1. CR OSFARIZAL BIN OTHMAN KB;PA,CH
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2. 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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3. Bibliotherapy
from
biblio or books
(from Greek vivlion)
and
therapeia or therapy
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4. 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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5. 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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6. 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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7. 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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8. 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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9. 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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10. 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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11. 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
dealt with the same concerns (Hebert & Kent, 2000).
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12. Basic stages in bibliotherapy
 Identification and selection
 Presentation
 Follow-up
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13. Identification and selection (1)
 Identify clients' needs
 Select appropriate stories or poems to match
particular problems
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14. 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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15. 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).
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16. 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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17. 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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18. 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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19. 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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20. 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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21. 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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22. 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, and in doing so, they may see
solutions to their own problems.
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23. 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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24. 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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25. 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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26. 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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27. 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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28. 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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29. 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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30. 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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