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Wellness: IcahnBeWell Reading List

This guide was created in collaboration with IcahnBeWell, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Student Wellness program. It serves to connect ISMMS community members with wellness related resources.

Reading List

This wellness reading list was curated by Jordyn Feingold, a Year 2 Medical Student at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Some of the books and articles listed are available through the Levy Library and have links for access. Items without links may be available through your local public library or be able to be requested through our interlibrary loan service

These are the three public library systems in NYC; if you live, work or go to school in New York State, you are eligible for a library card from any or all of these systems:

New York Public Library (get your free NYPL card here)

Brooklyn Public Library (get your free BPL card here)

Queens Public Library (get your free QPL card here)

Visit our remote access page for information about accessing Levy Library resources off-campus. For help with finding any item, contact refdesk@mssm.edu.

Books for Medical Professional Well-Being

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1991). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 0060920432

Diener, E. and Biswas-Diener R. (2008).  Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 1405146613

Duckworth, A. (2016) Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781501111105

Epstein, R. (2017). Attending: Medicine, mindfulness, and humanity. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781501121715

Frankl, V. (1946). Man’s search for meaning. Beacon Press. ISBN 080701429X

Fredrickson, B. (2009). Positivity. New York: Crown Publishing. ISBN 0307393739

Fredrickson, B. (2013). Love 2.0. New York: Hudson Street Press. ISBN 1594630992

Grant, A. (2013). Give and take. New York: Viking. ISBN 0670026557

Guwande, A. (2014). Being mortal: Medicine and what matters in the end. Macmillan. ISBN 9781627790550

Haidt, J. (2006).  The happiness hypothesis: Finding modern truths in ancient wisdom.  New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0465028020  

Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. Penguin Random House. ISBN 0749915854

Kalanithi, P. (2016). When breath becomes air. Penguin Random House. ISBN 9780812988406

Lyubomirsky, S. (2007). The how of happiness. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 159420148X

Peterson, C. (2006) A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195188330

Ratey, J. and Hagerman, E. (2013). Spark: A revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316113514

Sandberg, S. and Grant, A. (2017). Option B: Facing adversity, building resilience, and finding joy. Penguin Random House. ISBN 9781524732684

Seligman, M. (2002). Authentic happiness. New York: Free Press. (AH) ISBN 0743222989

Seligman, M. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York: Free Press. ISBN 1439190755

Seligman, M. E. P. (1998). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0671019112

Southwick, S. and Charney, D. (2018). Resilience: The science of mastering life’s greatest challenges (Second edition.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 1139013858

Relationships

Gable, S. L., & Gosnell, C. L. (2011). The positive side of close relationships. In K. M. Sheldon, T. B. Kashdan, & M. F. Steger (Eds.), Designing positive psychology: Taking stock and moving forward (pp. 266-279). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Neff, K. D. (2003). Self-compassion: An alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself. Self and Identity, 2, 85-102.

Neff, K D., Hseih, Y., & Dejitthirat, K. (2005). Self-compassion, achievement goals, and coping with academic failureSelf and Identity, 4, 263-287.

Rusbult, C. E., Kumashira, M., Kubacka, K. E., & Finkel, E. J. (2009). "The part of me that you bring out": Ideal similarity and the Michelangelo phenomenonJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(1), 61-82.

Stephens. J.P., Heaphy, E., & Dutton, J. (2011). High quality connections. In K. Cameron and G. Spreitzer (eds.), Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship (pp.385-399). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Engagement

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1998, rev. ed). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper Perennial.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2008). Finding Flow. The psychology of engagement with everyday life. New York: Basic Books.

Kabat-Zinn J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and futureJournal of Clinical Psychological Science and Practice, 10, 144–156.

Peterson, C. & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues a handbook and classification. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press and Oxford University Press.

Vitality

Eastridge, B. J., Hamilton, E. C., O'Keefe, G. E., Rege, R.V., Valentine, R. J., Jones, D. J., Tesfay, S., & Thal, E. R. (2003). Effect of sleep deprivation on the performance of simulated laparoscopic surgical skillAmerican Journal of Surgery, 186(2), 169-174.

Grantcharov, T. P., Bardram, L., Funch-Jensen, P., & Rosenberg, J. (2001). Laparoscopic performance after one night on call in a surgical department: Prospective study. British Medical Journal, 323(7323), 1222-1223.

Ratey, J. J., & Hagerman, E. (2008). Spark: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Ratey, J. J., & Loehr, J. E. (2011). The positive impact of physical activity on cognition during adulthood: A review of underlying mechanisms, evidence and recommendationsReviews in the Neurosciences, 22(2), 171-185.

Ratey, J. J., & Manning, R. (2014). Go wild: Free your body and mind from the afflictions of civilization. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Olson, E. J., Drage, L. A., & Auger, R. R. (2009). Sleep deprivation, physician performance, and patient safety. Chest136(5), 1389-1396.

US Department of Health and Human Services. (2008). 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Washington, DC.

Wu, A. W., Folkman, S., McPhee, S. J., & Lo, B. (1991).  Do house officers learn from their mistakes? Journal of the American Medical Association, 265(16), 2089-94.

Accomplishment

Grant, A. M. (2013). Give and Take: A revolutionary approach to success. New York, NY: Viking Press.

Rebele, R. W. (2015). Being “otherish”: Resolving the false choice between personal and prosocial goals. In R. J. Burke, K. M. Page, & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), Flourishing in Life, Work, and Careers: Individual Wellbeing and Career Experience. (pp. 26-44) New Horizons in Management. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Meaning

Karff, S. E. (2009). Medicine and society: Recognizing the mind/body/spirit connection in medical care. Virtual Mentor, 11(10), 788-792.

Pargament, K. I. (2013). Searching for the sacred: Toward a non-reductionist theory of spirituality. In K. I. Pargament, J. J. Exline, & J. Jones (Eds.), APA handbooks in psychology: APA handbook of psychology, religion, and spirituality: Vol I. Context, theory, and research (pp. 257-274). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Remen, R. N. (n.d.). The Healer’s Art. Retrieved July 8, 2016 (Wayback Machine snapshot from April 7, 2022), from Rachel Naomi Remen, MD:  Remembering your Power to Heal website: https://web.archive.org/web/20220407164050/http://www.rachelremen.com/learn/medical-education-work/the-healers-art/

Positive Emotions/Resilience

Ellis, A. (1991). The revised ABC's of rational-emotive therapy (RET)Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 9(3), 139-172.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218-226.

Fredrickson, B. (2009). Positivity: Groundbreaking research reveals how to embrace the hidden strength of positive emotions, overcome negativity, and thrive. New York, NY: Crown.

Fredrickson, B. L., Manusco, R. A., Branigan, C., & Tugade, M. (2000). The undoing effect of positive emotions. Motivation and Emotion, 24, 237-258.

Reivich, K. & Shatte, A. (2002). The resilience factor: 7 Essential skills for overcoming life’s inevitable obstacles. New York, NY: Broadway Books.

Tugade, M. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). Resilient individuals use positive emotions to bounce back from negative emotional experiencesJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 320-333.