of Overeating: An Effective Program to Overcome Compulsive Eating (3rd Edition)
- by Anne Katherine, M.A. This is an excellent book discussing binge eating and compulsive eating. She addresses the physical component of addictive eating.
- When Food Is Love: Exploring the Relationship Between Eating and Intimacy by Geneen Roth. Author Roth, explores the relationship you might have with food. She explores how compulsive eating is often a substitute for intimacy and overeating is an attempt to satisfy a persons’ emotional hunger. For those wanting to explore their emotional relationship with food, it is excellent.
- The End of Diets: Healing Emotional Hunger by Dilia De La Algagracia
- Life is Hard, Food is Easy: The 5-Step Plan to Overcome Emotional Eating and Lose Weight on Any Diet by Linda Spangle RN,MA. This a great book going in depth with a 5 step plan for overcoming emotional eating. I especially like how she defines head hunger versus heart hunger and how to differentiate those from real hunger.
- Winning After Losing: Keep Off the Weight You’ve Lost–Foreverby Stacy Halprin Written by a weight loss surgery patient, Ms. Halprin brings to the readers the many pitfalls she experienced and how she worked through her issues.
- The Dance of Intimacyby Harriet Lerner PhD
- The Co-Parenting Survival Guide: Letting Go of Conflict After a Difficult Divorce by Elizabeth S. ThayerPutting Children First: Proven Parenting Strategies for Helping Children Thrive Through Divorce by JoAnne L. Pedro-CarrollThe Dance of Anger: A Woman’s Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships by Harriet Lerner PhD
Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsivenessby Daniel Amen
The Sex-Starved Marriage: Boosting Your Marriage Libido: A Couple’s Guide by Michell Weiner Davie
- Web Resources
- www.weightlosssurgerinfo.com A great site for exploring the various weight loss surgeries
- www.obesityhelp.com This is the “go to” site for pre and post weight loss surgery patients.
- www.bodypositive.com This site is great for resources in improving your body image.
- www.betterwaypress.com/dietusrviviors/ A site devoted to a “non-dieting” approach to losing weight.
- www.dailystrength.com This is a great site for finding a support group on line. They give you over 500 support groups with focus on a variety of topics.
- www.inspire.com
- www.eggface.com I love this site for recipe ideas. Shelly a wls patient has some tried and true recipes for inspiring variety! I especially like her list of favorite smoothies.
- http://www.bmi-calculator.net/