Words of Wisdom
Words can be a bridge between our past and our present, between confusion and clarity, between pain and meaning.
At Overture Therapy, we believe in the healing power of language. Whether rooted in story, science, or spirit, the books and poems we share here have been trusted companions to many, offering insight, validation, and a sense of connection during life’s most tender moments.
This collection is for anyone seeking language that makes space for complexity, humanity, and growth.
Nonfiction — For Healing and Understanding
(Memoir, psychology, ancestral wisdom, somatic trauma work, IFS, and spiritual reflection.)
What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
A brave and unflinching memoir of living with complex PTSD. Foo invites readers into the messy and nonlinear process of healing, offering validation for anyone who has ever felt like their pain was too much to name. Her story is equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful.
Read this if….
You’re beginning to explore how childhood trauma may still be impacting you
You want to feel less alone in the experience of complex PTSD
You appreciate honest and emotionally intelligent storytelling
A powerful blend of therapy stories and personal insight that explores how unspoken family trauma can shape our emotions, relationships, and sense of self.
Read this if...
You feel emotions that seem bigger than your own story
You’re curious about the legacy of family trauma
You want a therapist’s perspective that feels human and relatable
The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller
Alice Miller offers a compassionate look at how children learn to suppress their true feelings in order to be accepted and loved. This book helps uncover the cost of emotional adaptation and invites readers to reconnect with their needs to hide to survive.
Read this if...
You often put others’ needs ahead of your own without knowing why
You grew up feeling like you had to be “good” to be accepted
You’re ready to explore what emotional survival cost you as a child
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
A groundbreaking exploration of how trauma lives in the body and shapes the nervous system. This book brings together neuroscience, psychology, and clinical insight to show how healing happens not just through talk, but through reconnecting with the body itself.
Read this if...
You’ve done talk therapy but still feel physically stuck or activated
You want to understand how trauma affects your brain and body
You’re looking for validation that your symptoms are real and make sense
No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz
This book introduces Internal Family Systems (IFS) as a radically compassionate approach to healing. Schwartz invites us to see our inner world not as broken or flawed, but as made up of many parts, each trying to help in its own way. A practical and empowering guide to working with inner conflict, shame, and trauma.
Read this if...
You struggle with self-criticism or feel like parts of you are in conflict
You’re curious about IFS and how it supports trauma recovery
You want a gentler, more self-accepting way to understand your emotions
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön
Chödrön offers gentle, grounding wisdom for moments of fear, loss, and emotional upheaval. Drawing from Buddhist teachings, she invites us to lean into discomfort with presence, not resistance, helping us soften into what is, instead of fighting to fix or flee.
Read this if...
You're facing a painful life transition or personal crisis
You’re seeking spiritual guidance that’s practical and kind
You want to explore how to meet suffering without shutting down
Living Through the Meantime by Iyanla Vanzant
With clarity and spiritual strength, Vanzant speaks to the in-between space — when old patterns no longer serve but healing isn’t complete. This book offers reflection, ritual, and real talk for those ready to move through confusion toward clarity.
Read this if...
You feel emotionally stuck or lost in transition
You’re exploring how past patterns keep repeating in relationships
You want grounded, loving guidance that meets you where you are
Motherless Daughters by Hope Edelman
A deeply validating exploration of what it means to live without a mother, at any age. Drawing from interviews, personal experience, and grief research, Edelman names the identity shifts, relationship patterns, and emotional echoes that often follow this type of loss.
Read this if...
You’ve lost your mother and struggle to put words to what that changed in you
You feel alone in your grief or misunderstood by others
You want to understand how mother loss continues to shape your life
I Am Not Sick I Don’t Need Help! by Xavier Amador
Dr. Amador shares his LEAP method for connecting with people struggling to see their mental health needs. Rooted in personal experience and practical strategies, this book helps loved ones build trust and open the door to treatment without forcing or convincing.
Read this if...
Someone close to you is living with a serious mental illness and refuses help
You’re feeling helpless, angry, or overwhelmed in your caregiving role
You want clear tools for navigating treatment conversations with empathy
Women Food and God by Geneen Roth
Geneen Roth invites readers to look beneath the surface of eating struggles and ask deeper questions about worth, belonging, and trust. This book is not about dieting. It’s about the emotional & spiritual hunger that often hides beneath our relationship with food.
