AAPP is pleased to provide a suggested reading list as a service and as a forum for member discussion. If you shop with AAPP by following the links below to Amazon, a small commission will be paid to AAPP which helps to financially support our mission to improve the minds and lives of individuals with psychiatric disorders.

View List of Recommended Non-Clinical Books

The list is organized into three categories:

  1. Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy
  2. General Pharmacotherapy
  3. General Psychiatry

Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy

#1: 2022-2023 Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy Review Book

By: AAPP

The Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy Review Book is designed for use by individuals preparing to sit for the Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP) examination. AAPP surveys show that at least 90% of successful BCPP candidates purchase the Review Book as their primary study tool. One hundred percent of survey respondents indicate that the Review Book was their primary study resource and a key tool to their certification success.

The Book Contains:

  1. Comprehensive outlines, written as individual chapters, of the most common psychiatric and neurologic conditions tested for in the BCPP exam.
  2. Consistently formatted chapters that include objectives, thorough content, comprehensive reference listings, and self-assessment questions with answer justifications.
  3. An e-book version of the book hosted by VitalSource Bookshelf, a leading e-textbook solution. This e-book version allows you to take electronic notes as well as download the book to your desktop or mobile device for offline access.

#2: Stahl’s Essential Clinical Psychopharmacology (5th Edition)

By: Stephen M. Stahl

This text is essential for all students and professionals in mental health seeking to understand and utilize current therapeutics, and to anticipate the future for novel medications. This book embraces the unifying themes of 'symptom endophenotypes,' dimensions of psychopathology that cut across syndromes, and 'symptoms and circuits.' Utilizing explanation and illustrations familiar to Dr. Stahl’s work, this is a readily readable source of information on disease and drug mechanisms.

New features and enhancements in this edition:

  1. Every aspect of the text has been updated to the frontiers of current knowledge, with the clarity of explanation and illustration that only Dr. Stahl can bring. The total number of references has doubled from the fourth edition.
  2. Use of neuroscience-based nomenclature, naming drugs by their mechanism of action rather than use.
  3. Major additions in the areas of psychosis, mood disorders, anxiety, sleep, ADHD, dementia, and others.

Related Links

  1. Prescriber's Guide: Stahl's Essential Psychopharmacology (7th Edition)
  2. Case Studies: Stahl’s Essential Psychopharmacology (Volume 1)
  3. Case Studies: Stahl’s Essential Psychopharmacology (Volume 2)

#3: Clinical Handbook of Psychotropic Drugs (24th Edition)

By: Ric M. Procyshyn, Kalyna Bezchlibnyk-Butler, J. Joel Jeffries

The book has become a standard reference and working tool for a variety of mental health professionals. The text is packed with unique, easy-to-read comparison charts and tables (dosages, side effects, pharmacokinetics, interactions) for a quick overview of treatment options. It also contains all you need to know for each class of drug in succinct, bulleted format. This book is a must for everyone who needs an up-to-date, easy-to-use, comprehensive summary of all the most relevant information about psychotropic drugs.

New features and enhancements in this edition:

  1. Updated drug information including new formulations, trade names, and the most recent drug approvals
  2. Comprehensive revision of antipsychotic and antidepressant augmentation strategies
  3. Implementation of neuroscience-based nomenclature

#4: Psychotropic Drug Handbook (8th Edition)

By: Paul J. Perry PhD FCCP BCPP, Bruce Alexander PharmD BCPP, Barry Liskow MD, Lindsay DeVane PharmD BCPP FCCP

This succinct handbook provides students and practitioners with clinically relevant psychotropic drug information. The Eighth Edition is designed as a reference text that also teaches by delivering informative narrative text under standard headlines with references. Its focus goes beyond drug information to cover pharmacotherapy applications. The book provides detailed, well-referenced, evidence-based information on a wide range of psychotropic drugs.

