Blog

Resources & Links

A small and carefully curated collection of books, practices, and supportive tools recommended by Dr. Maria Bloomfield to deepen your healing and self-understanding. These resources are intended to gently support reflection, emotional awareness, and continued growth between sessions.

Work With Maria

Phases of Life

The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them Now
by Meg Jay
Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood
by Satya Doyle Byock
Hagitude Reimagining the Second Half of Life
by Sharon Blackie
Wise Power: Discover the Liberating Power of Menopause to Awaken Authority, Purpose and Belonging
by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer

Shadow Emotions & Experiences (Depression, Anxiety, Addictions, Mental Health Diagnosis) 

Why Good People Do Bad Things: Understanding Our Darker Selves
by Jame Hollis
Feeding Your Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict
by Lama Tsultrim Allione
Escape from Freedom
by Erich Fromm
The Vital Spark: Reclaim Your Outlaw Energies and Find Your Feminine Fire
by Lisa Marchiano
Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermined America
by Barbara Ehrenreich
Spiritual Bypassing: When Spirituality Disconnects Us from What Really Matters
by Robert Augustus Masters Ph.D
Am I Lying to Myself?
by Jane Greer Phd (about shadow work in relationships)
Understanding Psychological Projection (how our shadow impacts the relationships)
by Robert A. Johnson
Escape from freedom
by Erich Fromm
The Unshaming Way
by David Bedrick
Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself
by Kristin Neff
Holding the Tension of the Opposites
by Marion Woodman
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts Close Encounters with Addiction
by Gabor Maté
Untamed
by Glennon Doyle
A Woman's Way through the Twelve Steps
by Stephanie S. Covington
The Meaning of Anxiety
by Rollo May
Touched With Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament
by Kay Redfield Jamison
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
by Susan Cain
Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You
by Jenara Nerenberg
Adult Autism Essentials: A Step-By-Step Approach to Navigating Relationships, Professional Life and Finding Resources While Celebrating Our Strengths
by Jason Jones
The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention
by Simon Baron-Cohen
Scattered: How Attention Deficit Disorder Originates and What You Can Do About It
by Gabor Maté MD
No bad Parts
by Richard Schwartz
Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life; The Revolutionary Process Called "The Work"

Relationships

The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships
by Harriet Lerner
The Power of Attachment: How to Create Deep and Lasting Intimate Relationships
by Diane Poole Heller and Peter Levine
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment
by Amir Levine and Rachel S. F. Heller
Love Between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path
by Polly Young-Eisendrath
The Art of Loving
by Erich Fromm
Wired for Dating: How Understanding Neurobiology and Attachment Style Can Help You Find Your Ideal Mate
by Stan Tatkin
In Each Other's Care: A Guide to the Most Common Relationship Conflicts and How to Work Through Them
by Stan Tatkin
Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself
by Nedra Glover Tawwab
Monsters in Love: Why Your Partner Sometimes Drives You Crazy and What You Can Do About It
by Resmaa Menakem
Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples
by Harville Hendrix

Inner Peace and Empowerment

Women Who Run with the Wolves
by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
The Kore Goddess: A Mythology and Psychology
by Safron Rossi
The Heroine's Journey: Woman's Quest for Wholeness
by Christine Downing and Maureen Murdock
Goddesses in Everywoman
by Jean Shinoda Bolen
Leaving My Father's House: A Journey to Conscious Femininity
by Marion Woodman
The Heroine with 1001 Faces
by Maria Tatar
Women and Power
by Mary Beard
Kinds of Power: A Guide to Its Intelligent Uses
by James Hillman
Women and Desire: Beyond Wanting to Be Wanted
by Polly Young-Eisendrath
If Women Rose Rooted
by Sharon Blackie

Marriage

The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work
by John Gottman
The New Rules of Marriage
by Terrence Real
Us: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship
by Terrence Real
Relationship Rx: Insights and Practices to Overcome Chronic Fighting
by Stan Tatkin
We Do: Saying Yes to a Relationship of Depth
by Stan Tatkin
Mating in Captivity
by Esther Perel

Divorce

Why Can't I Just Leave?
by Kristen Milstead and Sandra L. Brown
When Things Fall Apart
by Pema Chodron
Conscious Uncoupling: 5 Steps to Living Happily Even After
by Katherine Woodward Thomas
Divorce (or Not) A Guide Part I
by Joseph Shaub
Divorce (or Not) A Guide Part II
by Joseph Shaub
Divorce Wisdom
by Juliet Laycoe

