Best Social Work Books of 2025

"Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find - and Keep - Love" by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller is a must-read for anyone looking to improve their romantic relationships. The book offers a revolutionary approach to understanding adult attachment and how it affects our behavior in relationships. The authors provide a clear and insightful explanation of the three distinct attachment styles and offer a roadmap for building stronger connections with our partners. Whether you're just starting a new relationship or have been married for years, this book is a valuable tool for improving your love life."

The "DBT® Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets, Second Edition" is a valuable resource for clients who are learning dialectical behavior therapy skills, and those who treat them. This updated manual provides more than 225 user-friendly handouts and worksheets, which have been demonstrated effective in treating a wide range of psychological and emotional problems. The book's flexible approach allows practitioners and treatment adopters to tailor the skills to meet their clients' specific needs. Mental health professionals will also benefit from the author's DBT® Skills Training Manual, Second Edition, which provides complete instructions for teaching the skills. Overall, this book is an essential tool for anyone interested in learning and implementing DBT skills.

The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer is a science-based workbook that offers a step-by-step approach to cultivate emotional well-being through self-compassion. This large-format book is based on the authors' groundbreaking eight-week Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program, and it is packed with guided meditations, exercises, and vivid stories of people using the techniques to address common problems. The book is a gem that shows readers in simple, down-to-earth steps how to become more confident, less self-critical, and kinder to themselves. It is a must-read for anyone looking to cultivate self-compassion and transform their life.

Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential is a comprehensive guide to help parents and teachers manage children's executive skills. The book offers easy-to-follow steps to identify a child's strengths and weaknesses, use activities and techniques to boost specific skills, and problem-solve daily routines. The book is filled with real-world examples and solutions, making it an easy and accessible read. This book is a great resource for parents of children who are struggling with executive skills and provides practical and detailed advice. Overall, it offers hope for children who are struggling and empowers parents to make small changes that can lead to big improvements.

The Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures is an authoritative and comprehensive book on EMDR therapy. This revised and expanded edition covers over 15 years of important advances in therapy and research, including additional applications for complex trauma, addictions, and post-disaster response. The book provides training materials, vivid vignettes, transcripts, and reproducible forms. It is recognized as a best practice for the treatment of PTSD by various health care associations and institutes around the world. Overall, this book is an essential resource for clinicians interested in EMDR therapy and its applications.

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Maté offers a refreshing new perspective on addiction, delving into its origins and place in society. The book avoids simplistic self-help remedies and instead promotes a holistic approach to understanding addiction. Maté combines real-life stories with cutting-edge research to present addiction as a complex interplay among personal history, emotional and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs and behaviors of addiction. The author argues against contemporary health, social, and criminal justice policies toward addiction and how they perpetuate the War on Drugs. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding of addiction and recovery.

The book "Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think" is a life-changing guide that provides practical strategies to overcome emotional distress and improve mental health. It utilizes cognitive-behavioral therapy, one of today's most effective forms of psychotherapy, to help readers conquer various issues, including depression, anxiety, anger, guilt, shame, low self-esteem, eating disorders, substance abuse, and relationship problems. The second edition contains expanded content on anxiety, goal setting, and mindfulness exercises. The book is a must-read for those seeking to transform their lives and develop new skills that will lead to a happier and healthier life.

The fourth edition of "Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents" by Russell A. Barkley is a must-have resource for parents of children with ADHD. The book provides the latest information and resources on the disorder, including a proven eight-step behavior management plan, tips for building academic and social skills, and advice on how to work with school and healthcare professionals. The book also includes a new chapter on health risks associated with ADHD and practical tools for parents. Dr. Barkley's compassionate approach and wealth of experience make this book a valuable guide for parents.

The DBT Skills Training Manual is an essential resource for practitioners looking to implement dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills training. Marsha M. Linehan, the developer of DBT, provides complete instructions for orienting clients to DBT and teaching them a range of mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance skills. The book includes reproducible teaching notes and can be supplemented with handouts and worksheets available for download online. The second edition features revised handouts and worksheets, expanded modules, and curricula for running skills training groups with specific populations. The comprehensive nature of the book makes it an invaluable tool for anyone looking to implement DBT skills training.

"Taking Charge of Adult ADHD" is an authoritative guide for adults struggling with ADHD. The book provides readers with hands-on skill-building exercises and clear answers to frequently asked questions about medications and other treatments. Dr. Barkley offers step-by-step strategies for overcoming challenges in specific areas, such as relationships, parenting, work, money management, and driving. The second edition includes new or expanded discussions of mindfulness, emotional self-control, time management, building a successful career, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and more. Overall, this book is a valuable resource for adults with ADHD and those who love and care for them."