9 Must-Read Mental Health Memoirs for Therapists

The best mental health memoirs give us a courageous, intimate look into the lived experiences of people who’ve endured trauma and lived to tell their stories. 

Autobiography is also invaluable resources for mental health clinicians. Many memoirs feature a first-hand account of the writer’s struggle with issues like addiction, OCD, eating disorders, abuse, PTSD, depression, or other complex mental health issues and life challenges. 

Reading these mental health memoirs gives therapists a unique opportunity to gain new insights into the mental health journeys of people other than their clients, and enrich their skills and empathy as therapists in the process. 

💁 In this guide, you’ll find out more about the following recommended mental health memoirs:

1. Good Morning, Monster by Catherine Gildiner 
2. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
3. In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
4. Because We Are Bad by Lily Bailey
5. The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr
6. Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford
7. What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
8. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
9. An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison

Why read mental health memoirs? 

When we read from the intimate perspective of another person, it can help deepen our compassion and broaden our understanding of diverse experiences and identities. 

Mental health professionals can get all that and more from mental health memoirs. It helps tio gain insights into the unique personal history of people who’ve endured a variety of mental health challenges, such as borderline personality disorder, schizoaffective disorder, suicidal depression, and more. Mental health awareness like this can help enhance therapists’ ability to support and connect with their clients’ personal history and mental health treatment. 

Our curated list of mental health memoirs below is a great place for therapists to begin. 

1. Good Morning, Monster by Catherine Gildiner 

This book is a memoir of Gildiner’s time as a clinical psychologist, recounting the journeys of five of her most memorable patients. It’s a candid look at the process of therapeutic relationships and the resilience of patients’ healing journeys. 

What will therapists appreciate about this mental health memoir? 

Therapists who are seeking new solutions to particularly challenging cases will find hope in these patient success stories. 

2. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

More than just a provocative title, this book will gut-punch you with McCurdy’s unraveling of her intense personal story about growing up with an abusive mother and an eating disorder, all against the backdrop of becoming a star child actor. Written in the present tense, her stories feel immediate, putting you right into the mind of little Jennette at age four, age seven, age thirteen. McCurdy infuses humor seamlessly into even the darkest times, helping to propel the story forward to the point where it’s impossible to put down. 

What will therapists appreciate about this mental health memoir? 

McCurdy’s present-tense narrative gives therapists access to the thought processes and perspectives of someone who doesn’t yet recognize the signs of abuse and disordered eating that are so clear to the reader. Plus, when Jennette does finally go to therapy, clinicians will be drawn in by the ups and downs of her mental health treatment and path to eating disorder recovery.  

3. In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

The unique, lyrical structure of this memoir draws from Machado’s background as a queer horror writer. In each vignette, with every penetrating sentence, the reader feels like they’re in Machado’s mind, also trapped in the claustrophobic moment-to-moment experience of an abusive relationship. Machado survives on the other side, but her memoir will haunt you — perhaps even more than her horror fiction. 

What will therapists appreciate about this mental health memoir? 

Therapists who work with LGBTQ clients will appreciate this rare insight into queer intimate partner abuse, and perhaps even discover new insights into the psychology of what it’s like to experience and survive an abusive relationship. 

4. Because We Are Bad by Lily Bailey 

The subtitle of this memoir captures the heart of it: OCD and a Girl Lost in Thought. Bailey shares the details of her struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder that began in early childhood. For decades, it consumed her every waking moment with intrusive thoughts and compulsions she was driven to perform. 

What will therapists appreciate about this mental health memoir?

Practitioners will gain intimate insights into OCD through Lily Bailey’s painful, eloquent storytelling. 

5. The Liars' Club by Mary Karr 

This classic memoir tells the personal account of Karr’s tumultuous early adolescence in a 1960s/70s East Texas oil town, growing up with a loving but erratic, dysfunctional family. Her childhood was rife with trauma: multiple incidents of sexual abuse, her mother’s mental illness, her father’s alcoholism — and that’s just scratching the surface. And yet Karr’s poetic, incisive prose, her dry dark humor, and her transportive sense memories make even the darkness in this memoir a page turner. 

What will therapists appreciate about this mental health memoir? 

Mental health clinicians who work with children, families, and/or abuse survivors may be particularly interested in Mary Karr’s true story of surviving childhood trauma.

6. Sure, I'll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford

You don’t need to be familiar with stand-up comic Maria Bamford’s one-of-a-kind career to appreciate her mental health memoir. Obsessive-compulsive disorder, debt, psychiatric institutionalization, and 12-step programs have never been so hilarious as they are through the lens of Bamford’s eccentric brain. (Do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobook, narrated by Maria herself, to get the full effect of her impressionistic comic perspective.)

What will therapists appreciate about this mental health memoir? 

Therapists will be interested in Maria Bamford’s frank, candid, darkly hilarious stories about OCD, depression, addiction, and her search for belonging. 

7. What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

Best known for her journalism on This American Life, Stephanie Foo’s memoir is a beautifully crafted account of her diagnosis with complex PTSD, what led to it, and the aftermath. Through uncovering her families’ own stories and those of other Asian American immigrants, Foo explores the impact of generational trauma and how to move forward with the chronic illness that is C-PTSD. 

What will therapists appreciate about this mental health memoir? 

Therapists will appreciate this rare opportunity to get a first-hand account of C-PTSD, as well as Foo’s investigative journalism into Asian American immigrant generational trauma. 

8. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Written by a renowned psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, this beloved classic imparts profound insights into survival and hope. Through his own harrowing experiences and his patients’ stories, Frankl explores the enduring importance of finding purpose and meaning, even in the face of immense suffering. 

What will therapists appreciate about this mental health memoir? 

Frankl developed the concept of logotherapy: the idea that people are better able to cope with trauma if they’re able to find meaning in their suffering. Many therapists may find logotherapy to be a useful concept to incorporate into their clinical work, especially when working with trauma and grief. 

9. An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison

This classic memoir broke ground as an intimate look into a high-functioning, acclaimed psychiatrist’s mental health journey with bipolar disorder, and it still resonates today. Jamison’s perspective as a clinician living with a stigmatized mental illness is a particularly compelling one. 

What will therapists appreciate about this mental health memoir? 

Clinicians and their clients alike will appreciate this candid look at the pervasive challenges of living with bipolar disorder. Plus, Jamison’s professional insights into her disorder will add an extra layer of interest for therapists. 

FAQ | Mental Health Memoirs

Why is it useful for therapists to read mental health memoirs? 

Reading mental health memoirs provides therapists with an opportunity to deepen their compassion and understanding of diverse human experiences. By gaining insights into the personal mental health struggles and triumphs of individuals facing a variety of challenges, therapists can enhance their ability to connect with and support their clients.

What are some recommended mental health memoirs about abuse? 

Here are a few different compelling memoirs about abuse and memory:

• I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
• In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
• The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr

What are some recommended mental health memoirs about OCD? 

Here are two memoirs that feature very different narrative tones and experiences with OCD: 

• Because We Are Bad by Lily Bailey
• Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford

What are some recommended mental health memoirs about trauma?

Here are two memoirs that feature experiences with trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder: 

• What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

What are some recommended mental health memoirs written by clinicians? 

Here are two memoirs written by clinicians, one about her experiences with patients and one about her experience as a patient: 

• Good Morning, Monster by Catherine Gildiner
• An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison

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If you’re looking for more mental health book recommendations, check out: 71 of the Best Books for Therapists.