Recommended Books | Bullet Psych
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Book Recommendations

In addition to providing you with a daily dose of psych knowledge, at Bullet Psych, we also highly encourage additional reading that will make you a well-read professional. This is our curated list of resources we used to develop Bullet Psych as well as additional must-read books. Consider using our links to purchase these items at the same cost to you, and we receive a small amount of affiliate income with each purchase.

Comprehensive
Psych Review

POCKET PSYCHIATRY
Pocket Notebook
Puckett, Beach, Taylor

Must-have pocket notebook for all things psychiatry. Heavily sourced in Bullet Psych material. Essential for on-the-go references while in the hospital or clinic. Highly highly recommend having your own physical copy.

DSM-5-TR: DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS
American Psychiatric Association

Often called the "Bible" of psychiatry, this text is obviously a must have. While I don't agree with everything in its pages, it is still an incredibly useful manual and a necessary text for reference in anyones mental health library.

DSM-5-TR: DESK REFERENCE
American Psychiatric Association

This is the pocket-sized reference to the larger DSM-5 manual. I honestly use this more often than the full manual for a quick reference on diagnostic criteria and coding/billing. 

KAPLAN & SADOCK'S COMPREHENSIVE TEXTBOOK OF PSYCHIATRY
(2 Volumes)
Benjamin J Sadock
Virginia Alcott Sadock
Pedro Ruiz

If you are looking for a comprehensive textbook on psychiatry I think Kaplan and Sadock does it best. I don't personally own this one, but this has it all if you are looking for something that is going to cover pretty much anything you can think of.

KAPLAN & SADOCK'S SYNOPSIS OF PSYCHIATRY
Benjamin J Sadock
Virginia Alcott Sadock
Pedro Ruiz

This is an alternative to the "comprehensive" option above. This is a phenomenal textbook that I personally own and heavily source in Bullet Psych. This "synopsis" has 1,472 pages and has been a very helpful resource when I want to do a deep dive in a particular subject.

MASS. GENERAL COMPREHENSIVE CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY
Theodore A. Stern
Maurizio Fav

This comprehensive text is an alternative to the Kaplan and Sadock books. I have not personally used this specific book, as I already have K&S, however it comes as highly regarded from some of my colleagues. 

FIRST AID FOR THE PSYCHIATRY CLERKSHIP
Latha Ganti
Matthew Kaufman

This is an excellent overview of the field of psychiatry. If you are a medical student or early resident this will provide a solid base of knowledge before diving into more advanced materials. I still reference this and am often surprised at the amount of detail in this book.

Psychopharm

THE MAUDSLEY PRESCRIBING GUIDELINES IN PSYCHIATRY
David M. Taylor
Thomas R. E. Barnes
Allan H. Young

This is, by far, my favorite resource for psychopharmacology. Highly recommend. Heavily sourced in Bullet Psych. It is not as well known as Stahl's, but superior in its depth, readability, and educational quality.

PRESCRIBER'S GUIDE: STAHL'S ESSENTIAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
Stephen M. Stahl

While I prefer to read Maudsleys prescriber guide to build my knowledge, this is still a solid and very popular psychopharmacology textbook. I own a copy and do find myself referencing for clinical pearls. This is a handy desk reference for individual drugs. 

MEDICATION FACT BOOK FOR PSYCHIATRIC PRACTICE
Carlat Publishing
Talia Puzantian
Daniel J. Carlat

This has become my new favorite desk reference for individual psychotropic medications. It breaks each drug down into a “bottom line” summary, FDA indications, off-label uses, dosage forms and guidance, monitoring considerations, cost, side effects, mechanism, pharmokokinetics, drug interactions, and clinical pearls. And they manage to fit this on one page for each drug. Excellent reference.

Psychiatric
Interviews

PSYCHIATRIC INTERVIEWING: THE ART OF UNDERSTANDING
Shawn Christopher Shea

Classic introduction to the art of clinical interviewing with updates that are innovatively designed for today's Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Nurses, and other Mental Health Professionals.

THE PSYCHIATRIC INTERVIEW
Daniel J Carlat

Effectively uses combination of mnemonics, practical techniques, and phrasing examples that illustrate the nuances of the interviewing process. This manual teaches you how to improve your interviewing skills, breaking down this complex area into concise information you can put to use immediately in your practice.

MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING: HELPING PEOPLE CHANGE
William R. Mill

This bestselling work for professionals and students is the authoritative presentation of motivational interviewing (MI), the powerful approach to facilitating change. Highly recommend! I found a lot of benefit from the clinical vignettes and interview examples.

