Bibliotherapy

1
Bibliotherapy and Children
Kim Desmond, Kent State University
2
Definition

• Bibliotherapy as defined by the American Library
  Association is "the use of selected reading
  materials as therapeutic adjuncts in medicine and
  psychiatry also, guidance in the solution of
  personal problems through directed reading."

3
Definition from Orton (1997)

• A technique that can be used by mental health
  practitioners to help children understand and
  cope with a variety of developmental and
  situational conflicts.

4
Impact of Bibliotherapy

• Identification
• Catharsis
• Insight
• Conflict resolution

5
How to do it

• The basic procedures in conducting bibliotherapy
  are
• Motivate the individual
• Provide time for reading the material
• Allow incubation time
• Provide follow-up discussion time
• Conduct evaluation

6
Cautions

• Be careful of topics (e.g., abortion, drug use,
  crime) which might draw concerns from parents,
  community, etc. unless approved with the
  administration or those parties.
• Be familiar with the book.  Read it and
  understand it before using it.

7
Keep the following in mind

• The book must be at the student's reading ability
  level.
• The text must be at an interest level appropriate
  to the maturity of the student.
• The theme of the readings should match the
  identified needs of the student.
• The characters should be believable so that the
  student can empathize with their predicaments.
• The plot of the story should be realistic and
  involve creativity in problem solving.

8
Followup activities

• Retelling of the story
• In depth discussion of the book
• Art activities
• Creative writing
• Drama

9
Types of Books Used in Bibliotherapy

• nShort stories
• nBiographies
• nSelf help books
• nFairy tales
• nPicture books

10
Keep in mind

• nRiordan and Wilson (1989), in a review of the
  literature of the effects of bibliotherapy, found
  that a majority of the studies show mixed results
  for the efficacy of bibliotherapy as a separate
  treatment for the solving of problems. They
  concluded that bibliotherapy generally appears to
  be more successful as an adjunctive therapy.