Exploration Time Book List

Welcome to the Exploration Time book list! Exploration Time is a list of books that require low or no caveats (this book is great but...) on a wide range of topics related to mental health, identity, sexuality, and living in this world. Each link will take you directly to the author's book page or a page with more information about the book.

Adolescents

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• Celebrate Your Body (And Its Changes, Too!) The Ultimate Puberty Book for Girls by Sonya Renee Taylor

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• Coping Skills for Teens Workbook: 60 Helpful Ways to Deal with Stress, Anxiety and Anger by Janine Halloran

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• LGBTQ: The Survival Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Teens by Kelly Huegel Madrone

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• Sex, Teens & Everything in Between: The New and Necessary Conversations Today's Teenagers Need to Have about Consent, Sexual Harassment, Healthy Relationships, Love and More by Shafia Zaloom

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• Trans+: Love, Sex, Romance, and Being You by Kathryn Gonzales and Karen Rayne

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• Trauma Treatment Toolbox for Teens: 144 Trauma:Informed Worksheets and Exercises to Promote Resilience, Growth & Healing by Kristina Hallett

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Anger

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• Good and Mad, the revolutionary power of women’s anger by Rebecca Traister

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• Healing the Angry Brain: How Understanding the Way Your Brain Works Can Help You Control Anger and Aggression by Ronald Potter-Efron MSW, PhD

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• Rage Becomes Her by Soraya Chemaly

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• The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner, Ph.D

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Anxiety

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• Awkward: The Science of Why We're Socially Awkward and Why That's Awesome by Ty Tashiro

• The Wisdom of Anxiety: How Worry and Intrusive Thoughts Are Gifts to Help You Heal by Sheryl Paul MA

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Autism

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• Embracing Neurodiversity with The Safe House Framework: Autism Edition by Valli Jones

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• Marriage and Lasting Relationships with Asperger's Syndrome (Autism Spectrum Disorder): Successful Strategies for Couples or Counselors by Eva Mendes

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• The Autism and Neurodiversity Self Advocacy Handbook Developing the Skills to Determine Your Own Future by Barb Cook and Yenn Purkis

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• The Autism Spectrum Guide to Sexuality and Relationships: Understand Yourself and Make Choices that are Right for You by Emma Nugent Goodall

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• Trauma, Stigma, Autism by Gordon Gates

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• Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price

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BDSM and Sexual Diversity

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• Authentic Kink: Create Your Best Experience by Princess Kali

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• Exploring BDSM: A Workbook for Couples (or More) Discovering Kink by Morgan Thorne

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• Gratifying Domination and Submissive Contentment: A Guidance Manual by Mistress Scarlet

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• How To Train Your little: A DD/lg Guidebook by J E Earl and J L Lucky  

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• Master/slave Mastery: Updated handbook of concepts, approaches, and practices by Robert J. Rubel Ph.D.

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• Playing Well With Others: Your Field Guide to Discovering, Navigating and Exploring the Kink, Leather and BDSM Communities by Lee Harrington

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• Safe Beginnings by Goddess Lakshimi

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• The BDSM Contract Book by Michelle Fegatofi

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• The Heart of Dominance: a guide to practicing consensual dominance by Anton Fulmen

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• The Toybag Guide to Playing With Taboo by Mollena Williams

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• Tongue Tied: Untangling Communication in Sex, Kink, and Relationships by Stella Harris

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Body Awareness

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• 8 Keys To Recovery From Eating Disorder (8 Keys to Mental Health) by Carolyn Costin

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• Embody: Learning to Love Your Unique Body (and quiet that critical voice!) by Connie Sobczak

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• Fat, Pretty, and Soon to be Old: A Makeover for Self and Society by Kimberly Dark

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• My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem, LCSW

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• The Body Is Not An Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor

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• The Other F Word: A Celebration of the Fat & Fierce by Angie Manfredi

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• Towards Bodily Autonomy: A Healing Justice Anthology Decolonizing Sex Work & Drug Use by Angie Manfredi

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Boundaries

• Boundaries and Relationships by Charles Whitfield M.D.

