Love Wisely Resources - Fellow Travelers on the Journey

At Love Wisely, we believe in the power of community and shared wisdom. The creators and authors listed here are not partners or sponsors—they are simply fellow travelers on the journey of learning to love wisely. We recommend them because:

• Alignment with Our Mission: Each resource supports the development of emotional intelligence, healthy relationships, and wise living
• Evidence-Based Approaches: These creators ground their work in research, experience, and proven methodologies
• Authentic Voices: They share vulnerably from their own journeys while offering practical tools for growth
• Diverse Perspectives: Together, they represent a rich tapestry of approaches to healing, growth, and relationship wisdom

Note: We have no financial partnerships with these creators. Our recommendations are based purely on respect for their work and alignment with our values.

Building community, not competition - these are trusted voices who share our commitment to fostering healthy relationships and emotional wisdom

We share these resources because we believe in the power of learning from many voices. Each creator brings unique gifts to the journey of loving wisely:

• Diverse Perspectives: Different backgrounds and approaches serve our diverse community
• Complementary Wisdom: Each resource fills different needs in our growth journey
• Abundance Mindset: There's room for all voices that serve the mission of healthier relationships
• Continuous Learning: We're all students in the school of love, learning from each other

Want to suggest a resource that aligns with the Love Wisely mission? We'd love to hear about creators and authors who are helping people build healthier relationships and develop emotional wisdom. Contact us with your recommendations.  

 Bessel van der Kolk

• Website: traumaresearchfoundation.org
• Key Work: "The Body Keeps the Score"
• Love Wisely Connection: Understanding how trauma affects our capacity to love and connect is foundational to healing relationships. Van der Kolk's work helps us recognize that loving wisely often requires addressing the wounds that shape how we show up in relationships.

• Website: drgabormate.com
• Key Works: "When the Body Says No," "The Myth of Normal"
• Love Wisely Connection: Maté's compassionate approach to trauma and addiction reminds us that behind every behavior is a human story. His work helps us love others (and ourselves) with deeper understanding and less judgment.

• Website: somaticexperiencing.com
• Key Work: "Waking the Tiger," Somatic Experiencing method
• Love Wisely Connection: Levine's body-based approach to healing trauma offers practical tools for nervous system regulation—essential skills for maintaining emotional balance in relationships.

• Website: resmaa.com
• Key Work: "My Grandmother's Hands"
• Love Wisely Connection: Menakem's work on racialized trauma and cultural healing expands our understanding of how historical wounds affect present relationships, calling us to love with greater social awareness.

Brené Brown

• Website: brenebrown.com
• Key Works: "Daring Greatly," "Unlocking Us" podcast
• Love Wisely Connection: Brown's research on vulnerability, shame, and courage provides the foundation for authentic connection. Her work teaches us that loving wisely requires the courage to be seen and the wisdom to show up authentically.

• Website: self-compassion.org
• Key Work: "Self-Compassion" research and practices
• Love Wisely Connection: Neff's evidence-based approach to self-compassion reminds us that we cannot love others wisely without first learning to love ourselves with kindness. Her work provides practical tools for the inner work that healthy relationships require.

• Website: tarabrach.com
• Key Works: "Radical Acceptance," "Trusting the Gold"
• Love Wisely Connection: Brach's teachings on mindfulness and radical acceptance offer a gentle path to emotional healing. Her work helps us learn to love with presence and acceptance rather than trying to fix or change others.

• Website: marcbrackett.com
• Key Work: "Permission to Feel," RULER Program
• Love Wisely Connection: Brackett's research on emotional intelligence provides the skills needed to navigate relationships with greater awareness and empathy. His work helps us love more skillfully by understanding and managing our emotions.

• Website: gottman.com
• Key Research: Research-based approach to relationships
• Love Wisely Connection: The Gottmans' decades of research on what makes relationships work provides concrete tools for loving wisely. Their evidence-based approach helps couples build stronger connections through practical skills.

• Website: drsuejohnson.com
• Key Work: "Hold Me Tight," Emotionally Focused Therapy
• Love Wisely Connection: Johnson's work on attachment and emotional connection helps us understand the deep human need for secure relationships. Her approach offers hope for healing even the most wounded connections.

• Website: estherperel.com
• Key Works: "Mating in Captivity," "Where Should We Begin?" podcast
• Love Wisely Connection: Perel's nuanced understanding of modern relationships challenges us to love with both security and adventure. Her work explores the complexity of human connection with wisdom and compassion.

• Website: goodinside.com
• Key Work: "Good Inside" book and approach
• Love Wisely Connection: Dr. Becky's gentle, shame-free parenting approach aligns perfectly with loving wisely. She helps parents see their children (and themselves) through the lens of inherent goodness rather than behavior management.

• Website: drshefali.com
• Key Work: "The Conscious Parent"
• Love Wisely Connection: Dr. Shefali's conscious parenting approach calls parents to their own growth and healing. Her work recognizes that loving our children wisely requires doing our own inner work.

• Key Works: "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk"
• Love Wisely Connection: These pioneering authors created timeless communication tools that help families connect with respect and understanding. Their work provides practical skills for loving family members through difficult moments.

• Website: livesinthebalance.org
• Key Work: "The Explosive Child," Collaborative Problem Solving
• Love Wisely Connection: Greene's "kids do well if they can" philosophy shifts us from punishment to understanding. His approach helps us love challenging children with wisdom and patience.

