Chapter 5: Further Reading

Essential Sources

Salerno, S. (2005). SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless. Crown. A critical examination of the self-help industry, arguing that its structural incentives work against consumer welfare. Provocative and well-researched.

Kirkpatrick, D. L., & Kirkpatrick, J. D. (2006). Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels (3rd ed.). Berrett-Koehler. The standard framework for training evaluation. Understanding the four levels explains why most corporate training evaluation is insufficient.

Joyce, S., Shand, F., Tighe, J., et al. (2018). "Road to resilience: A systematic review and meta-analysis of resilience training programmes and interventions." BMJ Open, 8(6), e017858. Meta-analysis of workplace resilience training showing small effects on self-reported resilience but minimal effects on mental health symptoms or job performance.

Cederstrom, C., & Spicer, A. (2015). The Wellness Syndrome. Polity Press. A critical analysis of how wellness culture places the burden of health and happiness on individuals while ignoring structural factors.

Illouz, E. (2008). Saving the Modern Soul: Therapy, Emotions, and the Culture of Self-Help. University of California Press. An academic analysis of how therapeutic language and self-help culture have reshaped modern identity and emotional life.

Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Scribner. Worth reading alongside the critical literature on grit replication (Chapter 27). Illustrates how a researcher's popularization can outpace the evidence.

Global Industry Analysts. (2025). "Corporate Training Market — Global Strategic Business Report." Industry report documenting the scale and growth of the corporate training market.

Wilson, T. D. (2011). Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change. Little, Brown. A research-based alternative to typical self-help, emphasizing what actually works (story editing, expressive writing) based on controlled experiments. A model for evidence-based self-help.

Norcross, J. C., & Prochaska, J. O. (2021). Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions (updated edition). Simon & Schuster. A self-help book actually based on decades of behavior change research (the Transtheoretical Model). Example of what evidence-based self-help looks like.

David, S. (2016). Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life. Avery. Self-help built on legitimate research (acceptance and commitment therapy principles). Another example of the evidence-based end of the spectrum.

Online Resources

MarketResearch.com / Grand View Research. Industry reports on the self-help market, corporate training market, and digital mental health market. Useful for understanding the scale of the industries discussed.

Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). Resources on evidence-based workplace practices, including assessments of common corporate training approaches.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidelines. Evidence-based recommendations for mental health interventions. Useful as a benchmark for evaluating whether a specific therapy approach has evidence.