THE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL FORMULATION MANUAL: A GUIDE FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
William H Campbell
Robert. M Rohrbaugh

Every mental health professional needs to understand the bio psychosocial model to provide a framework of viewing each patient from multiple dimensions. The Biopsychosocial Formulation Manual presents ways to help psychiatry residents and students effectively gather and organize patient data to arrive at a complete mental health history in a limited timeframe.

Psychotherapy

MIND OVER MOOD: CHANGE HOW YOU FEEL BY CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK
Dennis Greenberger
Christine A. Padesky

This is the classic book for introduction to cognitive behavioral therapy. A must-read for providers and for patients. It claims over one million readers and for good reason. The new edition contains additional features helpful on anxiety, happiness, and goal setting.

FEELING GOOD: THE NEW MOOD THERAPY
David D. Burns

This is also another classic book on cognitive behavioral therapy that builds upon the principles discussed in mind over mood. Very highly rated by providers and patients and another must-read for behavioral health professionals.

COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY: BASICS AND BEYOND
Judith S. Beck
Aaron T. Beck

There are so many books to choose from to learn about CBT and sharpen your skills. This may be one of the best. Of particular utility, there are tips to demonstrate how to integrate strategies from other modalities in your therapy.

DOING CBT
David F. Tolin

This is the most in depth of the CBT books that I recommend. It is accessible serves as a complete guide to the art and science of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). In a witty, straight-talking style, the author explains core concepts and presents effective techniques for addressing the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional elements of psychological problems. Vivid examples of several clients are followed throughout the book.

COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT OF BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER
Also known as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
Marsha M. Linehan

This may be the best book on DBT for borderline personality disorder. For the average clinician, individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) often represent the most challenging cases. This volume is the authoritative presentation of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).

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See the companion volumes below:

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DBT SKILLS TRAINING MANUAL

The latest developments in DBT skills training, together with essential materials for teaching the full range of mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance skills, are presented in Linehan's DBT Skills Training Manual.

 

DBT SKILLS TRAINING HANDOUTS AND WORKSHEETS

Workbook for DBT which was originally developed for borderline personality disorder but now shown to be effective for a wide range of psychological and emotional challenges. Featuring more than 225 user-friendly handouts and worksheets, this is an essential resource for clients learning DBT skills and those who treat them.

LONG-TERM PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY: A BASIC TEXT
Glen O Gabbard

This is admittedly, the only book that I have read about psychodynamic psychotherapy. But I thought it was excellent, came highly regarded by my personal mentor, and has a five-star average rating on amazon. It exposes beginners to the basic features of the psychodynamic approach while also challenging them to think in a sophisticated way about the complexities of their patients.

PTSD

THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE
Bessel van der Kolk

This is a must-read and is one of the best books about the impact of trauma and how to treat it. The author uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He also explores innovative treatments. This should be in every mental health providers personal library.

ACHILLES IN VIETNAM:
COMBAT TRAUMA AND THE UNDOING OF CHARACTER
Jonathan Shay

As a military psychiatrist, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The author, Dr. Shay, examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer’s Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It is creative, moving, and educational.

COGNITIVE PROCESSING THERAPY FOR PTSD

PROLONGED EXPOSURE THERAPY FOR PTSD

EMDR THERAPY:
BASIC PRINCIPLES, PROTOCOLS, AND PROCEDURES

NARRATIVE EXPOSURE THERAPY

WRITTEN EXPOSURE THERAPY FOR PTSD

In recent years, a number of effective trauma-focused therapies have been developed for the treatment of PTSD. These evidence-based therapies include: Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT), Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), Written Exposure Therapy (WET), and Brief Eclectic Psychotherapy (BEP). These are the recommended guidebooks for clinicians that want to utilize these therapies with their patients with PTSD. See Day #108: Trauma-Focused Therapy for a detailed description of each modality.

Miscellaneous

KAUFMAN’S CLINICAL NEUROLOGY FOR PSYCHIATRISTS
David Myland Kaufman

The author does an excellent job creating a book about neurology that is high yield and super useful for someone in the mental health field. This book is relevant today and will only become more so as medical advances will bring mental health and neurology closer and closer together.

PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE
Pittsburgh Pocket Psychiatry Series

Psychosomatic Medicine is a rapidly developing subspecialty of psychiatry focusing on psychiatric care of patients with other medical disorders. This is actually a fascinating book and a really helpful resource for a field that can be difficult to grasp. In my opinion this is the best resource for behavioral health consultation to other medical and surgical specialties. This is great for your consult-liaison (CL) rotations.

WHY WE SLEEP: UNLOCKING THE POWER OF SLEEP AND DREAMS
Mathew Walker

This is a fascinating book about the science and importance of sleep. It weaves together important research and stories about sleep. This book is not only important for mental health professionals, but for almost everyone. 

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