CR OSFARIZAL BIN OTHMAN KB;PA,CH

April 2012 MHA Bibliotherapy 1

 Overview
 Definition and aim of bibliotherapy
 Origins and underlying premise
 Reactive and Interactive approaches in bibliotherapy
 Types of bibliotherapy
 Basic steps in bibliotherapy
 The role of the helper in bibliotherapy
 Benefits and challenges

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 Bibliotherapy

from
biblio or books
(from Greek
vivlion) and
therapeia or
therapy
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 Bibliotherapy
 generally refers to use of books (literary works in
particular) to help people cope with problems
such as emotional conflict, mental illness, or
changes in their lives (Pardeck, 1994).
 addresses themes such as separation and divorce,
child abuse, foster care, and adoption
 also employed in enhancing well-being of individuals
who could benefit from affective change, as well as
personality growth and development (Lenkowsky,
1987; Adderholdt-Elliott & Eller, 1989).

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 Aim of
Bibliotherapy
To help people of all ages to understand themselves
and to cope with problems by providing literature
relevant to their personal situations and
developmental needs at appropriate times (Hebert &
Kent, 2000).

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 Origins
1930s
 Librarians compiled lists of written material that
helped individuals modify thoughts, feelings,
or behaviors for therapeutic purposes.
 They worked in tandem with counselors in
selecting and 'prescribing' literature for clients.

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 Underlying premise of
bibliotherapy
 Clients identify with literary characters similar to
themselves
 Clients release emotions (through catharsis:
cleansing of emotions brought about through
expressing oneself through some form of art, such
as music, movement, painting or writing.)
 Clients gain new directions in life, and explore new
ways of interacting (Gladding & Gladding, 1991).

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 Reactive and interactive
approaches in bibliotherapy
 Earlier, more traditional approach: reactive (focused
on getting individuals to react positively or
negatively to the reading material).
 More recent approach: interactive - a development
consistent with experiential theories of Reader
Response that view reading as a transactional
process between reader and text.

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 Experiential Reader Response theories
(Rosenblatt, etc.)
 During reading process, readers
 become emotionally involved
 construct alternative worlds and conceptualise
characters, events & settings, and create visual
images,
 connect the text with their own experiences, and
evaluate their own experiences against what
happens in the texts (Beach, 1993).
 Readers interact with texts, becoming part of
intellectual and emotional process as each
story unfolds.
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 Interactions in bibliotherapy
 As readers attempt to process what is being
communicated at the deepest levels, readers 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).
 Readers also interact with faciltators or
counselors through discussion and “therapeutic
interactions” (Hynes & Hynes-Berry, 1986, p. 10).
 Activities aimed at helping readers make a positive
alternation or modification in behaviour or
attitude (Myers, 1998).
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 Types of
bibliotherapy
 Clinical bibliotherapy and bibliocounselling: Skilled
practitioners use therapeutic methods to help
individuals experiencing serious emotional
problems.
 Developmental bibliotherapy: Classroom
teachers help ‘normal’ students in their general
health and development; focuses on helping
teachers identify students’ concerns before
problems arise and guide them through
predictable stages of adolescence => they are
equipped with some knowledge of what to expect
and examples of how other teenagers have
April 2012 dealt with the same concerns (Hebert & Kent,
MHA Bibliotherapy 11
 Basic stages in
bibliotherapy
 Identification and selection
 Presentation
 Follow-up

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 Identification and selection
(1)
 Identify clients' needs
 Select appropriate stories or poems to match
particular problems

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 Identification and selection
(2): Selection of
materials
Stories, poems, etc.
 must help readers feel relieved they are not the
only ones facing a specific problem or that they
are the only ones who possess particular
personality traits
=> characters in the Literature should resemble the
readers in some aspects of behaviour, or they
should experience circumstances very similar to
those of the readers.

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 Identification and selection
(3): Selection of materials
Stories, poems, etc.
 must be age-appropriate so that readers can
better relate to the content.
 must be at appropriate reading level so that
readers will not struggle excessively to make sense
of text
 must have enough depth to enable a discussion
of issues, and
 must provide correct information about a problem
while not imparting a false sense of hope
(Pardeck, 1994). MHA Bibliotherapy
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 Presentation (1)
 Present literary pieces carefully and strategically
so that the clients are able to see similarities
between themselves and the book characters.
 Eventually, readers have to learn vicariously how to
solve their problems by reflecting on how the
characters in the book solve theirs (Hebert &
Kent, 2000): “copying of character behaviours”
(Gladding & Gladding, 1991).