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• Boundaries: Where You End and I Begin by Anne Katherine, MA

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• Transform Your Boundaries by Sarri Gilman

Chronic Illness and Pain

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• Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain by Sandra M. LeFort MN PhD, Lisa Webster RN , Kate Lorig DrPH, Halsted Holman MD, David Sobel MD MPH, Diana Laurent MPH, Virginia González MPH, Marian Minor PT PhD

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• Surviving and Thriving with an Invisible Chronic Illness: How to Stay Sane and Live One Step Ahead of Your Symptoms by Ilana Jacqueline

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Climate Anxiety

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• A Guide to Eco Anxiety by Anouchka Grose

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• Turn the Tide on Climate Anxiety by Megan Kennedy-Woodard and Patrick Kennedy-Williams

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Community

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• Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji

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• I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual by Luvvie Ajayi

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• Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God, and Race by Clay Cane

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• Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out by Ruth King

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• Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good  by adrienne maree brown

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• The Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism, and Engage in Collective Healing by Anneliese A. Singh, Ph.D., LPC

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• The White Ally Toolkit Workbook: Using Active Listening, Empathy, and Personal Storytelling to Promote Racial Equity by Dr. David W. Campt

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• Turn This World Inside Out: The Emergence of Nurturance Culture by Nora Samaran

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Depression

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• How Hard It Really Is: A Short, Honest Book About Depression by J.S. Park

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• How to Be Happy (Or at Least Less Sad): A Creative Workbook by Lee Crutchley

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• The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time by Alex Korb PhD

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Disability

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• Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha​

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• Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong

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• Literature, Speech Disorders, and Disability: Talking Normal by Christopher Eagle

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• Skin, Tooth, and Bone: The Basis of Movement is Our People by Sins Invalid

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• The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

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• To Root & To Rise: Accepting Brain Injury by Carole J Starr, M.S.

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Gender Identity

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• A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns by Archie Bongiovanni

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• Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon

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• Non-Binary Lives: An Anthology of Intersecting Identities edited by Jos Twist, Ben Vincent, Meg-John Barker and Kat Gupta

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• Seeing Gender: An Illustrated Guide to Identity and Expression by Iris Gottlieb

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• The Queer and Transgender Resilience Workbook by Anneliese Singh, PhD, LPC

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• They/Them/Their: A Guide to Non-Binary and Genderqueer Identities by Eris Young

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• Trans* Ally Workbook: Getting Pronouns Right and What it Teaches Us About Gender by Davey Shlasko

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• Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A resource for the transgender community edited by Laura Erickson-Schroth

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• Where's MY Book?: A Guide for Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Youth, Their Parents, & Everyone Else by Linda Gromko MD

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• You and Your Gender Identity by Dara Hoffman-Fox, LPC

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Grief

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• How To Survive the Loss of A Love by Peter McWilliams and Harold H. Bloomfield

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• It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand by Megan Devin

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Healing from Hard Intimate Relationships

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• Recover and Rebuild Domestic Violence Workbook: Moving On from Partner Abuse by Stacie Freudenberg, PsyD

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• Red Flags: Recognizing Abuse in Couple Relationships by Lorene D'Adam

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• The Emotional Abuse Recovery Workbook: Breaking the Cycle of Psychological Violence by Theresa Comito, LMFT

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• The Gaslighting Recovery Workbook: Healing From Emotional Abuse by Amy Marlow-MaCoy LPC

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Non-Monogamy and Open Relationships

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• Dealing with Difficult Metamours by Page Turner

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• It's Called "Polyamory": Coming Out About Your Nonmonogamous Relationships by Tamara Pincus and Rebecca Hiles

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• Love’s Not Color Blind  by Kevin Patterson

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• Opening Up by Tristan Taormino

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• Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Consensual Nonmonogamy by by Jessica Fern

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• Rewriting the Rules by Meg-John Barker

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• The Jealousy Workbook by Kathy Labriola

