Written Assignment

Have we ever wondered what is bibliotherapy? According to Sullivan, A. K. & Strang, H.

R, bibliotherapy is an expressive therapy that uses an individual's relationship to the content of
books and poetry and other written words as therapy. Bibliotherapy is often combined with
writing therapy. It has been shown to be effective in the treatment of depression. These results
have been shown to be long-lasting. That is the definition of bibliotherapy,but how can we
describe bibliotherapy with childrens concern?
Bibliotherapy can assist children in overcoming problems by having them to read stories
about characters who have successfully resolved a dilemma similar to their own. Identification
with a literary model can foster thought and possible resolution to a problem such as dealing
with a separation, illness, death, poverty, disability, alienation, disaster, war, etc. The underlying
premise of bibliotherapy is that interpreting stories is an ever-changing process to which
children bring their own needs and experiences. Since students often have difficulty identifying
and communicating their feelings, stories can serve to facilitate open discussion and selfunderstanding. If children become emotionally involved with literary characters, they are more
able to verbalize, act out, or draw pictures describing their innermost thoughts,whereas at
certain situation, it may not meet the needs of some children, especially those who are not
ready to face their specific issue. Other students may be unable to transfer insights gained from
reading into their own life, or may use literature as a form of escape. Yet, these experiences with
literary characters have been shown to be beneficial to many children.Actually the goals of
bibliotherapy are to help children to identify and validate their feelings, realize that other children
have problems similar to their own, stimulate discussion, foster thought and self-awareness,
discover possible coping skills and solutions and decide on a constructive course of action.
Before heading into the ways of possible ways of healing and dealing, the childrens
concern of surroundings must be identified and to be understood. Researches reports that
usually, childrens concern massively involve their parents. Subsequently, children or young
people may tend to have their own understanding of the current status of health of their
parents.In this part, bibliotherapy may explain to the children, why such thing is happening to
their parents. If they are not led to the appropriate reasoning, children might make their own
conclusion. This result must be avoided at any means because children thinking on their own
are vastly general and may go to the wrong path of understanding. Thus, guidance is vital in

mentioned stage, to clear the childrens thoughts and to eliminate possible negative ideas.Now
that the children are clear about the health status, they must learn how to cope with their
parents sickness. Through book reading in literature class, a child may be assured that they are
not alone in coping their parents sickness. To not let the children feels alone is very important.
At the early stage of child, loneliness may lead to isolation of social interaction and
communicative world. Consecutively, isolation leads to tendency towards depression.
Researches done by Jude Cassidy and Steven Asher (2008), lonely children are the poorly
accepted by other children. Accumulated problems from family and friends may contribute to
poor performance and lack of motivation to learn or even to go to school. Teachers in this
case,should play their role in the school, knowing that their family would not be so much of a
help.The use of literature like books should be practiced. For example, the book titled Daddys
Old Robe by Shawn Strannigan (1995), which consists of 24 pages. The writer gently told
stories to help assure children that they are not alone. Activity pages and suggestions for
parents extend the value of this important series. Here are some suggestions for providing
security and comfort to your child during difficult times.
As a conclusion, bibliotherapy is a powerful tool to be used with children at all ages and
grade levels. It can be effective with even very young children. Educators cannot ignore the
emotions and feelings of children as they attempt to be apart of their environment. The
understandings of children need to be clarified and expanded. It is only through that process the
children will decrease their ignorance and gain confidence in their ability to deal with the world.
A variety of childhood concerns can be addressed with bibliotherapy those related to self, family,
friends, other people, illness, death and problems of the world in general. There are actually
many books that can be used for bibliotherapy. In addition to the regular criteria of choosing
books, particular care should be taken with the content and presentation of books used in this
way.

References

Books
Weekes, Claire. "Bibliotherapy." In Handbook of the Treatment of the Anxiety Disorders, edited
by Carole Lindemann. 2nd Edition. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1996.

White, John R. "Introduction." Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy for Specific Problems and
Populations, edited by John R. White and Arthur S. Freeman. Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association, 2002.

Sullivan, A. K. & Strang, H. R. (2002). Bibliotherapy in the classroom: Using literature to

promote the development of emotional intelligence. Childhood Education, 79(2), 74-80.

Journals
Smith, N.M., Floyd, M.R., Jamison, C., & Scogin, F. (1997). Three year follow up of bibliotherapy
for depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65(2), 324-327

Berns, C. F. (2004). Bibliotherapy: Using books to help bereaved children. OMEGAJournal of

Death and Dying, 48(4), 321-336

Lehr, Fran. (1981). Bibliotherapy. Journal of Reading, 25(1), 76-79

Internet

Santrack, J.W. (1994). Child development (6th ed.). Dubuque, AI: WM.C. Brown
Communications Inc. The process of bibliotherapy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 1, 2003, from
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~weinberg/BiblioDynamics.htm

Rizza, M (1997). A Parent's Guide to Helping Children: Using Bibliotherapy at Home

Published online at http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~nrcgt/news/winter97/wintr972.html cited on
1/10/01

Byrne, Gail .R. An Introduction to Bibliotherapy, published online at

http://www.tased.edu.au/tasonline/tag/aaegt7/byrne.htm cited on 6/10/01