• Key Works: "The Art of Communicating," "Peace Is Every Step"
• Love Wisely Connection: Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings on mindful communication and loving kindness offer a spiritual foundation for wise loving. His work reminds us that how we love is as important as whom we love.

• Key Works: "When Things Fall Apart," "The Places That Scare You"
• Love Wisely Connection: Pema's gentle guidance for working with difficult emotions provides essential tools for loving through life's challenges. Her work teaches us to stay open-hearted even when relationships are difficult.

• Website: mindfulnesscds.com
• Key Work: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
• Love Wisely Connection: Kabat-Zinn's secular approach to mindfulness offers practical tools for staying present in relationships. His work helps us love with greater awareness and less reactivity.

• Website: cloudtownsend.com
• Key Work: "Boundaries" series
• Love Wisely Connection: Healthy boundaries are essential for wise loving. Cloud and Townsend's work helps us understand that loving well sometimes means saying no, and that boundaries actually create safer spaces for love to flourish.

• Website: nedratawwab.com
• Key Work: "Set Boundaries, Find Peace"
• Love Wisely Connection: Tawwab's accessible approach to boundary-setting helps us love without losing ourselves. Her work provides practical tools for maintaining healthy relationships while honoring our own needs.

• Website: leslievernick.com
• Key Work: "The Emotionally Destructive Relationship"
• Love Wisely Connection: Vernick's work helps us discern when relationships are unhealthy and provides guidance for loving wisely in difficult situations. Her approach balances compassion with wisdom about when to step back.

• Website: thisnakedmind.com
• Key Work: "This Naked Mind"
• Love Wisely Connection: Grace's shame-free approach to recovery recognizes that healing happens in community. Her work reminds us that loving wisely includes supporting others in their healing journeys without judgment.

• Website: lauramckowen.com
• Key Work: "We Are the Luckiest"
• Love Wisely Connection: McKowen's honest storytelling about recovery demonstrates the power of vulnerability in healing. Her work shows us that loving wisely means sharing our struggles as well as our victories.

Love Madeleine L'Engle

• Key Work: "Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art"
• Love Wisely Connection: L'Engle explores how creativity is an act of love that mirrors God's creative love for humanity. She argues that artists love wisely by serving truth through their work, creating beauty that points others toward the divine, and using their gifts responsibly to illuminate rather than obscure what is good and true.

• Key Work: "The Artist's Way"
• Love Wisely Connection: Cameron's work on creative recovery reminds us that expressing ourselves authentically is part of loving wisely. Creativity can be both a pathway to healing and a way of loving ourselves and others.
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• Key Work: "The Write Way To Heal"
• Love Wisely Connection: These authors demonstrate how creative expression can be a powerful tool for healing and connection. Their work shows that loving wisely can include sharing our stories and witnessing others' journeys.

Dr. Peter Gray

• Website: petergray.substack.com
• Key Work: "Free to Learn"
• Love Wisely Connection: Gray's research on self-directed learning aligns with loving children by trusting their innate wisdom. His work challenges us to love young people by honoring their natural curiosity and capacity for growth.

• Key Work: "The Schools Our Children Deserve" TED Talk
• Love Wisely Connection: Robinson's vision of education that honors creativity and individual gifts reflects loving wisely by seeing and nurturing each person's unique potential.

Dr. James K.A. Smith

• Key Work: "You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit"
• Love Wisely Connection: Smith argues that education shapes our loves and desires, not just our thinking. His work challenges us to love wisely by considering how our educational practices form hearts toward what is good, beautiful, and true.

Douglas Wilson

• Key Work: "The Case for Classical Christian Education"
• Love Wisely Connection: Wilson advocates for education rooted in the classical tradition and Christian worldview. His approach reflects loving wisely by grounding learning in timeless wisdom and preparing students to think critically about truth and virtue.

Dr. Timothy Keller

• Key Work: "Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work"
• Love Wisely Connection: Though focused on work rather than formal education, Keller's perspective on calling and purpose offers a framework for loving wisely through how we approach learning and preparation for meaningful contribution to the world.

Charlotte Mason

• Key Work: "Home Education" (Volume 1 of her educational series)
• Love Wisely Connection: Mason believed children are born persons deserving respect and rich ideas. Her philosophy of education as "the science of relations" reflects loving wisely by honoring each child's dignity and feeding their minds with beauty, truth, and living knowledge rather than mere information.

• Website: casel.org
• Love Wisely Connection: CASEL's evidence-based approach to social-emotional learning provides frameworks for teaching the skills needed for healthy relationships. Their work supports loving wisely by building emotional intelligence from an early age.

• Therapy in a Nutshell: Therapist Emma McAdam condenses therapy skills and psychological research into bite-sized, accessible mental health resources that equip people of all ages to get better at feeling
• Kati Morton: Mental health education with therapeutic perspectives
• The Gottman Institute: Research-based relationship tools

• Rocket Kids: SEL activities and lessons presented by young people to help peers develop emotional skills and be their best selves at home and in the classroom. 
• GoNoodle: Movement-based emotional learning for kids
• Slumberkins: Beautiful emotional literacy resources for children (the free caregiver resources are just as remarkable as everything that can be purchased)
• Cosmic Kids Yoga: Accessible mindfulness practices for families