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10 Best Books in
Psychology to Illuminate
What Really Drives You
by Scott Jeffrey

It has been said that there are three main

ways to learn about human psychology:

1. Read Greek mythology

2. Read Carl Jung
3. Observe others

Of the three, observing others is the most

powerful, but reading about the psyche
helps inform our observations.

Table of Contents

Why Learn About Psychology?

Traveling Deeper into the Psyche
How to Select the Best Psychology Books
My Picks for the 10 Best Psychology Books
How to Approach These Psychology Books
Read These Psychological Guides
Read More Best Book Reviews

Why Learn About

Psychology?

There are at least three significant

reasons to learn about psychology:

1. Understand yourself and your

motivations.
2. Learn about and understand other
people.
3. Change a behavior or feeling.

In my studies, I’ve read MANY books on

psychology. I dare say hundreds.

These books covered topics like:

Depth psychology
Humanistic psychology
Developmental or ego psychology
Social psychology
Behavioral psychology
Cognitive psychology
Positive psychology
Ego psychology
Transpersonal psychology
Integral theory

You get the idea. If you’re reading this,

you’re probably someone who’s interested
in better understanding yourself and
what drives your behavior too.

Why do we do what we do?

Traveling Deeper into the

Psyche

Cognitive psychology and social

psychology are what’s popular right
now. Even though psychology is
considered a “soft science,” through
cognitive psychology, social psychology,
and neuropsychology, clinical
researchers, social scientists, and
neuroscientists are attempting to codify
the human mind.

In my opinion, this is problematic

because the experimenters and
researchers themselves are mostly
unconscious to their behavior and
impulses that they are attempting to
observe in their sample groups. Plus,
unconscious biases influence us in
profound ways (see Thinking Fast and
Slow).

Although this work is important and

interesting, in my opinion, it fails to get to
the core of why we do what we do. So if
we’re interested in learning about what’s
going on inside us, we need to dig deeper.

How to Select the Best

Psychology Books

Although reading the pioneers of

psychoanalysis like Freud, Jung, and
Adler can be illuminating, it’s also
incredibly time-consuming and often
confusing. So in curating my picks for the
best books in psychology, I’ve selected
titles that don’t assume prior working
knowledge of psychological theory. I’ve
also chosen psychology books that I
believe are the most accessible.

And if you don’t want to invest thousands

of hours reading a lot of unnecessarily
complicated texts, read Robert
Johnson. Johnson is a Jungian writer
who possesses a remarkable gift for
taking complex psychological ideas and
making them understandable and
relatable to laypeople like us. And he does
it with gentleness and an economy of
words. Johnson penned half of the books
below.

If you’re not already an Audible customer,

you can start a free 30-day trial and get
two free audiobooks.

My Picks for the 10 Best

Psychology Books

So here are my selections for the best

books on psychology:

Owning Your Own Shadow:

Understanding the Dark Side of the
Psyche
by Robert Johnson

Paperback | Kindle

This 119-page book provides the best

explanation of the personal shadow that
you can find in print. The shadow
represents all the parts of ourselves that
we’re unknowingly cut off or divorced
from. And these disowned parts are what
drives most of our behavior outside of our
awareness. Many of the ideas in Owning
Your Own Shadow inspired my guide on
getting on shadow work.

Man’s Search for Meaning

by Viktor E. Frankl

Paperback | Kindle | Audio

I can’t imagine a list of the best

psychology books not including Frankl’s
classic. I first read Man’s Search for
Meaning in my early 20s. But it didn’t
mean anything to me until rereading it in
my mid-30s. Frankl’s observations as a
captive in a Nazi concentration camp
during World War II are instructive for
every human being. All readers will gain a
new perspective on their lives and what
drives them after reading this book.

Games People Play: The Basic

Handbook of Transactional
Analysis
by Eric Berne

Paperback | Kindle | Audible

Berne’s classic from the 60s is still highly

relevant today. Transactional analysis
examines human behavior through a
social lens. Berne highlights that in social
relationships, individuals embody one of
three different expressions of the ego: the
adult, the parent, and the child. The adult
is rational, the parent is critical and
nurturing, the child is dependent and
intuitive. All three expressions are in each
of us and different social situations
trigger different ones and in specific
combinations. Games People Play is
a fascinating read if you’re interested in
social dynamics and if you want to
become more conscious of your behavior.

He: Understanding Masculine

Psychology
by Robert Johnson

Paperback | Kindle

Every man should read He. In 82 pages,

Johnson explains masculine psychology
through the mythology of King Arthur
and the Grail legend. I’m not sure I would
have understood it in my 20s or early 30s.
I’ve read this book at least six times in my
30s alone. I appreciate He more and more
as I get older. Every woman who wants to
understand the masculine psyche will
benefit from this book too.

She: Understanding Feminine

Psychology
by Robert Johnson

Paperback | Kindle

In this concise 80-page book, Johnson

breaks down feminine psychology
through the myths of Psyche, Eros and
Aphrodite. Reading She with He
illuminates how the psyche of men and
women are fundamentally different. A
handy guide.

We: Understanding the Psychology

of Romantic Love
by Robert Johnson

Paperback | Kindle

How can you even attempt to be in a

relationship without reading We? We are
all so programmed with ideas about
romantic love from stories, films, and the
media, that human relating is barely
possible. Johnson deconstructs romantic
love through the myth of Tristan and
Iseult. Johnson’s We is a must-read book
for anyone attempting to have a
conscious relationship or marriage.
Incredibly sobering and instructive.

King, Warrior, Magician, Lover:

Rediscovering the Archetypes of the
Mature Masculine
by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette

Paperback | Kindle

Wow! If you want to understand human

behavior, read this book (commonly
referred to as KWML). KWML a wild ride
into the psyche. You’ll meet the full cast
of characters, but the real story isn’t
about the Big Four mentioned in the title,
but their bipolar shadow
counterparts. It’s in getting to know and
understand these darker archetypes that
we begin to appreciate the forces that rule
most of human behavior. For anyone
interested in psychology and human
behavior, put KWML on your list.

Related Guide: How the Magician

Archetype Creates and Destroys Worlds

Start Where You Are: A Guide to

Compassionate Living
by Pema Chodren

Paperback | Kindle

As far as Western psychology has come in

the last 120 years or so, Eastern
psychology is thousands of years
older. Start Where You Are is based on
what’s called Lojong that’s at least 300
years old. This mind training practice is
based on 59 slogans or aphorism that
demonstrate the brilliance of Buddhist
psychology. And Chodren, a Western
Buddhist teacher, does a beautiful job
explaining the meaning behind these
aphorisms.

Self-Therapy: A Step-By-Step Guide

to Creating Wholeness and Healing
Your Inner Child Using IFS
by Jay Earley

Paperback | Kindle | Audio

We have voices, parts, or subpersonalities

within our psyche.

When we deny this fact, these parts rule

us. When we accept this, we can learn to
understand and harmonize the characters
within our psyche. Self-Therapy is based
on a more modern integrative therapy
called Internal Family Systems (or IFS).
It guides you step-by-step through a
process of working with your parts. My
guide on the psychology of archetypes
provides a basis for using this manual.

The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The

Complete Guide to Psychological
and Spiritual Growth for the Nine
Personality Types
by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson

Paperback

In two decades of personal coaching, I’ve

explored most, if not all, the
psychological assessments on the market
(Myers-Briggs, DISC, etc.). From my
perspective, the Enneagram is the most