BIBLIOTHRERAPY 

Bibliotherapy generally 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 affective change and promote personality growth and development (Lenkowsky, 1987; Adderholdt-Elliott & Eller, 1989). 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, to cope with their problems.

Most of us realise how therapeutic reading can be. We find ourselves entering the world described in the pages of a good book and becoming involved with the characters. We often close the cover having gained new insight and ideas. The purpose behind the use of Bibliotherapy is to assist a client or the student in overcoming the emotional turmoil related to a real-life problem by having him/her read a story on that topic. This story can then serve as a springboard for discussion and possible resolution of that dilemma. The therapist, counsellor or the teacher then provides guidance in the resolution of personal crisis through the use of directed readings and follow-up activities
 
Historically, Bibliotherapy dates back to the 1930s when librarians began compiling lists of written material that helped individuals modify their thoughts, feelings, or behaviours for therapeutic purposes. Counsellors worked in conjunction with librarians to ‘prescribe’ selected literature for clients experiencing problems (Pardeck, 1994).
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 relieved 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).

Some Approaches in Bibliotherapy

Bibliotherapy practice has varied in approach and focus since it was first used in the 1930s.

Traditional Bibliotherapy, tended to be more ‘reactive’ in its approach, i.e. to say, in that the process focused on getting individuals to react positively or negatively to the reading material.
 
More recent approaches, however, assume that the therapeutic process is actually a more interactive one: the reader becomes the part of the unfolding intellectual and emotional process of the story, and in struggling to understand what is being communicated at the deepest levels, the reader responds by making a positive alternation or modification in behaviour or attitude (Myers, 1998).

In Interactive Bibliotherapy, participants engage in activities that help them reflect on what they read, such as group discussion, dialogue and journal writing etc. (Palmer, et al., 1997; Anderson & MacCurdy, 2000; Morawski & Gilbert, 2000).
The students we serve are often found dealing with increasingly complex issues. The road to
recovery and healing is not only based on what happens in a treatment group or session, but between sessions.

Bibliotherapy is the clinical technique of recommending books to clients for guidance in solving their problems. Another, more precise definition is that Bibliotherapy is a technique for structuring interaction between a facilitator and a participant based on mutual sharing of literature. Bibliotherapy generally appears to be more successful as an adjunctive therapy.

Many mental health professionals use popular self-help books, such as “What Colour Is Your Parachute” and “The Relaxation Response” for their clients, rather than fiction or poetry, yet the use of many types of literature can have tremendous therapeutic value.
There are many ways to use literature to help a student reach his/her treatment goals. Good books can alleviate feelings of alienation when readers recognise characters with feelings, thoughts and circumstances similar to their own. This can be especially therapeutic for someone who is in the process of recovery or rehabilitation from a disabling condition. Books can help them to identify their own experience, come to a better understanding, and move on to more positive attitudes and relationships in life.

In Clinical Bibliotherapy and Bibliocounselling, skilled practitioners use therapeutic methods to help individuals who are experiencing serious emotional problems.

Classroom teachers are more likely to use Developmental Bibliotherapy, which involves helping students in their normal health and development.

The advantage of the latter approach 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).
Whichever approach it involves, Bibliotherapy requires careful planning. It seeks to help clients respond directly to the materials they are given, so that change is effected through catharsis (a cleansing of the emotions, primarily through art), insight, or the “copying of character behaviours” (Gladding & Gladding, 1991).
 
Why Bibliotherapy?

Subjects that we deal with especially, in a Language classroom can include: grief and loss, body image, social rejection, and many others. Books can reduce people’s isolation, and supplement the therapy process. Students who may have decreased social skills can be given books as an addition to group therapy in order to increase their social skills. Books, such as How to Start a Conversation and Make Friends, can reinforce concepts that are brought up in didactic treatment groups. The Outsiders by SE Hinton can also be used to address social skills in a much different way. Students can react to the social challenges that the main character Ponyboy has to deal with, and then can relate their situation to that of Ponyboys. Bibliotherapy is a collaborative process between student and a counsellor, client and therapist.

Recommending reading materials has become a primary treatment technique for many mental health practitioners too. It is essential in today’s restrictive managed care environment when length of stay is so limited, that we find ways to give more to the clients. Bibliotherapy enhances and increases the resources available to a student.

The goals of Bibliotherapy can include the following:
(1) To develop an individual’s self-concept.
(2) To increase an individual’s understanding        of human behaviour or motivations.
(3) To foster an individual’s honest self-       appraisal.
(4) To provide a way for a person to find       interests outside of self.
(5) To relieve emotional or mental pressure.
(6) To show an individual that he or she is not       the first or only person to Encounter such        a problem.
(7) To show an individual that there is more        than one solution to a problem.
(8) To help a person discuss a problem more freely.
(9) to help an individual plan a constructive       course of action to solve a problem.

A practitioner must decide whether an individual or a group therapy approach would be best in the particular situation. Individual therapy requires time-consuming one-on-one sessions, but some people feel freer to express themselves in a one-on-one situation. Bibliotheca can be included in leisure education or therapeutic process type groups, directed at themes the entire group can relate to. There are many excellent books that a student can read and then return to a session to discuss their reaction to the material.

Regardless of whether the practitioner chooses the individual or group approach, the basic procedures in conducting Bibliotherapy are:

(1) To motivate the individual or individuals with introductory activities.
(2) To provide time for reading the material.
(3) To allow time to reflect.
(4) To provide follow-up discussion time, using  questions that will lead persons from literal  recall of information through interpretation,  
application, analysis, synthesis, and   evaluation of that information.
(5) To conduct evaluation and direct the individual or individuals toward closure - this involves both evaluation by the practitioner and self-evaluation by the individual.

