100 books like A Sexual Profile of Men in Power

By Sam Janus, Barbara Bess, Carol Saltus

Here are 100 books that A Sexual Profile of Men in Power fans have personally recommended if you like A Sexual Profile of Men in Power. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Sex in the Brain: A Neuropsychosexual Approach to Love and Intimacy

Brett Kahr Author Of Who's Been Sleeping in Your Head: The Secret World of Sexual Fantasies

From my list on the secret underbelly of sexual psychology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have worked in the mental health profession for over forty years. Currently, I serve as Senior Fellow at the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology in London, and as Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis and Mental Health at Regent’s University London, as well as Honorary Director of Research at the Freud Museum London. I also hold posts as Chair of the Scholars Committee of the British Psychoanalytic Council and as Honorary Fellow of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, and I have authored eighteen books and have served as series editor for some eighty-five further titles.  

Brett's book list on the secret underbelly of sexual psychology

Brett Kahr Why did Brett love this book?

Janice Hiller, a British clinical psychologist and psychosexual therapist who has taught for many years at the esteemed organisation Tavistock Relationships in Central London, has just released a new book on the interrelationship between sexual functioning and brain health, thus integrating psychoanalytical theory with neuroscience.

Hiller has devoted chapters to such compelling topics as kissing, commitment, parenting, infidelity, divorce, and so many more, teaching us all a great deal about the complex and intimate relationship between our brains and our minds and between our bodies and our sexual tendencies. Well-written and scientifically up-to-date, I have found this book to be a truly original endeavor at understanding the many underlying complexities of adult sexual behaviors.

By Janice Hiller,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sex in the Brain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sex in the Brain gives an overview of what happens in the brain during the development of romantic and sexual relationships, from the intense emotions accompanying the early stages of a new relationship to kissing, touch, arousal, orgasm, commitment, parenting, infidelity, breaking up or staying together.

Neuroscience has uncovered fascinating insights into the brain processes involved in human drives and sexual behaviour, and romantic relationships are now a particular focus of attention. With advanced imaging techniques and hormone testing methods, neurotransmitters and brain regions in humans can now be investigated, allowing researchers to describe the complex neural patterns that enable…


Book cover of The Sexual Relationship: An Object Relations View of Sex and the Family

Brett Kahr Author Of Who's Been Sleeping in Your Head: The Secret World of Sexual Fantasies

From my list on the secret underbelly of sexual psychology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have worked in the mental health profession for over forty years. Currently, I serve as Senior Fellow at the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology in London, and as Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis and Mental Health at Regent’s University London, as well as Honorary Director of Research at the Freud Museum London. I also hold posts as Chair of the Scholars Committee of the British Psychoanalytic Council and as Honorary Fellow of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, and I have authored eighteen books and have served as series editor for some eighty-five further titles.  

Brett's book list on the secret underbelly of sexual psychology

Brett Kahr Why did Brett love this book?

I regard myself as a big fan of Dr. David Scharff, founder of the International Psychotherapy Institute, based in Bethesda, Maryland, who has become one of the planet’s most esteemed psychoanalysts.

Scharff, along with his spouse, Dr. Jill Scharff, has pioneered the field of couple psychotherapy in the United States of America. Based on his clinical insights, he has produced a lucid, groundbreaking book about the childhood and adolescent origins of the sexual complications of adulthood, which has provided me with much wisdom about the ways in which marital sexual difficulties can be traced back to earlier experiences from the prepubertal and pubertal periods of life. Although intended predominantly for fellow mental health clinicians, Scharff’s book will appeal to a very wide readership indeed. 

By David E. Scharff,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sexual Relationship as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dr. David Scharff explores the role of sexuality in human relationships by combining his extensive experience in individual, marital, family, and sex therapy with theoretical contributions from object relations theory and child development.


Book cover of Sexual Behavior in the Human Male

Brett Kahr Author Of Who's Been Sleeping in Your Head: The Secret World of Sexual Fantasies

From my list on the secret underbelly of sexual psychology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have worked in the mental health profession for over forty years. Currently, I serve as Senior Fellow at the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology in London, and as Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis and Mental Health at Regent’s University London, as well as Honorary Director of Research at the Freud Museum London. I also hold posts as Chair of the Scholars Committee of the British Psychoanalytic Council and as Honorary Fellow of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, and I have authored eighteen books and have served as series editor for some eighty-five further titles.  

Brett's book list on the secret underbelly of sexual psychology

Brett Kahr Why did Brett love this book?

