The holidays can be a beautiful season of connection, but they can also bring stress, emotional triggers, and the pressure of finding the right gift for the people we love. At Seven Oaks Therapy, we’re often asked for book recommendations, calming tools, and meaningful items that support healing and emotional growth.
So this year, we’ve put together our 2025 Holiday Gift Giving Guide, thoughtfully curated by our team of counselors. Whether you’re shopping for a partner, teen, friend, parent, or for yourself, you’ll find gifts that nurture the nervous system, strengthen relationships, deepen faith, and support emotional resilience.
From therapist-approved reads to sensory tools and experience-based gifts, consider this your go-to guide for choosing presents that offer comfort, insight, and hope during the holiday season.
Gifts for Trauma, Abuse & Attachment Healing
These books support nervous system healing, trauma recovery, and deeper emotional insight:
- The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
- The Body Remembers — Babette Rothschild
- Mother Hunger — Kelly McDaniel
- Attached — Amir Levine
- The Wounded Heart — Dan Allender
- Bold Love — Dan Allender
- Make Sense of Your Story — Adam Young
- In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts — Gabor Maté
- Man’s Search for Meaning — Viktor Frankl
- Atlas of the Heart — Brené Brown
Where to find:
Amazon, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble.
Gifts for Christian Counseling & Faith-Based Healing
These books offer biblical wisdom, emotional clarity, and spiritual grounding during difficult seasons:
- Gospel Treason — Brad Bigney
- Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands — Paul David Tripp
- Surviving an Unwanted Divorce — Lysa TerKeurst
- Good Boundaries and Goodbyes — Lysa TerKeurst
- Forgiving What You Can’t Forget — Lysa TerKeurst
- Where Is God in This? — Landra Hughes
- The Voice of the Heart — Chip Dodd
- You Who? — Rachel Jankovic
- Enough Is Enough — David Clarke
- I Want to Trust You, But I Don’t — Lysa TerKeurst
- You’re Going to Make It — Lysa TerKeurst
- Seeing Beautiful Again — Lysa TerKeurst
- Embraced — Lysa TerKeurst
- Journals to accompany each Lysa TerKeurst book
- Praying Through the Bible for Your Kids — Nancy Guthrie
Where to find:
ChristianBook.com, Lifeway, Amazon.
Gifts for Marriage, Relationships & Communication
Strengthen relational connection and communication with research-based resources:
- Boundaries — Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend
- The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work — John Gottman & Nan Silver
- Eight Dates — John Gottman
- Gottman Card Deck App (free tool for conversation building)
Where to find:
Amazon, Gottman.com, App Store, Google Play.
Gifts for Teen & Young Adult Development
Support identity formation, emotional regulation, and confidence:
- Adulting 101 — Josh Burnette
- Confidence Skills for Christian Young Adults
Where to find:
Amazon, ChristianBook.com.
Gifts for Parenting & Children’s Emotional Health
Empower parents and nurture children’s mental wellness:
- Finally Focused — James Greenblatt (ADHD support)
- Count Yourself Calm — Eliza Huie
- Give Them Grace — Elyse Fitzpatrick
- Hatch Rest Second Gen (sound machine + nightlight for routines)
Where to find:
Amazon, Target, ChristianBook.com.
Gifts for Calming Anxiety, Grounding & Emotional Regulation
These sensory and grounding gifts are perfect for adults, teens, and kids:
- Weighted throw blanket
- Cold gel mask
- Ice roller for calming panic responses
- Aromatherapy diffuser
- Calming essential oils
- Therapist-recommended brands: Revive, Eden’s Garden, Rocky Mountain Oils, doTerra, Young Living
- Mini affirmation cards for teen girls
- Journaling kits
- Anxiety rings or grounding bracelets
- Prayer journal or gratitude journal
Where to find:
Amazon, Etsy (especially for handmade jewelry + affirmation cards), Revive or Eden’s Garden for oils.
Experiences That Support Connection & Release
Sometimes the most meaningful gifts aren’t things, but moments that help us reconnect, laugh, and breathe a little deeper. These experience-based gifts create space for joy, bonding, and emotional reset:
- Date night experiences such as pottery classes, movie tickets, or local restaurant gift cards
- Concerts, local plays, and theatre performances to inspire creativity and connection
- Family-friendly comedy clubs for a fun night out with girlfriends and some much-needed laughter
- Outdoor excursions like camping, hiking, kayaking, or paddleboarding with friends or loved ones
Where to find:
Search local listings on Google, Yelp, and Eventbrite for experiences in your area.
Whether you’re healing from trauma, strengthening your relationships, parenting with intention, or simply seeking peace, these resources were chosen with care by the therapists at Seven Oaks Therapy. Invest in the tools that help you, or someone you love, heal, grow, and feel grounded right where you are.