New features and enhancements in this edition:

  1. New chapters on pediatric and geriatric psychopharmacotherapy
  2. New content on antipsychotics, hypnotics, medications used in treating alcoholism and substance dependence, and electroconvulsive therapy
  3. New algorithms, appendices, and tables

#5: Schatzberg's Manual of Clinical Psychopharmacology (9th Edition)

By: Alan F. Schatzberg, Charles DeBattista

This manual continues to offer thoroughly updated, exhaustively vetted, and evidence-based information on psychotropic drugs in a collegial, conversational style that both training and practicing clinicians will find useful and authoritative. To ensure that the ever-expanding number of available agents with widening indications receives proper coverage, the authors have continued their effort to cull or condense coverage of less commonly used agents (e.g., barbiturates) in favor of more recently approved drugs and those whose approval by the FDA appears imminent.

New features and enhancements in this edition:

  1. The authors devote an entire chapter to important developments in laboratory-guided pharmacotherapy, including pharmacogenomic testing, neurocognitive testing, quantitative EEG, and neuroimaging

General Pharmacotherapy

#6: Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach (12th Edition)

By: Joseph T. DiPiro, Gary C. Yee, L. Michael Posey, Stuart T. Haines, Thomas D. Nolin, Vicki Ellingrod

Written to help advance the quality of patient care through evidence-based medication therapy derived from sound pharmacotherapeutic principles. The scope this text goes beyond drug indications and dosages to include the initial selection, proper administration, and monitoring of drugs. This text will be essential in the preparation of BPS certification exams.

New features and enhancements on this edition:

  1. Enriched by more than 300 expert contributors.
  2. Every chapter has been updated to reflect the latest in evidence-based information and recommendations including tables, charts, algorithms, and practice guidelines.
  3. Addition of Patient Care Process boxes to all disease-focused chapters.
  4. New sections on Common Health Problems and Special Populations.

#7: Applied Therapeutics: The Clinical Use of Drugs (12th, North American Edition)

By: Caroline S. Zeind PharmD, Michael G. Carvalho PharmD

A fundamental book for patient-centered drug therapeutics. It incorporates a case-based approach which promotes mastery and application of the fundamentals of drug therapeutics. As you progress from the General Principles section to chapters on specific diseases, you will benefit from practical problem-solving techniques that help you devise effective evidence-based drug treatment plans. These strategies ensure relevance to contemporary pharmacy and preparation for pharmacy practice.

New features and enhancements on this edition:

  1. Every chapter has been revised and updated to reflect ever-changing knowledge of drugs and the application of this knowledge to the individualized therapy of patients
  2. Revised to align with the five Institute of Medicine core competencies (patient-centered care, interdisciplinary teams, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and informatics), as
  3. Revised to align with current pharmacy educational outcomes and the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) competency statements.

General Psychiatry

#8: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Text Revision DSM-5-TR 5th Edition

By: American Psychiatric Association

  1. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), is the most comprehensive, current, and critical resource for clinical practice available to today's mental health clinicians and researchers. DSM-5-TR includes the fully revised text and references, updated diagnostic criteria and ICD-10-CM codes since DSM-5 was published in 2013. It features a new disorder, Prolonged Grief Disorder, as well as codes for suicidal behavior available to all clinicians of any discipline without the requirement of any other diagnosis.

Related Book Links

  1. DSM 5 Desk Reference

#9: Rating Scales in Mental Health (3rd Edition)

By:  Martha Sajatovic MD, Luis F. Ramirez MD

This text describes and analyzes 116 scales arranged in 20 categories, including anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, eating disorders, geriatrics, psychosis, sexual disorders, substance abuse, and suicide risk. Material covered for each rating scale includes: an overview, general applications, selected psychometric properties, references and copyright information, time needed to complete scale and a representative study. Samples of many scales are included, as are tables in a quick-reference format. This book is ideal for mental health clinicians and researchers who use psychometric instruments in their practice.

#10: Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change (3rd Edition)

By: William R. Miller, Stephen Rollnick

This bestselling work for professionals and students is the authoritative presentation of motivational interviewing, the powerful approach to facilitating change. The book elucidates the four processes of MI--engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning--and vividly demonstrates what they look like in action. A wealth of vignettes and interview examples illustrate the "dos and don'ts" of successful implementation in diverse contexts. This book is in the Applications of Motivational Interviewing series, edited by Stephen Rollnick, William R. Miller, and Theresa B. Moyers.