Pregnancy, Motherhood, Parenting

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
by Ina May Gaskin
Touchpoints: Birth to Three
by T. Berry Brazelton
Down Came the Rain
by Brooke Shields
Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do
by Eve Rodsky
How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids
by Jancee Dunn
Motherhood: Facing and Finding Yourself
by Lisa Marchiano
Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood
by Jessica Grose
Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution
by Adrienne Rich and Eula Biss
Mother, Madonna, Whore: The Idealization and Denigration of Motherhood
by Estela V. Welldon
Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be
by Becky Kennedy
Parenting from the Inside Out
by Daniel Siegel
How to Talk So Teens Will Listen and Listen So Teens Will Talk
by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting: Raising Children with Courage, Compassion, and Connection
by Brené Brown
Boys and Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity
by Peggy Orenstein
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
by Mary Pipher and Sara Gilliam
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture
by Peggy Orenstein

Hormones, Living in the Rhythm with Nature

Her Blood Is Gold
by Lara Owen
WomanCode: Perfect Your Cycle, Amplify Your Fertility, Supercharge Your Sex Drive
by Alisa Vitti
In the Flo: Unlock Your Hormonal Advantage and Revolutionize Your Life
by Alisa Vitti
The Hormone Cure: Reclaim Balance, Sleep, Sex Drive, and Vitality
by Sara Gottfried
The Enchanted Life: Unlocking the Magic of the Everyday
by Sharon Blackie
Wild Power: Discover the Magic of Your Menstrual Cycle and Awaken the Feminine Path to Power
by Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer and Alexandra Pope

Trauma & PTSD Healing

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
by Lindsay C. Gibson
The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self
by Alice Miller
Warming the Stone Child: Myths and Stories about Abandonment and the Unmothered Child
by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Emotional Inheritance
by Galit Atlas
It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle
by Mark Wolynn
Homecoming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child
by John Bradshaw
The Trauma of Everyday Life
by Mark Epstein
A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD
by Arielle Schwartz
Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving
by Pete Walker
Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others
by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk
Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror
by Judith Lewis Herman
Trauma and the Soul: A Psycho-Spiritual Approach to Human Development and Its Interruption
by Donald Kalsched
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma
by Peter A. Levine

Social Justice

The Second Sex
by Simone de Beauvoir
The Feminine Mystique
by Betty Friedan
Hood Feminism
by Mikki Kendall
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity
by Judith Butler
My Grandmother's Hands
by Resmaa Menakem
White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color
by Ruby Hamad
Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism
by Bell Hooks
Sister Outsider
by Audre Lorde
In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development
by Carol Gilligan
A People's History of the United States
by Howard Zinn
Black Bodies, White Gazes
by George Yancy
Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma and Healing
by Jennifer Mullan

Men

How Can I Get Through to You?
by Terrence Real
I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression
by Terrence Real
He: Understanding Masculine Psychology
by Robert Johnson
Iron John
by Robert Bly

Practical: Finances, Career, Business

Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World
by Lisa Bloom
The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
by Iain McGilchrist
All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan
by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi
Women and Money
by Suze Orman
The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness
by Jeff Olson and John David Mann
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke
by Suze Orman
The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Rich
by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
Start Late, Finish Rich: A No-Fail Plan for Achieving Financial Freedom at Any Age
by David Bach
She Means Business: Turn Your Ideas into Reality and Become a Wildly Successful Entrepreneur
by Carrie Green
Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
by Arianna Huffington
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
by Sheryl Sandberg
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating
by Brian Tracy
The Willpower Instinct
by Kelly McGonigal

Free Resources

Insight Timer: Resources for guided meditations (Arielle Schwartz's content is especially recommended.)
Trauma-Informed Yoga
by with Ariel Schwartz
Free resource for movement
Yoga, dance, strength training, fascia flossing, nutrition, meditations, breath-work, physical therapy exercises

Self-Regulation

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
by James Nestor
Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection
by Deb Dana
The Polyvagal Card Deck, 58 Practices for Calm and Change
by Deb Dana
The Polyvagal Theory Workbook for Trauma: Body-Based Activities to Regulate, Rebalance, and Rewire Your Nervous System Without Reliving the Trauma
by Arielle Schwartz
101 Power Thoughts
by Louise Hay (Keep nearby or scatter throughout the house. Also available on Audible.)
Louise Hay's Affirmations for Self-Esteem. A 12-Card Deck for Loving Yourself
Bedtime Stories: A Unique Guided Relaxation Program for Falling Asleep and Entering the World of Dreams
by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Headspace App
Targeted multi-day meditation and breathwork programs
Yoga and Meditation on Gaia and Guided Meditations
by Bernie Clark and Colleen Saidman Yee (peace in uncertainty, coming home to the body, healthy relationships)
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: Please be advised that I have linked these books to Bookshop.org, for which I earn an affiliate commission if you choose to purchase using the link provided. If you are a client, you are in no way obligated to purchase these books for our work together to be successful.