
Member Reviews

I’ve often said I love cooking so much because it feels like it’s own form of therapy and like a love language. It’s nice to see others out there feel the same way! As a musician, I have a strong belief and interest in the ever growing field of music therapy, so I do think cooking therapy could soon follow that same trajectory in the world. It was really cool to see the thoughts and science behind the idea of cooking therapy. I don’t know if this book will be for everyone, but if you have an interest in mental health/psychology and cooking, I’d recommend checking it out. There’s also a few healthy recipes in the later half of the book to try out! I’d personally call them easy recipes, but I do know not everyone has equal experience in the kitchen. I can’t wait to try out the Easy Rider: Sheet Happens recipe!
Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Alcove Press for the Advanced Reader Copy!
I picked up this book to find some recipes and maybe learn to be less stressed when I’m cooking. While I was disappointed in the recipes I did enjoy the concept of cooking for therapy. The author emphasizes the feeling you get from cooking and the emotional connection over the quality of the recipe. I did love her naming the recipes, specifically “tune in and talk to me tacos” and will be using this concept to bring my partner into the kitchen.

Memoir meets therapeutic insight in Cooking as Therapy. In this book, the author explores how the act of cooking can be used to process feelings and self reflect.
Book Yays:
- Unique concept: Brings a new take to self development via cooking
- Accessible: You don’t need to have significant cooking knowledge to follow through on the instructions outlined in the book and the writing is plain for the average reader
- Constructed for specific and more general advice (dealing with confidence, handling conflict, marital support, etc.), enabling readers to skip to their own adventure.
Nays:
- Light on recipes: While the focus is on emotional connection through cooking, the recipes didn’t feel rich enough to stand alone
- Repetition: About half of this book felt like someone trying to convince you on why you should read the book, and the stories felt contrived.
- Format: I think as an audiobook this book may read better.

I have a friend who likes to cook. She is also struggling and sees a therapist regularly. I wanted to look at this book to see if it might be something that would interest her. The first five chapters describe how the author came to use cooking therapy as a technique with certain individuals. I thought it was a fascinating narrative and that it might be helpful to other therapists. But these chapters are not necessarily helpful for an individual.
And then I got to chapter 6, where the recipes and “sessions” begin. The first session begins with a simple recipe, making toast with butter or jam. There are instructions of what to do and what to notice. The author notes: “Though it was a short session, once you completed the recipe, if you felt calmer, resolve to cement this feeling of mindful mastery for later. At the end of the day, reflect on whether you can internalize the session to spread a buttery softness into your mood and day.”
There are multiple sessions, each working on a new topic. Subsequent recipes in each session are a little more complex, with a little more to think about while making the recipe and enjoying the fruits of your labor. Chopping can be seen as reducing big problems into smaller ones. Simmering for patience, coring and seeding for digging into the heart of the problem.
At the conclusion of the book, the author wraps up by saying, in part, “I hope you’ve found the lessons and sessions in this book helpful. More importantly, I hope you will use this book as a template and roadmap to visit all of the areas and situations in your life, even the ones that may not be mentioned in the book. Cooking therapy can add a dimension to your life every single day with every single meal or snack you prepare.”

Thank you NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.
I love the concept of cooking as therapy. I used to dislike cooking but have slowly grown to enjoy it. But this book really brought a new perspective to everything about cooking and every single part of it: slicing, dicing, boiling, layering, whether it’s dessert or an entree or an appetiser, cooking for yourself or for others.
Reading about how cooking relates to all kinds of therapies (CBT, Gestalt, BSFT, DBT) was really interesting and eye opening.
Seeing chopping as reducing big problems into smaller ones, and other very interesting concepts and ways of seeing things. Simmer for patience, frying for excavatong intense emotions, coring and seeding to get to the heart of the problem.
Might sound a little silly at first, but I can definitely see how this would be very helpful for someone who is stuck, or for whom normal talk therapy doesn’t help or has stagnated in some way. Overall, a book I would come back to because there was a lot of information to take in.

A lot of work and through this gone into this book “Cooking as Therapy”. For the correct audience this book would be extremely helpful. I myself found the first section slightly drawn out and did tend to skip forward a bit to get to the actual recipes.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I found myself really loving it as I read each page. Part cookbook, part therapy (as the name suggests), COOKING AS THERAPY really dives into a new way of cooking, such as letting the sound of the blender be a reminder that life can be bumpy and loud.
Every step of the recipe, including introductions, steps, and serving suggestions, are peppered in with little treats as to how you can help yourself be better. While some of the steps make sense, I can see it as being unnecessary for some people, leading to frustration. It's absolutely not for a person who wants to skip all of the story on a cooking blog.
There was a lack of photos in the book, which for a cookbook, seems radically off. I think the book could be improved with more photos, moments to pause between food, and streamlining the therapy parts to be better incorporated with the rest of the book.
The recipes are only in imperial/volume measurements, so it will require conversion for home chefs that use weight measurements.

