The unexamined life is not worth living. -Socrates

• Enneatype Structures – Self Analysis for the Seeker by Claudio Naranja, M.D.

Our deep psychological patterns of personality type are articulated in this book in the most insightful way I have ever heard. Some fundamental knowledge of the enneagram is recommended. I would recommend reading books similar to The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Riso and Russ Hudson first if you have no knowledge of the enneagram.

• Whole Brain Living by Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD

This book explores the 4 quadrants of the brain and how they function in our life. Learn how to incorporate awareness the 4 areas of the brain into your everyday to live in a more integrated way.

• A Post World Truth – Politics, Polarization and a Vision for Transcending the Chaos by Ken Wilbur

Our world is evolving in many confusing ways. In this book, Wilbur provides an integral and unified theory into how we can see others as well as ourselves. The exploration of holarchies vs. the hierarchy I find really ground-breaking and transformation.

• Dr. Ramani’s youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DoctorRamani

If you are a ‘survivor’ of narcissistic abuse, this channel provides a lot of insight in a conceptual framework for what happened to you. Dr. Ramani also provides some practical tools for dealing with these people.

• The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene

This book is rather lengthy and is an exhaustive insight into the many dynamics of the myriad of personalities we encounter throughout our life. It also provides some understanding into your own proclivities.

• The Undervalued Self by Elaine N. Aron, PhD

This a book that has some great exercises for working with our inner child as well as our inner saboteur.

• The Mindbody Prescription by John E. Sarno, M.D.

This is one of the first groundbreaking book that explores the connection between our mind and our body ailments.

• Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker

Walker explores how the 4 F’s or trauma responses of fight, flight, freeze and fawn impact our lives and affect our personalities.

• When the Body Says No – The Cost of Hidden Stress by Dr. Gabor Maté

This is the quintessential book I would read on how science confirms that emotional repression is the source of most of our suffering. If I had to recommend one book that you read that points the way toward deep transformation, this would be the book.

• Dr. Gabor Maté’s youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsRF06lSFA8zV9L8_x9jzIA

• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

This book presents case studies on how the body stores trauma over time from injuries long ago suffered. There are methodologies presented proven to heal suffering, many of which I tried – though for me, the affects of which are short term. The book presents ground-breaking research on the mind-body connection.

• Spiritual Bypassing: When Spirituality Disconnects Us from What Really Matters by Robert Augustus Ph.d.

Oftentimes, we we are seeking relief from our suffering, and that relief may come in the form of a spiritual practice. Unfortunately, the practice in which we are finding refuge may be helping us avoid dealing with painful feelings, unresolved wounds and developmental needs as the author states. This book reveals the fact that we may use religion and spiritual practices to mask unresolved or ignored psychological issues.

• Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Anna Lembke

This is a great book to read to discover how most of us are “distracting” ourselves in the age of plenty with addictions! Whether it’s shopping, exercising, drugs, alcohol, porn, Netflix binging, or scrolling, the dopamine fixes are body craves are ubiquitous in today’s environment! This is good information to have and a great companion or resource to Repression Inquiry work. Why? Because what we discover is that our addictions are keeping us safe form our buried emotions! Naturally, once we process our buried emotions, we don’t crave the dopamine fixes that actually kept us safe from our buried emotions!

• The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up by Beatrice Chestnut, PhD and Uranio Paes, MM

Explore the Enneagram types deeply in this book. Learning about the types helps us discover what we are likely unconsciously identified with. There are practical tools for working with the shadow of each type as well as a stretch towards growth for each type. More importantly, this book outlines the likely emotional repression of each type is and subtype. Though the focus of this book is not emotional repression, it does hint at the fact that the most powerful work each type can do is processing our emotional repression.

If you have never explored the enneagram before, this book would be my go-to suggestion for you!

• Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson, PsyD

Many of us who have has painful childhoods were raised by emotionally immature parents or we may even be one ourselves. This book gives us insight into how this dynamic plays out in our life and how we can heal it through understanding it. Instead of embracing our authenticity, we get cast into a “role” we often play unconsciously in this family system. This becomes our undoing in life unless we recognize it. Moving outside of this role is scary as we fear we will lose the love and safety of our caregivers. We get enmeshed in this family system. Understanding this dynamic is important to finding liberation.