Read this if...
You feel stuck in patterns of emotional or compulsive eating
You’re tired of food being the enemy and want a new kind of healing
You’re ready to explore the connection between your body and your inner life
A resource for clinicians working with grief through creative, relational approaches. This book includes 14 structured protocols and personal reflections from art therapists, including a contribution by Maya Kruger of Overture Therapy.
Read this if...
You’re a therapist looking for creative tools to support grief work
You want structured protocols grounded in real-life practice
You value first-person insights from art therapists in the field
Codependent No More by Melody Beattie
Beattie offers a compassionate look at what happens when helping others turns into losing yourself. With honest stories and practical tools, this book helps readers build boundaries and come back to their own needs.
Read this if...
You struggle to set boundaries in relationships that feel one-sided or exhausting
You often prioritize someone else's needs while ignoring your own
You’re ready to stop rescuing and start reconnecting with yourself
Fiction — Stories That Reflect Us Back to Ourselves
Characters who unravel, rebuild, and remind us we’re not alone.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
This novel follows a woman who finds herself between life and death, exploring infinite versions of her life in a magical library. Through her journey, it offers a powerful reflection on regret, hope, and the freedom to begin again — even when it feels too late.
Read this if...
You're exploring "what ifs" and longing to make peace with past choices.
You're feeling stuck and need a gentle nudge toward imagining a different future.
You're drawn to stories that hold both sorrow and hope — and remind you you’re not alone in the in-between.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Told from the perspective of a neurodivergent teenage boy, this novel offers a deeply human and sometimes humorous look at how different ways of experiencing the world reveal hidden truths. It’s a story about logic, loss, and learning how to trust your own voice.
Read this if...
You want a thoughtful glimpse into the experience of autism
You’re drawn to stories that challenge traditional narratives of emotion and connection
You appreciate fiction that blends intelligence with heart
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
This coming-of-age novel follows a young woman navigating grief, trauma, body image, and identity. Raw, darkly funny, and at times deeply painful, it captures what it means to unravel, and to slowly piece yourself back together.
Read this if...
You’ve experienced grief or mother loss and want a story that doesn’t sugarcoat it
You’ve struggled with feeling disconnected from your body or voice
You want to witness a character survive and grow through pain
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
A sweeping and emotionally intense novel about twin brothers, one of whom is living with severe mental illness. Through their story, Lamb explores generational trauma, guilt, family loyalty, and the lifelong process of healing.
Read this if...
You have a loved one with complex mental health needs
You’re curious about how family systems carry and repeat emotional pain
You want a layered, emotionally immersive novel that doesn’t shy away from hard truths
Poetry: Language for What Can’t Be Explained
Some truths live beyond advice. These poets offer language for the moments when you feel too much, or not enough, or like something inside you is shifting but hasn’t yet found words. Whether spiritual, tender, or quietly defiant, these collections are meant to be returned to — whenever you need to feel a little less alone.
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
A poetic journey through grief, growth, love, and identity. Kaur’s signature style — simple, raw, and emotionally direct — invites readers to feel deeply without explanation.
Read this if….
You’re in a season of loss, rebirth, or rebuilding
You need something emotionally accessible and instantly resonant
You want poetry that feels like a conversation with your younger self
Selected Poems by Yehuda Amichai
Amichai blends spiritual yearning, everyday longing, and political memory with tenderness and quiet brilliance. His work is both grounded and expansive, offering glimpses of joy, grief, and love in equal measure.
Read this if...
You’ve lived across cultures or carry multiple emotional languages
You want poetry that meets complexity with clarity
You’re drawn to subtle beauty that lingers quietly after you read
Wisdom of Madness by Hafiz
Playful, mystical, and deeply alive, Hafiz invites us to meet the divine not through doctrine but through joy, chaos, and unfiltered love. These new translations are rich with soul and imagery.
Read this if….
You crave a spiritual connection that’s wild and joyful
You’re drawn to Sufi wisdom, metaphor, and timeless truth
You want poetry that opens your heart more than your mind
A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver
These poems ask us to slow down, look closely, and notice what matters. With reverence for nature and the inner world, Oliver’s voice is a steady companion for those seeking peace, clarity, and presence.
Read this if...
You’re feeling overwhelmed and need something grounding
You find comfort in nature, simplicity, and spaciousness
You want to remember that your life is already happening