The name Alfred Kinsey will be extremely well-known indeed. Although trained as an entomologist and zoologist, this distinguished academic became one of the true pioneers of the field of sexual research.

In 1948, Kinsey, along with his colleagues Wardell Pomeroy and Clyde Martin, produced the most brave book about erotic life since the work of Sigmund Freud decades previously, revealing in immense detail the nature of sexual behaviours in the United States of America. This best-selling book helped to transform the field of sexuality, reducing the shame associated with many forms of non-coital sex.

This 1948 masterpiece, known colloquially as the Kinsey Report, would be followed by a sequel, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, published in 1953, co-authored by many other colleagues, including six women. I found this book quite an inspiration for my own research on adult sexual fantasies, and I drew hugely upon Kinsey’s boldness…

By Alfred C. Kinsey, Wardell B. Pomeroy, Clyde E. Martin

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sexual Behavior in the Human Male as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When first published in 1948, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male encountered a storm of condemnation and acclaim. By unshackling sex research from flawed founding constraints, Kinsey revolutionized it.

In this 75th anniversary edition, featuring a new foreword from Judith A. Allen, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male revisits the work of Alfred C. Kinsey and his fellow researchers as they sought to accumulate an objective body of facts regarding sex. Originally an entomologist, Kinsey applied his fieldwork taxonomy methods to human sexuality. With 5,300 research subjects, his undertaking was the largest sex research project of its time, transforming the…


Book cover of Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

Brett Kahr Author Of Who's Been Sleeping in Your Head: The Secret World of Sexual Fantasies

From my list on the secret underbelly of sexual psychology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have worked in the mental health profession for over forty years. Currently, I serve as Senior Fellow at the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology in London, and as Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis and Mental Health at Regent’s University London, as well as Honorary Director of Research at the Freud Museum London. I also hold posts as Chair of the Scholars Committee of the British Psychoanalytic Council and as Honorary Fellow of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, and I have authored eighteen books and have served as series editor for some eighty-five further titles.  

Brett's book list on the secret underbelly of sexual psychology

Brett Kahr Why did Brett love this book?

I have had a huge crush on Herr Professor Sigmund Freud since my undergraduate days. Back in the nineteenth century, most physicians locked up “lunatics” in local insane asylums with no endeavour to treat mental illness at all, but Freud challenged that negligent approach by having created the discipline of “talking therapy”, engaging in a very warm-hearted and sympathetic manner with his many analysands. 

His classic monograph of 1905 on sexuality has taught me so very much throughout my career and has helped me to speak to my patients with frankness and curiosity about the challenges of their sexual histories and sexual preoccupations. In my estimation, Freud deserves credit not only as the founder of modern psychotherapy but also as the creator of contemporary sexology as well.

By Sigmund Freud, Ulrike Kistner (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Available for the first time in English, the 1905 edition of Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality presents Sigmund Freud's thought in a form new to all but a few ardent students of his work.

This is a Freud absent the Oedipal complex, which came to dominate his ideas and subsequent editions of these essays. In its stead is an autoerotic theory of sexual development, a sexuality transcending binary categorization. This is psychoanalysis freed from ideas that have often brought it into conflict with the ethical and political convictions of modern readers, practitioners, and theorists.

The non-Oedipal psychoanalysis Freud…


Book cover of This Sex Which Is Not One

Suzannah Weiss Author Of Subjectified: Becoming a Sexual Subject

From my list on change how you think of women’s bodies.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a feminist writer and sexologist. My recent book narrates my search for sexual empowerment and presents my vision for a world where no woman is objectified. I teach courses on topics including orgasms, neurodiversity, and childbirth. I also coach people on their sex and love lives, empowering them to take control over their relationships. I am now working on a new book that imparts my long and winding triumph over chronic illness and reveals that having a female body is not a curse but a blessing. 

Suzannah's book list on change how you think of women’s bodies

Suzannah Weiss Why did Suzannah love this book?

Women's genitals are too often painted as passive, empty holes. When we think of them, we think of the vagina rather than the vulva or clitoris. In this book, Irigaray offers a simple reframe: Our bodies are not zero. They are two.

Analyzing the symbolism of the female body, Irigaray challenges patriarchal logic. This book helped me become sexual in a way that honored my own body rather than submitting to the erasure so endemic to our culture.

