37 essential psychology books

The publishing market for psychology books increases strikingly every year. However, not all of them have an adequate scientific basis, content capable of promoting discovery and personal growth, or present a quality adjusted to the subject matter they represent. We must know how to choose and also be clear about what we are looking for or need.

Neuropsychology, emotional psychology, stress management, positive, clinical or social psychology… The areas that this discipline reaches are as immense as they are enriching. Likewise, beyond classic authors such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Allport, Skinner or Daniel Goleman, there are current figures who are well worth reading and discovering…

The genre of psychology is one of the most in-demand today. This is something obvious. In addition, a large part of readers look for them to learn how to manage emotions, promote self-knowledge or discover strategies to achieve a fuller life. Psychology books are, without a doubt, an excellent tool for knowledge and will always be in fashion due to a more than obvious fact: human beings have an infinite curiosity to know themselves and to enhance their abilities.

Essential psychology books

Today We bring you the 37 psychology books that we recommend from and that we consider most influential.

1. The art of making life miserable – Paul Watzlawick

This is a short psychology book, written in very simple language and It is full of anecdotes that tell us about those erroneous attitudes that we have every day and that prevent us from being happy. Without a doubt, one of the most recommended psychology books for all audiences.

Besides, It is one of the books that helps us recognize our personal style in different situations., offering us the opportunity to discover how people create an unhappy and unhappy reality with our mental mechanisms. A real opportunity to start getting to know yourself.

2. The art of not making life bitter – Rafael Santandreu

This is the book from which we have extracted the opening quote. We do not know if the author created this book after having read the previous one. that we have presented, but the reality is that they deal with the same topic, although in a very different way.

In this psychology book, Santandreu, one of the most important psychologists in Spain and based on his extensive experience, It tells us which behaviors and attitudes are most dangerous for mental health. and the way in which they can damage our quality of life.

3. Emotional intelligence – Daniel Goleman

It is one of the books on psychology that was written a long time ago and yet still has a high educational value. It is highly recommended and a reference for many psychologists today. In this book, The author brilliantly analyzes the relationship between thought and emotion.

Furthermore, Daniel Goleman offers us the possibility of knowing what emotional intelligence is, how we can promote it and why it is formed. It is a very recognized psychology book and It helps us better understand ourselves and those people around us.

4. Your wrong zones – Wayne Dyer

It is the same as with the previous book: despite having been written many years ago, it remains a reference for many psychologists today. The book teaches us what are the wrong behaviors that prevent us from being happy. It also provides practical tools to generate positive change.

In fact, it is one of the most practical books on psychology because offers you exercises to do in each chapter that allow you to identify what your irrational beliefs are and how sometimes we complicate our lives through worries, guilt or the need for approval from others, among others.

Improving attitude is one of the topics on which more information is sought. Others are how to learn to establish healthy relationships and know the basics of mental health.

5. Love or depend? –Walter Riso

This is one of the most recommended books on psychology for people who want to understand the bases for establishing positive interpersonal relationships. A book that talks about relationships based on healthy love, and not in emotional dependence.

Love or depend It gives us the appropriate tools to make love and relationships full and satisfying experiences. Explains keys to overcoming emotional dependenceproviding us with adequate knowledge about love bonds.

6. The man who mistook his wife for a hat – Oliver Sacks

This is a rather atypical psychology book, which tries to bring the reader closer to the pathologies that can be found in a psychology consultation and the way they affect patients. He does this by narrating 20 clinical stories like a novel in a very human way.

7. Powerful mind – Bernabé Tierno

Today, there is a belief that we are slaves to what we think. We believe that change is not possible and that the only option is to limit ourselves to resignation. In this book, Bernabé Tierno teaches us that the mind is our best weapon and how we can use it to create positive change.

powerful mind It is a psychology book in which the development of a personality resistant to crises and difficulties is its central linkunmasking the hidden mechanisms of our brain.

8. Think fast, think slow – Daniel Kahneman

This book, unexpectedly, was an international success. In it we are presented with the two ways or systems that control how we think, so that we can gain the power to improve our quality of life through the quality of our thoughts.

Daniel Kahneman surprises us by showing us how unreliable our brain can be, which is full of biases and false and unfinished rationing on many occasions. One of those psychology books that we cannot forget to read if we want to know a little more about how we think.

9. The power of habits – Charles Duhigg

Habits are part of our life and also determine our well-being. It is important to become aware of them and change those that are not contributing something positive to our lives. This book is an excellent tool to achieve this.

10. Descartes’ error – Antonio Damasio

This book by the Portuguese neuroscientist Antonio Damasio has already become a classic for thinking about our relationship with emotions from other angles. Based on the analysis of different cases, the author shows us the importance of emotions in our rational decisions.inviting us to rethink the classic dualism between emotions and reason.

11. The blank slate – Steven Pinker

Throughout the book, Steven Pinker, a cognitive psychologist of Canadian origin, develops the idea that learning in human beings is mediated by innate propensities that interact, in turn, with different social conditions. Through an interesting dialogue with philosophy, Pinker brings new validity to the debate about the place of nativism and experience in learning.

12. The Ugly Ducklings – Boris Cyrulnik

In this book, the French neurologist, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Boris Cyrulnik brings us a series of reflections on resilience, optimism and the human capacity to overcome adversity.

13. The art of choosing – Sheena Iyengar

Economist, psychologist and doctor in social psychology Sheena Iyengar is considered an international expert in the field of choice and decision. In this book the author shows why Deciding can be more difficult than we think and how our simplest choices are influenced on a daily basis.

14. The secret life of the brain. How emotions are constructed – Lisa Feldman Barrett

Canadian psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett takes us on an interesting journey through the universe of human emotions. Dismantling traditional theories about emotional universality, the author demonstrates how emotions are socially constructed. from a series of guidelines and codes that we learn throughout our lives.

15. The surprising truth about what motivates us – Daniel Pink

Finally, this book by bestselling author, Daniel Pink, It asks us the question about what maintains our motivation and guides us to achieve our goals. It is a fresh look at motivation theories and the importance of identifying in our lives what factors drive us to action.

16. Psychologically Speaking – Adrián Triglia, Bertrand Regader and Jonathan García-Allen

Psychologically Speaking It covers a wide variety of topics within the discipline of psychology with clear and entertaining language. Ideal for those people who want to get started in the world of psychology or are simply curious.

17. Awakening the heart: the art of loving yourself well – Sandra García Sánchez-Beato

Detailed here are a wide variety of practical resources, therapeutic tools, reflections and guided meditations to reconnect with ourselves and our innate goodness. The author uses terms such as “awakening the heart” and tries to integrate positive dynamics, remove negative tendencies from our daily lives, get to know ourselves better and learn to relate to health.

18. Towards Process-Based Therapy (PBT) – Steven C. Hayes

This book is aimed at professionals. It contains all the keys to new forms of intervention from the perspective of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

19. The…