New features and enhancements in this edition:

  1. Reflects major advances in understanding and teaching MI.
  2. Fully restructured around the new four-process model.
  3. Additional case examples and counseling situations.
  4. Reviews the growing evidence base and covers ways to assess MI fidelity.

Related Titles:

  1. Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practitioner Workbook (2nd Edition)
  2. Motivational Interviewing and CBT: Combining Strategies for Maximum Effectiveness (1st Edition)

#11: Concise Guide to Evidence-Based Psychiatry (1st Edition)

By: Gregory E. Gray Ph.D.

This practical handbook provides quick access to Evidence-Based Psychiatry theories, tools, and methods. This text is a one-stop reference for using the literature to improve patient outcomes. Filled with how-to information, this book outlines the latest techniques for accessing, assessing, and interpreting the literature and includes many tables of essential websites for finding reliable information on the Internet, best-practice strategies for searching the medical literature.

#12: Kaplan and Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry (10th, 2 Volume Set Edition)

By: Benjamin J. Sadock, Virginia A. Sacock, Pedro Ruiz

This two-volume book set covers the full range of psychiatry and mental health, including neural science, genetics, neuropsychiatry, psychopharmacology, and other key areas. It remains a top ranked reference for all those who work with the mentally ill.  Your book purchase includes a complimentary download of the enhanced eBook for iOS, Android, PC & Mac.

New features and enhancements in this edition:

  1. Thoroughly updated coverage of neural sciences, with new sections on epigenetics, the microbiome, systems neuroscience, the Human Connectome Project, and neurodevelopment
  2. Extensively revised sections on schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, geriatric psychiatry and neurocognitive disorders
  3. Uniquely comprehensive information on psychosomatic medicine
  4. Timely information on public and global psychiatry, biological therapies, and psychotherapies
  5. "Text within a text" coverage of child psychiatry includes thorough information on neuroimaging, assessment, genetics, sleep disorders, and the impact on parents of raising a psychiatrically disabled child

#13: The ASAM Principles of Addiction Medicine (6th edition)

By: Shannon Miller

This comprehensive textbook reviews the science and art behind addiction medicine and provides health care providers with the necessary information to not only properly diagnose and treat their patients, but to also serve as change agents to positively impact clinical service design and delivery, as well as global health care policy. Covers all areas fundamental to Addiction Medicine, including neurobiology and pharmacology, epidemiology and prevention, management of intoxication and withdrawal syndromes, special populations, pharmacological and psychologically-based interventions, and medical consequences of addiction. It also touches on international and military veteran-unique issues that are of special importance to the field.

New features and enhancements to this edition:

  1. Updated with the latest developments in Addiction Medicine
  2. Chapters on emerging and high impact topics including such as electronic cigarettes, cannabis as medicine, opioid overdose and opioid use disorder treatment, co-occurring pain and addiction, understanding addiction-related clinical trials, digital media as treatment platforms, TBI, neuromodulation, harm reduction, behavioral addictions, research behind spirituality and mutual help programs, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, and guidelines for using non-stigmatizing language

#14: The Psychiatric Interview (4th edition)

By: Daniel Carlat

This pocket-sized manual provides practical tips for approaching the psychiatric interview, broaching difficult subjects, and obtaining a thorough psychiatric history. It contains helpful mnemonics and pocket cards for quick referencing. Updated for the DSM-5.

#15: Uppers, Downers, and All Arounders (8th edition)

By: Darryl S Inaba,William E Cohen, Elizabeth von Radics, Ellen K Cholewa 

This edition incorporates the most current and comprehensive information on the physiology, neurochemistry and sociology of drugs in to one of the best test/reference books on the subject. Recommended reading for AOD counseling certification and adopted by hundreds of colleges and universities as well as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, this text provides readers at every level with a thoughtful and through examination of the physical and mental effects of psychoactive drugs and compulsive behaviors.