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• The Polyamory Breakup Book by Kathy Labriola

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• The Polyamory Toolkit: A Guidebook for Polyamorous Relationships by Dan Williams and Dawn Williams

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• When Someone You Love Is Polyamorous: Understanding Poly People and Relationships by Elisabeth Sheff

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Organization and Life Stability

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• Budget Management: Budgeting 101 from Theory to Practice; Become a Master Planner and Manager of Your Personal Finances by Ashley Desjardins

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• How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davis

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• Learning a Living: A Guide to Planning Your Career and Finding a Job for People With Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Dyslexia by Dale Susan Brown

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• On Your Own: A College Readiness Guide for Teens With ADHD/LD by Patricia O. Quinn, MD and Theresa Laurie Maitland, PhD

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• Taking Flight: College for Students with Disabilities, Diverse Learners and Their Families by Perry LaRoque, PhD

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• The Career Planning Guide: Planning Adulting by Kyle Crandall

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• The Money Manual: A Practical Money Guide to Help You Succeed On Your Financial Journey by Tonya B Rapley

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Problematic Use: substances, activities, recovery, harm reduction

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• Addiction, Attachment, Trauma and Recovery: The Power of Connection by Oliver J. Morgan

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• Finding Your Best Self, Revised Edition: Recovery from Addiction, Trauma, or Both by Lisa M. Najavits

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• The Addiction Recovery Workbook: Powerful Skills for Preventing Relapse Every Day by Paula A Freedman PsyD

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• Trauma and Addiction: Ending the Cycle of Pain Through Emotional Literacy by Tian Dayton

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• Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction by Maia Szalavitz

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Relationships

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• Living and Loving After Betrayal: How to Heal from Emotional Abuse, Deceit, Infidelity, and Chronic Resentment by Steven Stosny

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• Love Over Trauma: Healing With Your Partner by Lindsey Walker

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• Love's Promises: How Formal and Informal Contracts Shape All Kinds of Families by Martha M. Ertman

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• Rock the Boat: How to Use Conflict to Heal and Deepen Your Relationship by Resmaa Menakem, LCSW

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• Sex Without Stress: A couple's guide to overcoming disappointment, avoidance & pressure by Jessa Zimmerman

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• The Attachment Theory Workbook: Powerful Tools to Promote Understanding, Increase Stability, and Build Lasting Relationships by Annie Chen LMFT

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Self-Injury

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• Healing Self-Injury: A Compassionate Guide for Parents and Other Loved Ones by Janis Whitlock PhD

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• Safe with Self-Injury: A practical guide to understanding, responding and harm-reduction by Kay Inckle

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Sexuality and Sexual Expression

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• A Quick & Easy Guide to Sex & Disability by A. Andrews

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• Body-to-Body Intimacy: Transformation Through Love, Sex, and Neurobiology by Stella Resnick

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• Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski, Ph.D.

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• Enjoy Sex (How, when and if you want to): A Practical and Inclusive Guide by by Dr Meg-John Barker and Justin Hancock

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• Good Sexual Citizenship: How to Create a (Sexually) Safer World by Ellen Friedrichs

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• Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud About Senior Sex by Joan Price

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• The Come as You Are Workbook: A practical guide to the science of sex by Emily Nagoski, Ph.D.

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• The Consent Guidebook: A Practical Approach to Consensual, Respectful, and Enthusiastic Interactions by by Erin Tillman.D.