By Luce Irigaray, Catherine Porter (translator), Carolyn Burke (translator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked This Sex Which Is Not One as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"The publication of these two translations is an event to be celebrated by feminists of all persuasions."
Women's Review of Books

In This Sex Which Is Not One, Luce Irigaray elaborates on some of the major themes of Speculum of the Other Woman, her landmark work on the status of woman in Western philosophical discourse and in psychoanalytic theory, In eleven acute and widely ranging essays, Irigaray reconsiders the question of female sexuality in a variety of contexts that are relevant to current discussion of feminist theory and practice.

Among the topics she treats are the implications of the thought…


Book cover of I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Mona Kabbani Author Of The Bell Chime

From my list on take you on a psychological nightmare.

Why am I passionate about this?

I studied psychology in college and am fascinated with the human mind. The psyche holds so many joys, wonders, and the deepest horrors imaginable, all compact and functioning within our skulls. My love for psychology grew into the horror realm, where I read and watched anything revolving around the character study of an individual driven to the brink. Now, I write stories about the morality of actions taken by those who have found themselves in a peculiar position. I believe there is more to the clean-cut view of right versus wrong regarding the decision-making of one’s self-preservation.

Mona's book list on take you on a psychological nightmare

Mona Kabbani Why did Mona love this book?

I could not predict this book. I love how dark and disturbing it was. It led me down a path of psychological vertigo. By the end, I had exhausted all possible predictions and guessed wrong.

The shock of the twist wrung me out dry. I’m a big fan of books that can take you on a turbulent journey and then deposit you onto uneven ground, leaving you to question your own reality. Was it all real, or was it a part of some awful, waking dream?

By Iain Reid,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked I'm Thinking of Ending Things as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM DIRECTED BY CHARLIE KAUFMAN
AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016

“I’m Thinking of Ending Things is one of the best debut novels I’ve ever read. Iain Reid has crafted a tight, ferocious little book, with a persistent tenor of suspense that tightens and mounts toward its visionary, harrowing final pages” (Scott Heim, award-winning author of Mysterious Skin and We Disappear).

I’m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It sticks. It lingers. It’s always there. Always.

Jake once said, “Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an…


Book cover of Of Two Minds: The Revolutionary Science Of Dual-Brain Psychology

Jill Bolte Taylor Author Of Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life

From my list on finding peace inside of our beautiful brain.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a trained neuroscientist. I was teaching and performing research at Harvard Medical School when a blood vessel exploded in the left half of my brain. On the morning of this rare form of stroke I became vegetative, an infant in a woman's body in that I could not walk, talk, read, write or recall any of my life. It took eight years for me to completely rebuild the left half of my brain. During this experience, I gained true insight into the difference between our left and right cerebral hemispheres.

Jill's book list on finding peace inside of our beautiful brain

Jill Bolte Taylor Why did Jill love this book?

This is a fascinating exploration into the consciousnesses and personality differences between our left and right hemispheres through the lens of our potential for psycho-pathology. Dr. Schiffer is a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School and shares with us innovative ideas about how to unravel the complexity of our psyche. 

By Fredric Schiffer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Of Two Minds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Most people experience themselves as two-sided: one side seems mature and stable, the other emotional and impulsive. This text illustrates how the interaction of these two minds actually determines psychological nature and ultimately the emotional problems or progress experienced in life.


Book cover of The Deadly Percheron

Peter Guttridge Author Of City of Dreadful Night

From my list on quartets and trilogies with unreliable narrators.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m fascinated by long stories where things aren’t exactly as they seem. Most crime fiction is secrets and lies and their eventual uncovering but most ‘literary’ fiction is too. For what it’s worth, I was a book reviewer for all the posh UK papers for about 15 years, including crime fiction critic for The Observer for twelve (so I’ve read far more crime novels than is healthy for anyone!). I’m a voracious reader and writer and I love making things more complicated for myself (and the reader) by coming up with stuff that I’ve then somehow got to fit together.  

Peter's book list on quartets and trilogies with unreliable narrators

Peter Guttridge Why did Peter love this book?

More insane narrators (or are they?) but you can’t get more unreliable than that. Discovered these thematically linked novels decades ago and came back to them when I was trying to work out the voice of the Trunk Murderer in my Trilogy and what mental state that person might have been in.  

In The Deadly Percheron a psychiatrist has a patient, otherwise seeming perfectly sane, claiming delusions that aren’t necessarily believable. (Except, of course, in fiction the best delusions are. The psychiatrist is drawn in and you know that’s not going to end well.) 