First of all the cover is just delightful to me! Nothing makes me happier than colorful fresh food! Cooking is therapy for me & this book was a cozy little read!
Really enjoyed it! Thank you for the opportunity to read this!

I thought that this was really beautiful and it shared a lot of insights in terms of how to use cooking to process difficult emotions and to relieve stress from the work that I do. I'm grateful that this is going to be shared with the world and will encourage people to promote better relations with cooking and with food.

This cookbook is great! I loved how you can work through your mental state with cooking and the recipes are amazing! Highly recommend!

This book is filled with advice and talks about how cooking and food helps us mentally, there was some recipes in this book too. I think having photos in the book will make it more engaging.

Cooking as Therapy wasn’t quite what I expected. I loved the idea of using cooking as a mindfulness tool, but it leaned more self-help than cookbook, and I found myself wishing for more structure, photos (there are none), and practical guidance. Cool concept, just not what I thought it would be.

This was an excellent book that described how cooking can be used as therapy. It's not just some cookbook.
Borden talks about the psychological principles behind the idea and then walks you through several recipes using the therapeutic techniques. It is well written and easy to understand. A normal person without training can pick 0p up this book and learn what is being taught. This is a great tool.

Cooking as Therapy presents an intriguing idea—using cooking processes as a form of self-exploration and therapy. Debra Borden, a licensed clinical social worker, offers tools to turn your kitchen into a space for mindfulness, insight, and personal growth. The concept of integrating tangible acts like chopping and stirring with emotional reflection is promising and accessible, especially for those interested in self-exploration without needing advanced cooking skills. However, the absence of photographs and detailed exercises makes it challenging to fully grasp how to apply these techniques effectively. While the ideas are nice in theory, I found myself wanting more guidance, examples, or case studies to illustrate how these sessions can lead to meaningful change. For someone seeking a deeper, structured approach to therapeutic cooking, this book may fall short. Overall, if you’re curious about the concept and enjoy experimenting on your own, it’s worth a read. But if you’re looking for comprehensive guidance or a step-by-step program, you might find this book somewhat lacking.

I truly believe the process of cooking does bring on a sense of therapy for a person because depending on a person’s feelings, you can always taste whether someone is having a bad time or a good time. You always taste the amount of love that was placed into a dish. Why not go through cooking therapy with a family or a partner, not just to see how well you two or all may work together while putting together the recipe but, it would build trust and a sense of control on a situation because you would be able to put your all in taking care of one another.
I would definitely buy this book because it hits so many clear points that most of don’t even think about when cooking and how it can help other areas of our lives.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC*
I do love that this doubles as a cookbook and a pocket therapy guide, as well as including some for groups/families.
While the beginning of the book says that the recipes are vegetarian/vegan friendly if the animal products are swapped out, the author doesn’t give appropriate alternative suggestions on the recipes. Some are manageable, like eggs for baking, but many of the recipes have meats that are integral to the whole recipe and unless you’re a crafty cook, it might be difficult to find a replacement to half of the recipe on your own and some of the therapy metaphors may not fit the same.
The book would also greatly benefit from having photos and maybe having the therapy in a separate section from the recipe itself to keep it organized.
ALSO- Important note, washing raw chicken has no proven health benefits and is largely unsafe to do, please don’t tell people in your book that it’s safe!

This was a great book. The recipes seem easy to follow. I sure need more calmness in my life. I can't wait to try these recipes.

Not at all what I thought it was going to be. I’m probably not the target audience being a therapist looking for a cookbook vs a person looking for a book about improving their mental health, but with terms related to cooking.

This book really had me reflect on how I can use cooking as a coping mechanism/stress-reliever. As someone who really struggles with anxiety, this book really resonated with me and I am definitely going to recommend it to my friends who suffer with anxiety as well.

Thank you for the opportunity to read Cooking as Therapy. Initially, I was a bit surprised by this book since it was not what I was expecting. I thought there would be various recipes linked to a mental and emotional boost. It was so much more than that. Each recipe had quite a bit of background to a therapy session and provided insights as to how cooking can be a great tool.