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• The Edge of Sex 1st Edition by Lisa Speidel and Micah Jones

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Sex Work

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• Sex Work Matters: Exploring Money, Power, and Intimacy in the Sex Industry by Melissa Ditmore, Antonia Levy, Alys Willman (Editors)

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• Thriving in Sex Work: Heartfelt Advice for Staying Sane in the Sex Industry: A Self-Help Book for Sex Workers by Lola Davina

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• Working it by Matilda Bickers (Editor), Peech Breshears (Editor), and Janis Luna (Editor)

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Sexual Identities

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• Ace & Proud: An Asexual Anthology by A K Andrews by A K Andrews

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• Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen

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• All About Demisexuality by Demisexuality.org

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• Out!: How to Be Your Authentic Self by Miles McKenna

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• The ABC's of LGBT+ by Ashley Mardell

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• The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality by Julie Sondra Decker

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• The Spectrum of Sex: The Science of Male, Female, and Intersex by Hida Viloria

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Shame

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• Letting Go of Shame by Ronald Potter-Effron & Patricia Potter-Effron

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• Shame and Guilt by Jane Middleton-Moz

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Sleep

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• The Healing Powers of Sleep: Strategies for Reclaiming and Improving Your Sleep (Sleep Tips, Sleep Habits, Sleep Better, Sleep Easy Solution, Sleep and be Happy) by Anthony Glenn

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• The Book of Sleep: 75 Strategies to Relieve Insomnia by Dr. Nicole Moshfegh

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Supporting Loved Ones

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• Digging Out: Helping Your Loved One Manage Clutter, Hoarding, and Compulsive Acquiring by Michael A. Tompkins

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• Love in the Time of Chronic Illness: How to Fight the Sickness—Not Each Other by Barbara Kivowitz and Rosanne Weisman

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• Talking to Anxiety by Claudia Strauss

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• Talking to Depression by Claudia Strauss

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• The Reflective Workbook for Partners of Transgender People: Your Transition as Your Partner Transitions by D. M. Maynard

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• When Someone You Love Has a Chronic Illness: Hope and Help for Those Providing Support by Tamara McClintock Greenberg Psy.D.

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Trauma

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• Becoming Safely Embodied: A Guide to Organize Your Mind, Body and Heart to Feel Secure in the World by Deirdre Fay

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• Healing Developmental Trauma: How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image, and the Capacity for Relationship by Laurence Heller Phd, Aline Lapierre Psyd

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• Looking Through the Eyes of Trauma and Dissociation: An illustrated guide for EMDR therapists and clients by Sandra Paulsen Ph.D

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• Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma by Gail Parker

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• The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining Emotional Control and Becoming Whole by Arielle Schwartz, Ph.D.

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• The Post-Traumatic Growth Guidebook: Practical Mind-Body Tools to Heal Trauma, Foster Resilience and Awaken Your Potential by Arielle Schwartz, Ph.D.

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• Transforming The Living Legacy of Trauma: A Workbook for Survivors and Therapists by Janina Fisher

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• Transforming Trauma Resilience & Healing (New Directions in the Human-Animal Bond) by Philip Tedeschi

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• Widen the Window: Training Your Brain and Body to Thrive During Stress and Recover from Trauma by Elizabeth A. Stanley, PhD

Understanding and Re-framing Mental Health

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• The Collective Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang

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• The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté MD and Daniel Maté

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For Therapists

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• A Clinician's Guide to Gender-Affirming Care: Working with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Clients by Sand Chang, Anneliese Singh, and Lore M. Dickey

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• A Practical Guide to Therapeutic Work with Asylum Seekers and Refugees by Angelina Jalonen and Paul Cilia La Corte

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• A Therapist’s Guide to Consensual Nonmonogamy: Polyamory, Swinging, and Open Marriage by Rhea Orion

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• Decolonizing Trauma Work: Indigenous Stories and Strategies by Renee Linklater

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• Healing Trauma with Guided Drawing: A Sensorimotor Art Therapy Approach to Bilateral Body Mapping by Cornelia Elbrecht

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• Not So Abnormal Psychology: A Pragmatic View of Mental Illness by Ronald B. Miller, PhD

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• Somatic Psychotherapy Toolbox: 125 Worksheets and Exercises to Treat Trauma & Stress by Manuela Mischke-Reeds

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• Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and Transformative Healing by David A. Treleaven

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• Trans Sex: Clinical Approaches to Trans Sexualities and Erotic Embodiment by Lucie Fielding

Nobody at or associated with Divergent Worlds benefits financially or in any tangible way from listing a book.

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