Books From Your Therapist

In this episode, Amanda and Tara explore the “fawn” response to trauma—the lesser-known fourth F alongside fight, flight, and freeze. We discuss Meg Josephson’s Are You Mad at Me?, a trauma-informed guide to people-pleasing, boundaries, and the fear of disappointing others, before turning to Sally Rooney’s Normal People to explore how fawning, self-worth, intimacy, and class anxiety show up in fiction. Plus, we ask the big question: will Connell and Marianne ever learn to be honest about what they really need?You can find us:Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, SubStack: @booksfromyourtherapistPodcast: Acast, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you listen!Work with Amanda (California residents)

This month, we're joined by award-winning journalist Amanda McCracken to talk about her debut book, When Longing Becomes Your Lover alongside the classic psychology text Love and Limerence by Dorothy Tennov.In When Longing Becomes Your Lover, McCracken shares her personal experience with limerence and explores how this unfulfilled desire can quietly become central to our identity. The term limerence was introduced by Dorothy Tennov in her book, Love and Limerence. Through interviews and case studies, this book explores the obsessive thoughts, uncertainty and longing for reciprocation that characterise limerence, while distinguishing it from real love.You can find us:Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, SubStack: @booksfromyourtherapistPodcast: Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen!Work with Amanda (California residents)

This month we're joined by Dr. Juli Fraga, psychologist and co-author of Parents Have Feelings, Too, to explore emotional honesty, why repair matters more than perfection and how understanding our own emotions helps us raise emotionally healthy children.Our second book is Orenda Fink's memoir The Witch's Daughter, a beautifully written exploration of mother-daughter relationships, intergenerational trauma, creativity, and resilience. Together we discuss emotional regulation, inherited family patterns, and how storytelling and music can help us make sense of complicated emotional lives.You can find us:Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, SubStack: @booksfromyourtherapistPodcast: Acast, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you listen!Work with Amanda (California residents)

In this episode of Books From Your Therapist, we’re joined by therapist and author Dr. Han Ren to discuss her debut book The Hyphenated Life. Dr. Ren is committed to making mental health accessible and resonant, especially for historically overlooked communities and her book is a powerful reflection on navigating identity, belonging, and the complexities of living between cultures.This conversation is paired with What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo, a deeply personal memoir on complex PTSD, trauma, and resilience. We discuss the power of storytelling in healing, the realities of living with trauma, and why understanding your past doesn’t always mean you’re free from it.You can find us:Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, SubStack: @booksfromyourtherapistPodcast: Acast, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you listen!Work with Amanda (California residents)

In this episode, Amanda and Tara explore the powerful and often misunderstood difference between loneliness and being alone, and how to find a healthy balance between solitude and connection. The books we're talking about are: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans and Alone: On Different Ways of Living by Daniel Schreiber. Through these works, we reflect on friendship, independence, aging, and the many forms love can take beyond romantic relationships. You can find us:Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, SubStack: @booksfromyourtherapistPodcast: Acast, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you listen!Work with Amanda (California residents)

In this episode of Books from Your Therapist, we’re joined by therapist and author Andrea Gutiérrez-Glik to talk about her debut book Healing the Oppressed Body. Together, we explore how trauma healing can be reimagined through an anti-oppression lens, centring the experiences of those left out of mainstream mental health conversations. Andrea shares her approach to “oppression-based trauma,” and how compassion, freedom, and community can support deep, sustainable healing.In the second half of the episode, we discuss The Loving Parent Guidebook by ACA WSO Inc. and explore the practice of reparenting. From inner child work to finding supportive community, this conversation offers thoughtful, practical entry points for anyone curious about healing in a more holistic and inclusive way.You can find us:Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, SubStack: @booksfromyourtherapistPodcast: Acast, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you listen!Work with Amanda (California residents)Content note: this episode includes discussion of trauma.