Chapter 20: Further Reading

Essential Sources

Haslam, N. (2016). "Concept creep: Psychology's expanding concepts of harm and pathology." Psychological Inquiry, 27(1), 1–17. Directly applicable to the expansion of "boundaries," "toxic," and "triggering" beyond their clinical meanings.

Bellet, B. W., Jones, P. J., & McNally, R. J. (2018). "Trigger warning: Empirical evidence ahead." Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 61, 134–141. One of several studies finding that trigger warnings do not reduce distress and may increase anticipatory anxiety.

Illouz, E. (2008). Saving the Modern Soul: Therapy, Emotions, and the Culture of Self-Help. University of California Press. The sociological analysis of therapeutic culture — how therapeutic concepts became the dominant framework for self-understanding in modern Western societies.

Jones, P. J., Bellet, B. W., & McNally, R. J. (2020). "Helping or harming? The effect of trigger warnings on individuals with trauma histories." Clinical Psychological Science, 8(5), 905–917. Additional evidence that trigger warnings don't help trauma survivors and may cause harm.

Cloud, H., & Townsend, J. (1992). Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life. Zondervan. One of the original popular books on boundaries. While not strictly evidence-based, it presents a more nuanced view of boundaries than most social media content.

Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT Skills Training Manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press. The DBT manual includes extensive guidance on interpersonal effectiveness skills, including boundary-setting. This is what evidence-based boundary work actually looks like.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Smyth, J. M. (2016). Opening Up by Writing It Down: How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain (3rd ed.). Guilford Press. The evidence behind expressive writing as a (free) self-care practice. Pennebaker's research is well-replicated and provides a genuine alternative to commercial self-care products.

Lorde, A. (1988). A Burst of Light: And Other Essays. Firebrand Books. The original source of "caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." Read it to see how far the commercial appropriation has drifted from Lorde's meaning.

Petersen, A. H. (2020). Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Explores how "self-care" culture emerged as a response to systemic burnout — and how commercialization turned a political concept into a consumer product.

Online Resources

Global Wellness Institute. Industry data on the self-care and wellness market, including market size and growth projections.

DBT Self-Help (dbtselfhelp.com). Free resources for evidence-based interpersonal effectiveness skills, including boundary-setting. More clinically grounded than social media boundary content.