The 65 Most Significant Psychospiritual Books of the 20th Century

Simply the Best:

The 65 Most Significant Psychospiritual Books of the 20th Century

by Charles H. and Anne A. Simpkinson

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Year

Author

Title

1901

Richard Bucke

Cosmic Consciousness: A Study of the Evolution of the Human Mind

1902

William James

The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature

1922

Martin Buber

I and Thou

1927

Sigmund Freud

The Future of an Illusion

1933

Carl G. Jung

Modern Man in Search of a Soul

1936

The Rev. Anton T. Boisen

The Exploration of the Inner World: A Study of Mental Disorder and Religious Experience

1944

Aldous Huxley

The Perennial Philosophy

1946

Rabbi Joshua Liebman

Peace of Mind

1946

Paramahansa Yogananda

Autobiography of a Yogi

1949

Joseph Campbell

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

1950

Karen Horney

Neurosis and Human Growth: The Struggle Toward Self Realization

1951

Carl Rogers

Client Centered Therapy: Its Current Practice, Implications and Theory

1952

Norman Vincent Peale

The Power of Positive Thinking

1953

Rollo May

Man’s Search for Himself

1953

Fulton J. Sheen

Life is Worth Living

1955

Gordon Allport

The Individual & His Religion

1958

Erik Erikson

Young Man Luther: A Study in Psychoanalysis and History

1959

Viktor E. Frankl

Man’s Search for meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy

1959

Erich Fromm

Psychoanalysis and Religion

1960

Gabriel Marcel

The Mystery of Being

1961

Carl G. Jung

Memories, Dreams, Reflections

1961

O. Hobart Mowrer

The Crisis in Psychiatry and Religion

1961

Alan W. Watts

Psychotherapy East & West

1964

Abraham Maslow

Religions, Values and Peak Experiences

1965

Alberto Assagioli

Psychosynthesis

1966

Phillip Reiff

Triumph of the Therapeutic: The Uses of Faith After Freud

1966

Agnes Sanford

The Healing Gifts of the Spirit

1969

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

On Death and Dying

1969

Charles Tart

Altered States of Consciousness

1970

Ram Dass

The Only Dance There Is

1971

Aurobindo Ghose

The Synthesis of Yoga

1972

Sheldon Kopp

If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him!

1972

Mircea Eliade

Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy

1972

Virginia Satir

People Making

1973

Ernest Becker

The Denial of Death

1973

Jerome D. Frank

Persuasion and Healing: A Comparative Study of Psychotherapy

1975

Fritjof Capra

The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism

1975

James Hillman

Re-Visioning Psychology

1975

Ira Progoff

At a Journal Workshop

1975

Laurens van der Post

Jung and the Story of Our Time

1976

ed. Helen Schucman

A Course in Miracles

1976

The Rev. Morton Kelsey

The Other Side of Silence: A Guide to Christian Meditation

1976

Heinz Kohut

The Restoration of the Self

1977

Ken Wilber

The Spectrum of Consciousness

1978

M. Scott Peck

The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth

1979

Ana Marie Rizzuto

The Birth of the Living God: A Psychoanalytic Study

1980

David Bohm

Wholeness and the Implicate Order

1980

Michael Harner

The Way of the Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing

1980

Roger Walsh &  Frances Vaughan

Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision

1981

James Fowler

Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning

1981

Edward Hoffman

The Way of Splendor: Jewish Mysticism and Modern Psychology

1981

Alice Miller

The Drama of the Gifted Child (formerly titled Prisoners of Childhood)

1981

Eugene Gendlin

Focusing

1982

Marion Woodman

Addiction to Perfection: The Still Unravished Bride

1985

Robert Belllah et al.

Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life

1986

Ken Wilber et al.

Transformations of Consciousness: Conventional and Contemplative Perspectives on Development

1988

The Rev. Thomas Berry

Dream of the Earth

1988

John Bradshaw

Healing the Shame That Binds You

1988

Stanislov Grof

The Adventure of Self Discovery

1990

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness

1990

Robert Bly

Iron John: A Book about Men

1992

Clarissa Pinkola Éstes

Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories About the Wild Woman Archetype

1992

Thomas Moore

Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life

1993

Jack Kornfield

A Path With Heart: A Guide Through the Promises and Perils of Spiritual Life

1995

Mark Epstein

Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective

Source: “Simply the Best,” by Charles and Anne A. Simpkinson, Common Boundary, January/February, 1999, pp. 32-37. Excerpt re-published with the permission of Dr. Charles H. Simpkinson, 2006.