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 Presentation (2): Procedure
(Basic procedure may be similar to
normal interactive Literature lessons)
 Start: Teachers and students begin by reading a
book or poem
 After reading: Discuss / react to characters and
common experiences in the literary material

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 Presentation (3):
Examples of Session activities
(group/individual)
Example 1
 Assign a text for reading before a session
 Participants respond to what they read
 Guide readers, e.g., if assigned book is The Blind
Men and the Elephant: An Old Tale from the
Land of India, guide them to see that personal
perceptions differ according to experience.

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 Presentation (4):
Examples of Session activities
(group/individual)
Example 2
 Get each participant to share a piece of
literature that has a special significance for him
 As he talks, help him to realise what the
stories mean to him and why it has an impact.
 In a group setting, other participants may
also identify themselves with particular
characters.
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 Follow-up
(1)
Once the participants can identify with
relevant characters, they enter the follow-
up stage: they share what they have learnt
about themselves as a result of identifying
with and examining the literary characters
and their experiences.

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 Follow-up(2):
Catharsis
 Cathartic activity designed to help readers come
to terms with their problems and to cleanse
themselves emotionally.
 Catharsis expressed verbally in oral 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).

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 Follow-up(3):
Catharsis
 Once catharsis has occurred, clients guided to gain
further insight into the problem through activities,
e.g.
 Develop a summary of the book, using the point of view of
different characters.
 Create a diary for a character in the story.
 Write a letter from one character in the book to another, or from
the
student to one of the characters.
 Compose a different ending to the story.
 Compose a "Dear Abby" letter that a book character could
have written about a problem situation
 Such activities help readers to study issues from a
variety of perspectives,
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and in doing so, they may
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 The role of the helper
(1)
 Carefully design a programme => draw from the
basic principles of counsellor behaviour such as
being non-judgemental and empathic, and
being good listeners.
 Develop a familiarity with a reasonably wide
range of literary materials on various themes,
perhaps by enlisting the assistance of Literature
teachers and librarians.

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 The role of the helper
(2)
 Be effective facilitators who can help readers see
aspects of their own behaviour or problem in the
literary materials, and later help the readers
participate in cathartic activities.
 Develop a basic knowledge of literary appreciation,
as literary materials often make use of metaphors or
images that, if explored, can provide readers with a
framework for viewing – or not viewing – their
problems in specific ways, e.g., in interpreting
Robert Frosts’s poem The Road Not Taken

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 The role of the helper
(3)
Literary appreciation and counselling/helping both involve
activities such as restating or paraphrasing, clarifying,
questioning, summarizing and reflection – they can
enhance each other.
BUT …
unlike traditional counselling sessions in which only the
counsellor is expected to paraphrase, summarise, question
and clarify, both helper and client in a bibliotherapy
approach apply these strategies in studying the literary
material. The shared activity helps create a complementary
and reciprocal relationship between both parties –
constructing a common ground for discussions.

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 Benefits of
bibliotherapy
 provides opportunity for participants to recognize
and understand themselves, their characteristics,
and the complexity of human thought and behavior.
 promotes social development as well as the love
of literature in general, and reading in particular
 reduces feelings of isolation that may be felt by
people with problems.

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 Challenges(1)
 unavailability of materials on certain topics, lack of
materials in certain languages => useful to have
network (Literature teachers, writers, counsellors
=> compile and share books.
 facilitators may have limited knowledge of human
development or appropriate literature => need
training and exposure to literary repertoire for use in
bibliotherapy.
 facilitators may insist on making a point at the
client's expense => avoid personal interests

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 Challenges (2)
 lack of client readiness / willingness to read =>
material and presentation must be attractive
and relevant enough.
 clients defensive / unwilling to discuss uncomfortable
issues: discount actions of characters, fail to identify
with them, or use them as scapegoats => need to
continue process itself, role play, etc.
 clients may project own motives onto characters
and thus reinforce their own perceptions and
solutions.
=> help them be constantly aware of own problems
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 Challenges (3)

client and counselor stay on surface issues => suspend

sessions until both parties 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). ]

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 Conclusion
 Bibliotherapy: potentially
powerful method for
school teachers and
counselors
 To establish a strong bibliotherapy
programme, practitioners must
 present the procedure as a non-
threatening one, starting by
calling the process
biblioguidance, for instance
 also solicit the input and advice
of colleagues, parents, and
administrators.
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