Resources

• The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel van der Kolk ; Explains how trauma embeds in the body and brain, with pathways for healing through mind-body approaches. • Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving — Pete Walker ; A practical, compassionate map for recovering from chronic childhood relational trauma and emotional flashbacks. • Codependent No More — Melody Beattie; Classic guide to recognizing codependent patterns and reclaiming self-care and personal power. • The Sexual Healing Journey — Wendy Maltz; Survivor-centered roadmap for reclaiming healthy sexuality after sexual abuse or assault. • Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life — Susan Forward Clear strategies for identifying and healing from the lasting impact of hurtful or abusive parenting. • Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents — Lindsay C. Gibson; Insightful guide to understanding and recovering from the effects of emotionally unavailable or self-absorbed parents. • It Didn’t Start with You — Mark Wolynn; Explores how inherited family trauma shapes our lives and offers ways to break intergenerational cycles. • Healing the Shame That Binds You — John Bradshaw; Foundational work on toxic shame, the inner child, and reclaiming self-worth. • Homecoming: Reclaiming and Healing Your Inner Child — John Bradshaw; Guide to reconnecting with and nurturing the wounded inner child. Trauma Informed Yoga: https://www.ohsu.edu/confidential-advocacy-program/trauma-informed-yogaTrauma Informed Pelvic Health: https://pelvichealthpt.com

• Come As You Are — Emily Nagoski; Science-based, shame-free exploration of desire, arousal, and pleasure, especially for women. • Taking Sexy Back — Alexandra Solomon; Empowers women to own their sexuality and create authentic intimate relationships. • The Good Girl’s Guide to Bad Girl Sex — Barbara Keesling, Ph.D.: Practical, empowering guide for women to release inhibitions, embrace pleasure, and confidently explore their sensual and sexual side. • Making Nice with Naughty — Tom Murray; Practical guide for perfectionists and overcontrollers to loosen up and enjoy more fulfilling intimacy • Getting the Sex You Want— Tammy Nelson; Tools for couples to communicate desires and deepen sexual connection. • The New Monogamy— Tammy Nelson; Framework for renegotiating relationship agreements after infidelity or changing needs • Open Monogamy— Tammy Nelson; Guide to consciously co-creating non-traditional relationship structures. • Sex Interrupted: Igniting Intimacy While Living With Illness or Disability — Iris Zink with Jenny Thorn Palter; Comes from a rheumatology/lupus-informed perspective, covers desire, pain, lubrication, positions/adaptations, toys, communication, and self-esteem, and includes autoimmune-specific examples. • Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud About Senior Sex — Joan Price; award-winning, covers mix of pleasure, medical changes, loss of a partner, body image, adaptations, and desire in later decades.

• Women Who Run with the Wolves — Clarissa Pinkola Estés. Through myth and the “Wild Woman” archetype, it helps women reclaim instinct, creativity, and embodied feminine power. • Sensual-Connect Deeply, Express Freely, Love Intimately — Henika Patel; Treats sensuality as an innate capacity for presence, desire, and aliveness rather than just sexual technique.

• Models: Attract Women Through Honesty — Mark Manson; Honest, self-developmentfocused guide to attracting women through authenticity and non-neediness rather than tactics or games. • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck— Mark Manson; Counterintuitive approach to living a meaningful life by caring deeply about fewer things and focusing only on what truly matters. • King, Warrior, Magician, Lover — Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette; Jungian classic maps mature masculine archetypes (and their shadows); gives men a language for purpose, boundaries, creativity, and the “Lover” quality that includes sensuality and emotional aliveness. • The Way of the Superior Man — David Deida. A practical spiritual guide that addresses purpose, polarity, and how a man can stay present with a woman’s emotional and sensual nature.

• Getting the Love You Want — Harville Hendrix (with Helen LaKelly Hunt) Imago Relationship Therapy framework for healing childhood wounds and building a conscious, intentional partnership.• Loving Bravely — Alexandra Solomon; Twenty lessons in relational self-awareness to help you understand yourself and build healthier, more resilient partnerships. • Love Every Day — Alexandra Solomon; 365 short daily practices that cultivate curiosity, compassion, and deeper connection in relationships with others and yourself. • Conscious Loving — Gay Hendricks & Kathlyn Hendricks — Classic guide to creating cocommitted relationships free of power struggles, with practical tools for deeper intimacy and personal growth. • Hold Me Tight — Sue Johnson: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) approach that shows couples how to create secure emotional bonds and repair disconnection through seven key conversations.

• It’s OK That You’re Not OK — Megan Devine; Compassionate guide that validates the full experience of grief and challenges cultural pressure to “move on” or fix the pain.

