Bibliotheraphy

Joel S. Morales, RL
 What is a bibliotherapy
• refers to the use of literature to help people cope with
emotional problems, mental illness, or changes in their lives
(Pardeck, 1994), or to produce effective change and promote
personality growth and development (Lenkowsky, 1987;
Adderholdt-Elliott & Eller, 1989)

Samuel McChord Crothers was one of the first to use the term
bibliotherapy
•
 What is a bibliotherapy?
• a therapeutic approach that uses literature to
support good mental health, is a versatile and cost-
effective treatment option often adapted or used to
supplement other types of therapy
 What is bibliotherapy
• By providing literature relevant to their personal
situations and developmental needs at appropriate
times (Hebert & Kent, 2000), bibliotherapy
practitioners attempt to help people of all ages to
understand themselves and to cope with problems
such as separation and divorce, child abuse, foster
care, and adoption.
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
OF BIBLIOTHERAPY
• Storytelling, creative writing, and
reading have long been recognized for
their therapeutic potential. The use of
literature as a healing method dates
back to:
• Ancient Greece, when Grecian libraries
were seen as sacred places with
curative powers.
• In the early nineteenth century,
physicians like Benjamin Rush and
Minson Galt II began to use
bibliotherapy as an intervention
technique in rehabilitation and the
treatment of mental health issues.
• During World Wars I and II,
bibliotherapy was used to help
returning soldiers deal with both
physical and emotional concerns.
• In a 1916 article published in The
Atlantic Monthly, Samuel Carothers
defined bibliotherapy as the process of
using books to teach those receiving
medical care about their conditions,
and
• 1941
• Dorland’s Illustrated Medical
Dictionary, published in 1941, officially
recognized this modality as a form of
mental health treatment.
• 1950’s
• Bibliotherapy's use expanded further in
the 1950s when Carolyn Shrodes
developed a theoretical model based
on the premise that people are greatly
influenced by the characters they
identify with in stories.
• The ALA issued an official definition in
1966,
• 1969, The Association of Poetry
Therapy formed, establishing poetry
therapy, a form of bibliotherapy, as a
treatment modality.
• 1970s, librarian Rhea Rubin classified
bibliotherapy into two categories:
developmental (for educational settings)
and therapeutic (for mental health
settings).
• Her 1978 work, Using Bibliotherapy: A
Guide to Theory and Practice, contributed
greatly to developments in the field.
• 1983, The International Federation for
Biblio/Poetry Therapy was established.
• Today, bibliotherapy is employed by
educators, helping professionals,
librarians, and even parents. Its
versatility and adaptability make it an
excellent supplement to self-
improvement of all kinds
• The underlying premise of
bibliotherapy is that clients identify
with literary characters similar to
themselves, an association that helps
the clients release emotions, gain new
directions in life, and explore new ways
of interacting (Gladding & Gladding,
1991).
• Teenage readers, for example, may feel
relief that they are not the only ones
facing a specific problem. They learn
vicariously how to solve their problems
by reflecting on how the characters in
the book solve theirs (Hebert & Kent,
2000
Common Issues Treated With
Bibliotherapy
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Substance abuse
• Eating disorders
• Relationship issues
• Existential concerns such as isolation,
meaninglessness, freedom, and death
Gladding adds that bibliotherapy
-interpersonal relationships - managing
anger
-socially appropriate behavior and
intrapersonal relationship- shyness or
depression
Cont…
-Issues regarding how to
handle grief, rejection, or almost any of
the negative ‘isms’ such as racism,
sexism, ageism, may also be addressed
through bibliotherapy,” says Gladding
• When using bibliotherapy, a therapist
might choose a self-help reference such as
a workbook of calming exercises for
a person with anxiety or other mental
health concerns.
• -Or, they may select a story with a fictional
character that is dealing with the grief and
trauma from losing a loved one for a client
who recently experienced a death in the
family.
 HOW IS BIBLIOTHERAPY USED?
• Developmental bibliotherapy, primarily used in
educational settings, addresses typical childhood and
adolescent concerns such as puberty, bodily
functions, or developmental milestones. Educators or
medical professionals may often encourage parents
to use this approach with their children.
 Cont…
• The advantage is that teachers can identify the
concerns of their students and address the issues
before problems arise.
• Students can also be guided through predictable
stages of adolescence with knowledge of what to
expect and examples of how other teenagers have
dealt with the same concerns (Hebert & Kent, 2000).
 HOW IS BIBLIOTHERAPY USED?
• Therapeutic bibliotherapy takes many forms and can be
used in conjunction with many different therapeutic
frameworks. Reading has been shown to be able to help
people understand the issues they are experiencing,
amplify the effects of other treatment, normalize
experiences with mental health concerns and care, and
offer hope for positive change
 The approach may be incorporated in one or more of
the following ways
1) Prescriptive bibliotherapy, also referred to as self-
help, involves the use of specific reading materials and
workbooks to address a variety of mental health
concerns.
 Cont…
• Self-help may be conducted with or without the
guidance of a therapist. A cognitive
behavioral therapist teaching someone deep
breathing and emotion regulation techniques may
provide that person with a practice workbook to use
at home, for example
 The approach may be incorporated in one or
more of the following ways
2) Books on Prescription is a program where reading
materials targeting specific mental health needs are
"prescribed" by mental health professionals, who might
use resources such as the Bibliotherapy Education
Project to find the appropriate books.
 The approach may be incorporated in one or
more of the following ways
3) Creative bibliotherapy utilizes imaginative
literature—novels, short stories, poetry, plays, and
biographies—to improve psychological well-being.
Through the incorporation of carefully selected literary
works, therapists can often guide people in treatment
on a journey of self-discovery.
Some or other approaches in
bibliotherapy
A)Traditional bibliotherapy, for example,
tended to be more 'reactive' in its
approach in that the process focused on
getting individuals to react positively or
negatively to the reading material
Some or other approaches in
bibliotherapy
B) interactive bibliotherapy, participants
engage in activities that help them reflect
on what they read, such as group
discussion and dialogue journal writing
(Palmer, et al., 1997; Anderson &
MacCurdy, 2000; Morawski & Gilbert,
2000).
C) In clinical bibliotherapy and
bibliocounseling, skilled practitioners use
therapeutic methods to help individuals
experiencing serious emotional problems
 How Bibliotherapy Helps
• Through the use of stories via fiction and nonfiction
books, poetry, plays, short stories, and self-help
materials, a therapist can help you gain a deeper
understanding of the concerns that brought you into
counseling sessions in the first place.
 How Bibliotherapy Helps
1) Person Challenges
• Bibliotherapy allows you to gain insight into
the personal challenges you’re dealing with and
helps you develop strategies to address the most
concerning issues. It can also help promote problem
solving, understanding, and self-awareness.
 How Bibliotherapy Helps
2) Receiving Benefits Outside of Treatment
• Agreeing on a book to read in-between sessions gives the
therapist a format for assigning homework outside of
treatment. This can help deepen the meaning of a
therapeutic session and facilitate greater learning.
Another way a therapist can use bibliotherapy, says
Gladding, is through a prevention model, which can help
people learn ways of coping with life's challenges.
 How Bibliotherapy Helps
3) The Stories Provide Perspective
• is that it can help you see how other people, such as
characters in a book, address and deal with similar
issues
Basic stages in bibliotherapy
Generally, activities in bibliotherapy are
designed to:
1. provide information
2. provide insight
3. stimulate discussion about problems
4. create awareness that other people
have similar problems
5. provide realistic solutions to problems
6. communicate new values and attitudes
The process goes through four basic
stages (Pardeck, 1993): \
• identification,
• selection,
• presentation, and
• follow-up.
• The first two stages, the clients' needs
must be identified, and appropriate
books selected to match their
particular problems. The selection
process takes skill and insight, as the
books must provide correct
information about a problem while not
imparting a false sense of hope.
Third stage-
The books must then be presented
carefully and strategically so that the
clients are able to see similarities
between themselves and the book
characters
Fourth stage- Once the clients can
identify with the main character, they
enter the follow-up stage during which
they share what they have gained
• *They express catharsis verbally in
discussion or writing, or nonverbal
means such as art (Sridhar & Vaughn,
2000), role-playing, creative problem
solving, or self-selected options for
students to pursue individually (Hebert
& Kent, 2000). Once catharsis has
occurred, the clients can be guided to
gain insight into the problem.
 Benefits of bibliotherapy
1)Bibliotherapy has obvious value in that it provides the
opportunity for the participants to recognize and
understand themselves, their characteristics, and the
complexity of human thought and behavior
 Benefits of bibliotherapy
2) It may also promote social development as well as
the love of literature in general, and reading in
particular (Gladding & Gladding, 1991).
3) It reduces feelings of isolation that may be felt by
people with problems
Limitations of bibliotherapy
1) Limited by the availability of materials
on certain topics, as well as the lack of
client readiness and willingness to read.
Limitations of bibliotherapy
2) Clients may also project their own
motives onto characters and thus
reinforce their own perceptions and
solutions
Limitations of bibliotherapy
3) Participants may be defensive, thus
discounting the actions of characters and
failing to identify with them, or even end
up using them as scapegoats
*limitations can be overcome through the
continuation of the process itself, role
playing, and the use of group discussions
(Gladding & Gladding, 1991)
 Facilitator limitations are also a challenge:
a) facilitators may have limited knowledge of human
development and developmental problems, and
inadequate knowledge about appropriate literature
b) One other limitation may lie in the bibliotherapy
process itself: for example, clients may be unwilling to
discuss areas that are uncomfortable, or facilitators
may insist on making a point at the client's expense
• *limitations can be addressed by suspending sessions
until both parties are ready and willing to work, by
taping and critiquing selected sessions so that
facilitators can monitor their own reactions to certain
clients or problem areas, and by revisiting issues in
stories that have been treated superficially in
previous sessions ((Gladding & Gladding, 1991).
Term Paper Counselling CTPC)

