The choice is yours. I would like to explain a little what happens in the first and second cases and share my observations and experience. According to my numerous observations, live communication with a specialist gives a much more effective result. An additional option is a combination of live communication with a specialist with reading his books and articles . This can help to keep feedback and ask questions. Now let's take a closer look. Please answer, what would you like more: - read about family happiness or experience it? - look at photos and pictures with cute kids or become a mom or dad in reality ?- get information about success or gain the experience of a successful person? A psychologist is not a guru, not a teacher. But a psychologist can help you discover the necessary resource for your development and solving your problems. In addition, very often we cannot solve some life problem, since we ourselves are inside it. To find a way out, you need to go out and look at the situation from the outside. This is where a specialist can help. To get out of a difficult situation, practical, targeted actions are needed. Otherwise, reading a lot of beautiful popular literature, you may think that it’s not about you, because... it is written well and clearly, but YOU can’t do it. A psychologist can be an observer from the outside who will help you find the right course of action. You can also argue that you are an adult and want to solve your problems YOURSELF. Rather, you will do this precisely when working with a psychologist rather than by reading the relevant literature. In books, we get acquainted with the conclusions that the authors made after experiencing something on themselves (Well, if so, there are texts that are simply rewritten from others). That is, you receive information about someone else’s experience. Is this an independent solution to a problem? A specialist gives you some kind of feedback or tools, thanks to which you move towards your own solutions. In addition, agree with me, you can not only read, but also write down useful technologies, intending to someday bring them to life. But for some reason this is not done. Not on Monday, not on a day off, not on vacation... After all, it seems that everything is there, take it and do it. So, for many years, we can prepare for life, but NOT LIVE. In psychology there is such a thing as insight, in other words , insight, sudden comprehension, awareness. Such an event in the life of every person carries enormous value. Believe me! This can replace many wasted books. When you say: “Yes! I understand! I found it!” Understanding is given through personal experience. You can say that you really know something when you have gone through this experience. And when I communicate with a person in psychotherapy, it can be felt very well in the energy, whether he speaks for himself or simply retells other people's thoughts. Know yourself! You want to learn something about the lives of other people. But the person closest to you is yourself. Try it! It can be much more interesting and more effective than the recommendations available in popular books.