• Daring Greatly — Brené Brown; A clear look at why vulnerability is not weakness, and how the courage to be seen is what actually allows love, belonging, and change. • The Gifts of Imperfection — Brené Brown; A practical guide to letting go of who you think you’re supposed to be so you can live with more worthiness, compassion, and authenticity. • Radical Acceptance — Tara Brach; Shows how to meet painful emotions and self-judgment with kindness instead of fighting them, so you can stay present without being overwhelmed. • When Things Fall Apart — Pema Chödrön; Gentle, direct teaching on how to stay with fear, grief, and uncertainty instead of running from them. • Feeling Your Way Along — by Stephen BE with Donna BE An exploration of how to use your emotions as a path to higher consciousness.

• The Conscious Parent — Shefali Tsabary: Transformative approach that invites parents to use the parent-child relationship for their own growth and to raise empowered, emotionally intelligent children. • The Whole-Brain Child — Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson: Neuroscience-based strategies that help parents understand a child’s developing brain and respond in ways that foster emotional and intellectual integration. • Parenting from the Inside Out — Daniel J. Siegel & Mary Hartzell: Explores how a parent’s own childhood experiences shape their responses and offers tools for more conscious, connected parenting. Parents/Digital Health: https://www.safekidsstrongmoms.com Parents/Sexuality Educational Resource: https://www.uua.org/lifespan/owl

• The Relaxation Response — Herbert Benson; A simple, research-based method for eliciting the body’s natural relaxation response through a short, repeatable practice. • Wherever You Go, There You Are — Jon Kabat-Zinn; A straightforward introduction to mindfulness that shows how to bring brief, ordinary awareness into daily life rather than treating meditation as something separate. • Forest Bathing — Dr. Qing Li; A clear explanation of shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practice of spending slow, sensory time among trees, and how it can lower stress and support health and mood.

• Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life — Richard Rohr; Explores how the necessary “falling” of midlife and beyond can lead to deeper spiritual maturity, wisdom, and authentic purpose. • The Universal Christ — Richard Rohr; Reveals Christ as the divine presence in all of creation, inviting a more inclusive and expansive understanding of God and belonging. • Everything Belongs — Richard Rohr; Contemplative invitation to non-dual thinking and radical acceptance, showing that nothing and no one is excluded from God’s love. • Immortal Diamond — Richard Rohr; Guides the search for the True Self beneath the ego’s false self, uncovering the unbreakable divine essence within each person. • Loyalty to Your Soul: The Heart of Spiritual Psychology — Ron and Mary Hulnick Introduction to Spiritual Psychology as a practical path for transforming everyday challenges into opportunities for soul growth, greater authenticity, and living from the heart. • Jonathan Livingston Seagull — Richard Bach An inspiring allegorical fable about a seagull who defies the limits of his flock to pursue excellence, freedom, and higher purpose, ultimately discovering the true meaning of love and self-realization. • Handbook to Higher Consciousness — by Ken Keyes Jr. A classic practical manual that teaches how to release emotional “addictions,” reprogram the mind for happiness, and move through seven levels of consciousness toward unconditional love and inner freedom.

• The Tao of Pooh — Benjamin Hoff; Lighthearted introduction to Taoist principles of simplicity, naturalness, and effortless living through the character of Winnie the Pooh • The Te of Piglet — Benjamin Hoff; Sequel exploring the Taoist concept of Te (virtue or inner power) through the small but courageous character of Piglet. • Tao Te Ching — Lao Tzu (recommended accessible translations: Stephen Mitchell or Derek Lin); Foundational poetic classic of Taoist philosophy on living in harmony with the Way, simplicity, and non-forcing action. • Tao: The Watercourse Way — Alan Watts; Elegant Western introduction to Taoist thought, emphasizing flow, polarity, and living in accordance with the natural course of things. • The Way of Chuang Tzu — Thomas Merton (or other editions of Zhuangzi); Accessible selection of Zhuangzi’s playful stories and teachings on spontaneity, freedom, and transcending rigid thinking.

• Seven Arrows — Hyemeyohsts Storm. A distinctive book that weaves Cheyenne (and other Plains tribes) stories, historical events from the late 1800s, and spiritual teachings; an introduction to Native American philosophy.

• Creative Together—Steven Kowalski; A practical guide to reclaiming your creativity and learning how to create with others instead of trying to do it all alone. • Ikigai — Héctor García and Francesc Miralles; An accessible introduction to the Japanese idea of ikigai — a reason for getting up in the morning — and how a sense of purpose supports a longer, more satisfying life. • Tiny Habits; The Small Changes That Change Everything — BJ Fogg; A practical, research-based guide that shows how starting with the tiniest possible behaviors— and celebrating them—makes lasting positive change feel easy and sustainable.