Back to the source

I’ve a wide range of books, podcasts and other materials which have been absolutely indispensable to the development of my approach to work and to which I return time and time again. I thought I’d do a bit of gathering for myself and decided to also share here. I will update as I discover or rediscover more!

May you find something of value to you within the list. Please do get in touch if you have any recommendations you’d like to share!

Trauma

Read

  • The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

  • When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Gabor Maté

  • In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction by Gabor Maté

  • Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others by Connie Burk and Laura van Dernoot

  • Complex PTSD by Pete Walker

  • Healing Developmental Trauma by Laurence Heller and Aline LaPierre

Listen

  • On Being with Krista Tippett: How Trauma Lodges in the Body with Bessel van der Kolk (link here)

  • Collected interviews with Nate Postlethwait (link here)

Systems change and deep ecology

Read

  • A Larger Us and Collective Resilience from the Collective Psychology Project (link here)

  • Dancing with Systems by Donella Meadows (link here)

  • Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth

  • Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World by Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown

  • Work Won't Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted and Alone by Sarah Jaffe

  • Resources for the Rest Resistance by The Nap Ministry (link here)

  • Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown

  • Collective Imagination: A Playbook (link here)

Watch

  • As Temperatures Rise: What Makes a Healthy Human Culture? with Sophy Banks (link here)

Listen

  • Solve Everything At Once: Nora Bateson on systems thinking, warm data and singing out loud (link here)

  • On Being with Krista Tippett: Forests Are Wired For Wisdom with Suzanne Simard

  • On Being with Krista Tippett: The Worlds Beneath Our Feet with Robert Macfarlane

Poetics of self, other & mental health

Read

  • The How: Notes on the Great Work of Meeting Yourself by Yrsa Daley-Ward

  • The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

  • All About Love by bell hooks

  • Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown

  • Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions by Johann Hari

  • Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Amelia and Emily Nagoski

  • On Connection by Kae Tempest

Watch

  • Crazywise (2017) by Phil Borges & Kevin Tomlinson

Listen

  • RAIN Meditation by Tara Brach (link here)

  • On Being With Krista Tippett: A Life Worthy of Our Breath with Ocean Vuong

Rituals and community

Read

  • The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief by Francis Weller

  • Rituals: Simple and Radical Practices for Enchantment in Times of Crisis by Yarrow Magdalena

  • Ritual: Power, Healing and Community by Malidoma Patrice Somé

  • Listening to Your Life: 30 Ways to Discern Direction for Your Future by Julia Mourant

Developing practice

Read

  • Designing & Leading Life-Changing Workshops: Creating the Conditions for Transformation in Your Groups, Trainings, and Retreats by Ken Nelson, David Ronka and Lesli Lang

  • Radical Healership: How to Build a Values‑Driven Healing Practice in a Profit-Driven World by Laura Mae Northrup

Fings on my list to check out next are…

  • How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett

  • Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

  • Holding Change by Adrienne Maree Brown

  • Steps to an Ecology of Mind by Gregory Bateson

  • Back from the edge of existence: A critical anthropology of trauma by Rebecca Lester

  • The Wisdom of Trauma by Gabor Maté (film)

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Weaving and layering