The Winter/Spring 2025 Book Huddle Cohort, reading No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz, is FULL.

If you would like to receive information about future Huddles, please complete the Interest Form below.

A Mental Health Book Huddle

  • IS.....

    • a virtual, therapist-led book club where we read and discuss books on the subjects of psychology. mental health, and self-help

    • a way to meet other people with shared interests in the chosen book topic

    • a place to share your thoughts, feelings, and perspectives related to the book/topic and to hear those of others in the group

    • a confidential space where members agree that what happens in book club, stays in book club

    • psycho-eduational in nature, and potentially therapeutic (despite not being a therapy group)

    • a respectful place where differences of opinion are encouraged, but personal attacks are prohibited

  • IS NOT.....

    • a good match for people currently experiencing major mental health symptoms including suicidality, self-harm, chronic interpersonal challenges, and significant difficulty regulating emotions

    • a therapy group

      • No diagnoses are required to join

      • members are not diagnosed once they are in the group

      • no mental health interventions are employed

      • mental health symptoms and goals/progress are neither tracked nor documented

      • reimbursable with health insurance

Details

“Book Huddles”

Each “Book Huddle” will consist of 6-10 members (Huddle Seats), and include the reading of one book, broken into one or more chapters per weekly, online meetup. The length of each Book Huddle and the dates of the meetups will be established ahead of time, determined by the length and density of the book, holidays, etc.

Book Selections

Book selections will be made by consensus of group members who wish to continue for the next Book Huddle. I will keep a list of book suggestions to choose from, and suggestions are always welcome.

Group Member Selection

To be considered for a Huddle Seat, please complete the interest form below. You will informed by email when openings are available as new Book Huddles approach, and you may apply for a spot at that time.

New members are chosen according to your availability, interest level in the chosen book, and anticipated compatibility with other group members.

Joining & Dropping Huddles

Group members have first refusal for one of the seats in the next Book Huddle. Members may discontinue membership between Huddles, and openings for new applicants will become available before new Book Huddles begin, should space become available.

Etiquette

Respectful words and behaviors are expected of group members in order to create and maintain a comfortable and cozy environment for everyone. Racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic behaviors will not be tolerated. Violations to the etiquette rules will result in expulsion from the group.

Commitment

When you join a Book Huddle, you agree to make your best efforts to attend each meeting, for the entirety of the book. Your Huddle Seat is reserved just for you, and your attendance and participation are important for group culture and continuity. You are also committing to reading the chapters assigned between meetings, though we do understand that sometimes life can get in the way. Be prepared for spoilers if you do fall behind, as the group will discuss the assigned chapters on schedule.

Payment

The fee for each 75 minute meeting is $55, which I will charge to your credit card on each meeting day (your card is securely stored using STRIPE). Alternately you may pay in full before for each Book Huddle begins at a discounted rate of 10%, payable by check or Venmo. Committing to a Book Huddle means committing to the fees for all scheduled dates. Fees are still collected if you miss a meeting for any reason.

There will be up to two discounted slots per Huddle. Please inquire if the full fee would pose a hardship.

Confidentiality

The one thing that Book Huddles share with therapy groups is that members may share personal information on sensitive topics. Members are encouraged to take great care with this information, and to not share it outside of the group. Confidentiality will be discussed at the first session of each Book Huddle.

While confidentiality is expected, it cannot be guaranteed. Members are encouraged to take all of this into consideration before sharing personal information.

  • "Some books leave us free and some books make us free."

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • "I think books are like people, in the sense that they’ll turn up in your life when you most need them."

    Emma Thompson

  • "A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors."

    Charles Baudelaire

  • "Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: They feed the soul."

    Anne Lamott

  • "I don't read a book; I hold a conversation with the author."

    Elbert Hubbard

  • "A book, too, can be a star, a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe."

    Madeleine L'Engle

  • "Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one's own self."

    Franz Kafka

  • "Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labelled 'This could change your life.'"

    Helen Exley

  • "Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers."

    Charles W. Eliot

  • “Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.”

    Sir Francis Bacon

  • “I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • “Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.”

    Anna Quindlen

  • “I read a book one day and my whole life was changed.”

    Orhan Pamuk

  • “The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you.”

    Alan Bennett

  • “A word after a word after a word is power.”

    Margaret Atwood

  • “Reading brings us unknown friends”

    Honore de Balzac

  • “Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you.”

    Louis L'Amour

  • “No matter who you are, no matter where you live, and no matter how many people are chasing you, what you don't read is often as important as what you do read.”

    Lemony Snicket

  • “Why can't people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?”

    David Baldacci

Examples of titles we may select…

Psychology & Self Help

  • The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins

  • Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab

  • The Good Life by Waldinger & Schulz

  • Atomic Habits by James Clear

  • No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz

  • Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

  • What Happened to You by Perry & Winfrey

  • The Emotionally Absent Mother by Jasmin Lee Cori

  • Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach

  • The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown

  • Finding Meaning by David Kessler

Memoirs

  • Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottleib

  • What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

  • The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

  • My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem

  • All this Healing is Killing Me by Gabrielle Pelicci

  • While You Were Out by Meg Kissinger

  • The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn R. Saks

  • Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

  • Get Me Out of Here by Rachel Reiland

  • Educated by Tara Westover

  • To Be Loved by Frank G. Anderson

The September 2024 Online Book Huddle Selection is

No Bad Parts

by Richard C. Schwartz, PhD
“I think books are like people, in the sense that they’ll turn up in your life when you most need them.”
— Emma Thompson

Fridays 12-1:15pm EST

September 27 - November 15

  • A small group of 5-8 pre-interviewed members

  • Eight weekly, online discussion meetups

    • Makeup on November 22nd, if needed

  • Weekly homework exercises, created by the author

  • $55 per weekly meetup, 10% discount if paid in full

  • Interest Form Deadline is Friday, August 23rd

  • See below for further details about the Huddle Formation process.