By John Franklin Bardin,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Deadly Percheron as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Between 1946 and 1948 john franklin bardin produced 3 quite extraordinary novels, all distinguished by a hallucinatory intensity of feeling and an absorption in morbid psychology remarkable for the period. "the deadly percheron", "the last of philip banter" and "devil take the blue-tail fly" are unlike anything else in modern crime literature. 10/6/87 UK PRIORITY REISSUE


Book cover of Something Happened

Monica Starkman Author Of The End of Miracles: A Novel

From my list on miscarriage and pregnancy loss.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a psychiatrist-novelist. As a psychiatrist, I’ve seen many patients struggling with infertility and miscarriage. As a novelist, I became intrigued with the idea of having false pregnancy (pseudocyesis) be a key element in a character’s life. My primary goal was to create an engrossing good read. I also wanted to show the psychological trauma of infertility/miscarriage. Another goal was to portray psychiatric patients, the psychiatrists who treat them, and psychiatry in a realistic way. I’m so gratified by the reader reviews: “gripping”...“spell-binding”...“rich, satisfying read”...“a page-turner”...“Illuminating”.  

Monica's book list on miscarriage and pregnancy loss

Monica Starkman Why did Monica love this book?

Children who have known their mother was pregnant with their sibling and then had a miscarriage have psychological needs that must be met. They notice an emotional change in their parents, but don’t understand why that is. And their own hopes, or fears, about a sibling -  companion or rival - are likely still there, unanswered. The best course is to give the child the opportunity to address these feelings and fears. As a psychiatrist, I am keenly aware of the child's need for this - as well as the difficulty it may pose for the grieving parents. A sensitive and informed picture book like this one is a good tool for parents to use with young children.  

By Cathy Blanford, Phyllis Childers (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Something Happened as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Book for Children and Parents Who Have Experienced Pregnancy Loss This beautifully illustrated, simple, clear story is designed to help a young child understand what has happened when there has been a pregnancy loss. The book addresses the sadness that a child experiences when the anticipated baby has died. The child's fears and feelings of guilt are addressed as well as other confusing feelings. Perhaps most important, the book includes the family's experience of going on with life while always remembering their baby. The child reading the book is left with a sense of reassurance that life continues and…


Book cover of Love's Executioner: & Other Tales of Psychotherapy

Charisse Cooke Author Of The Attachment Solution: How to develop secure, strong and lasting relationships

From my list on how to create a great relationship.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was fortunate enough to meet my husband over 17 years ago, and we have packed a lot of life in since then. Along with two kids and a dog, we’ve had our fair share of tough moments: financial challenges, bereavement, family issues, marital disagreement, and traumatic life events that taught me just as much as my two decades-long career as a relationship psychotherapist has. This, combined with working with individuals, couples, and partners in search of what love means and how to practically go about achieving it, has clarified for me just how much we all need tools and teachings when it comes to matters of the heart.

Charisse's book list on how to create a great relationship

Charisse Cooke Why did Charisse love this book?

I devoured this book and its main premise: that to be a therapist is a great art and a deep discipline. Yalom is the inspiration for many psychology and psychotherapy students and trainees, and for good reason. He is the kindly, wise father many of us wish we had.

I adored this book for its insights into psychotherapy and the therapy room and for the tenderness with which Yalom treats his patients. He was also one of the first professionals to openly and publicly share his own emotions and thoughts about his patients and being a therapist. He powerfully puts forward the ‘human first, therapist second’ philosophy, one that informed my work fundamentally. He takes chances, loves his patients sincerely, and, as a result, was a hugely respected clinician who taught as well as he practiced. It is a great read for patients and therapists alike.  

By Irvin Yalom,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Love's Executioner as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The collection of ten absorbing tales by master psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom uncovers the mysteries, frustrations, pathos, and humour at the heart of the therapeutic encounter. In recounting his patients' dilemmas, Yalom not only gives us a rare and enthralling glimpse into their personal desires and motivations but also tells us his own story as he struggles to reconcile his all-too human responses with his sensibility as a psychiatrist. Not since Freud has an author done so much to clarify what goes on between a psychotherapist and a patient.


Book cover of Sex in the Brain: A Neuropsychosexual Approach to Love and Intimacy
Book cover of The Sexual Relationship: An Object Relations View of Sex and the Family
Book cover of Sexual Behavior in the Human Male

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,172

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in psychology, psychiatrists, and torture?

Psychology 1,950 books
Psychiatrists 64 books
Torture 41 books