Reading - Recommended and Mandatory


Reading List

We are making this reading list available to you so that you can get started with the reading. We do not expect you to have read everything before the course - but do take a look at the books as they will be incredibly valuable to you as you develop your work in this field.

By the way - once you have completed the training, you will receive an invitation to our private Facebook group, just for Resilience and Positive Psychology Alumni. In that group you'll meet lots of wonderful fellow attendees and they are sharing some incredible resources - including many other fantastic books films and resources.

Important Note:

The books and other matter in this list are Recommended for the Certification Level and Mandatory for the Licentiate Level. We want to start you off with these books as they are essential for this topic and we will add to this list on the day, if you have any particular favourites that you'd like to see here.

Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life's Greatest Challenges - Steven M Southwick and Dennis S Charney

Most of us at some point in our lives will be struck by major traumas such as the sudden death of a loved one, a debilitating disease, assault, or a natural disaster. Resilience refers to the ability to 'bounce back' after encountering difficulty. This book provides a guide to building emotional, mental and physical resilience by presenting ten factors to help anyone become more resilient to life's challenges. Specific resilience factors such as facing fear, optimism, and social support are described through the experiences and personal reflections of highly resilient survivors. These survivors also describe real-life methods for practicing and benefiting from the resilience factors. As resilience is the complex product of genetic, psychological, biological, social, and spiritual factors, the authors investigate resilience from multiple scientific perspectives. They synthesize the latest literature on the topic, describe their own research on resilience, and quote from their interviews with highly resilient people.

  Man's Search For Meaning: The classic tribute to hope from the Holocaust   

A prominent Viennese psychiatrist before the war, Viktor Frankl was uniquely able to observe the way that both he and others in Auschwitz coped (or didn't) with the experience. He noticed that it was the men who comforted others and who gave away their last piece of bread who survived the longest - and who offered proof that everything can be taken away from us except the ability to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances. The sort of person the concentration camp prisoner became was the result of an inner decision and not of camp influences alone. Frankl came to believe man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. This outstanding work offers us all a way to transcend suffering and find significance in the art of living.

  Flourish: A New Understanding of Happiness and Wellbeing: The practical guide to using positive psychology to make you happier and healthier   

'This book will help you flourish.' With this promise, internationally esteemed psychologist Martin Seligman begins Flourish, the first book to present his dynamic new concept of what well-being really is. Traditionally, the goal of psychology has been to relieve human suffering, but the goal of the Positive Psychology movement, which Dr Seligman has led for 15 years, is different - it's about actually raising the bar for the human condition. 

Flourish builds on Dr Seligman's game-changing work on optimism, motivation and character to show how to get the most out of life.

  Flow: The Psychology of Happiness   

What really makes people glad to be alive? What are the inner experiences that make life worthwhile? For more than two decades Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi studied those states in which people report feelings of concentration and deep enjoyment. His studies revealed that what makes experience genuinely satisfying is 'flow' - a state of concentration so focused that it amounts to complete absorption in an activity and results in the achievement of an ideal state of happiness. Flow has become the classic work on happiness and a major contribution to contemporary psychology. It examines such timeless issues as the challenge of lifelong learning; family relationships; art, sport and sex as 'flow'; the pain of loneliness; optimal use of free time and how to make lives meaningful.

  Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds   

Not for you if you are easily offended by swear-words - so this book is optional for everyone on this course - Certification or Licentiate Levels

David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare - poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world's top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name him "The Fittest (Real) Man in America." 

In Can't Hurt Me, he shares his astonishing life story and reveals that most of us tap into only 40% of our capabilities. Goggins calls this The 40% Rule, and his story illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential.

  Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action   

This book has so much of value to anyone in complementary medicine - and the caring professionals in general. Because in business (or life - Ed.) it doesn't matter what you do, it matters why you do it. Steve Jobs, the Wright brothers and Martin Luther King have one thing in common: they STARTED WITH WHY. This book is for anyone who wants to inspire others, or to be inspired. Based on the most-watched TED Talk of all time.  'One of the most useful and powerful books I have read in years' William Ury, coauthor of Getting to Yes. 'This book is so impactful, I consider it required reading' Tony Robbins, bestselling author of Awaken The Giant Within

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