I believe On Being a Therapist to be one of them.

There are some books that pretty much every would-be or practicing therapist ought to read during their tenure as a clinician. If you are already on that path, even if you've been in the field for years, this is a must-read. I would highly recommend this book to anyone thinking of pursuing a career in mental health care (it is applicable to a variety of professions including social work but most of the content is specific to one-on-one sessions more indicative of counseling and psychology). This book came at the perfect time in my program, a time where I was being tested by my professors and asked to answer that question 'how much do you really want to be a counselor and what does that title mean to you?' Kottler's book was an indispensable part of my process of defining exactly what being a mental health professional means, in general and on a personal level.

But then there is the good! and it is so good, so uplifting and inspiring. As a graduate student in Clinical Counseling I found his commentary to be at times frightening, really challenging me to reflect on the path I've chosen by confronting me with the bad and the ugly. Kottler provides the reader with an honest, raw, uncensored look at being a mental health professional. This new edition includes updated sources, new material on technology, new problems that therapists face, and two new chapters: 'On Being a Therapeutic Storyteller-and Listener' and 'On Being a Client: How to Get the Most from Therapy.' Generations of students and practitioners in counseling, clinical psychology, social work, psychotherapy, marriage and family therapy, and human services have found comfort and confidence in On Being a Therapist, and this Fifth Edition - intended to be the author's last major update to the seminal work - only builds upon this solid foundation as it continues to educate helping professionals everywhere.I've read a lot of psych books in the past 6 years but this was by far the most useful. He also explores the stress factors that are brought on from managed care bureaucracy, conflicts at work, and clients' own anxiety and depression. In this thoroughly revised and updated fifth edition, Jeffrey Kottler explores many of the challenges that therapists face in their practices today, including pressures from increased technology, economic realities, and advances in theory and technique. For more than thirty years, On Being a Therapist has inspired generations of mental health professionals to explore the most private and sacred aspects of their work helping others.

Jeffrey kottler on being a therapist