• Term Paper Counselling (TPC) - an

attempt to match on one-to-one basis
a students immediate research need
with service offered during limited time
period.
Term Paper Counselling (TFC)
• the library's solution to the
instructional limitations and constraints
of the reference desk and the
bibliographic instruction classroom
• uses the tutorial method of instruction
to provide students with individualized
assistance
• -librarian assists with identifying
sources of information.
• - librarian spends at least 10 minutes
investigating and presenting advice
• uses the tutorial method of instruction
to provide students with individualized
assistance
• -librarian assists with identifying
sources of information.
• - librarian spends at least 10 minutes
investigating and presenting advice
• During TPC session students are shown
exactly what indexes, bibliographies, and
other reference books will be useful for
doing research on their topics, and they
may also be given detailed instructions for
finding appropriate headings in the
indexes and card catalog.
•
 Purpose of TPC
• is to show them (students) what would most likely be
useful in pursuing research on particular topic not to
provide students with a bibliography of primary
works.
 TPC is different from
• Ordinary instruction-that is given on a one-to-one
basis and can be tailored exactly to the student’s
topic and the goal is basic orientation—
• (TPC) the students are expected to find out about the
card catalog and library services on their own
 TPC is different from
• Reference encounter –the librarian is able to spend
more time with the client than would ordinarily be
possible for reference question
• (TPC)-provides an opportunity to offer individualized
instruction to students.
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