During the first two stages, the students’ 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. The books must then be presented carefully and strategically so that the students are able to see similarities between themselves and the book characters.

Once the students 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 non-verbal 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.

The success of the Bibliotherapy programme depends largely on how well teachers or counsellors play their vital role as facilitator throughout the whole process. Sridhar & Vaughn (2000) provide useful ideas on how teachers can get ready for the process, and what they can do before, during and after reading.
 
Which Books to choose?

The teacher should be aware of the length and complexity of the book. The book should be applicable to the problem facing the student. The student’s reading ability should be known, as well as his/her emotional and chronological age must be considered. Reading stories aloud for small children can be an option to achieve similar desired results. Before undertaking Bibliotherapy, the teacher must remember that it is more than just the casual recommendation of a certain book to an individual—it is a deliberate course of action that requires careful planning.

Bibliotherapy must be handled with great delicacy, and not every teacher possesses the personal qualifications to be a facilitator in the process. Setting out to “trigger emotional catharsis” can be a risky thing to do. It is important to be prepared to deal with the emotional issues that may result. Fictional works are good for discussion purposes because participants can talk about the characters in a book rather than about themselves. This is often less threatening for the student. Children’s literature offers many good choices, one example is the classic story of the Velveteen Rabbit and the pain the rabbit experiences when becoming ‘real’. Another good example, Deenie
by Judy Blume has helped many children with scoliosis to cope with wearing a brace and other stressful changes to their lifestyle. This story is also helpful to address issues of body image or social rejection. Librarians are a valuable resource to identify appropriate books.

Above all, the books chosen by the teacher should have literary merit—a poorly written novel with stereotyped characters and simplistic answers to complex questions is probably worse than not reading anything at all and can leave students with a negative view of literature. Reading quality literature, however, can be beneficial to them, even outside the context of Bibliotherapy.

These points are worth thinking about when selecting literary resources, how well does the book help with:
• Fostering personal insight
• Triggering emotional catharsis
• Assisting with solving problems
• Altering the ways in which students act
• Promoting satisfying relationships with peers
• Providing information about shared problems
• Provide a good quality recreation experience

Some Suggestion For Teachers

Doris Brett developed a technique of ‘therapeutic storytelling’ to help calm the fears of her daughter, Amantha, and to build self-confidence. In Annie Stories, she introduced healing stories designed to help communicate with a child about the emotions and anxieties of common childhood situations: nightmares, fears, sibling birth, divorce, how to relax, death of a loved one etc.

Storytelling is as old as language and is an effective tool which as already stated can be used. It crosses all boundaries of time, age and culture. Stories inspire, instruct and, above all, entertain. It is a powerful and enduring communication tool that has the capacity to support educators, students and others to reflect on and learn from experience and, in the process, deepen their understanding of practice and self. When storytelling is formalised in thoughtful and meaningful ways, it captures everyday practice moments and turns them into learning opportunities. Increasingly, they are being used by management for strategic planning, and by teachers and therapists to help find resolutions to conflicts.

Moreover, an experienced team of storytellers who offer techniques to help all communicators develop their skills in storytelling are working at dispelling the myth that storytelling is for children only, by showing its relevance to all facets of adult life.

There is a growing interest across all education sectors in the use of scenario-based learning (SBL). The impetus comes from a desire by educators and allied professionals to help adult learners make bridges between the knowledge of a discipline area and ‘real-life’ professional practice. Developing Scenario-Based Learning, edited by Edward Errington is designed to help educators plan, deliver, evaluate and reflect on four of the most common kinds of scenario. These are:
• Skills-based scenarios
• Problem-based scenarios
• Issues-based scenarios
• Speculative-based scenarios

With contributions from practitioners who enthusiastically use scenarios across a variety of discipline areas, this book is ideal for the scenario-creating novice as well as for experienced practitioners wishing to further develop their ideas and teaching options.
The contributors go much further than simply describing their innovative practices. Rather, they analyse SBL judiciously, provoking the reader to consider a range of scenario options. These practitioners offer sound advice, from
the setting of learning goals to SBL delivery.

Successful management and marketing depend greatly on the ability to communicate and, most importantly, the quality of that communication. Failure in this crucial area leads inevitably to the failure of enterprises in both the public and private sectors. Going Public: Communicating in the Public and Private Sectors by Kay Chung. is the essential guide to the management of corporate and government communications.

It provides down-to-earth, lively and highly readable advice on how to achieve outstanding communication success. It outlines in detail how to conduct a communications audit in any organisation, large or small, and describes the basic research methods for assessing ongoing strategies – an essential and often neglected task.

Going Public - examines every means of internal and external organisational communication, covering such topics as face-to-face encounters, meetings, staff briefings, non-verbal communication, written communication, advertising, relating to the media, promotional products, sponsorship, crisis management, electronic communications and many other aspects of the subject and offers a website address from which the reader can download useful communications templates, such as media conference sheets and style guides.

Benefits and Limitations of Bibliotherapy
 
In addition to the ‘how’ of conducting Bibliotherapy, teachers also need to be aware of potential benefits and pitfalls associated with this procedure. Bibliotherapy has obvious value in that it provides the opportunity for the participants to recognise and understand themselves, their characteristics, and the complexity of human thought and behaviour. It may also promote social development as well as the love of literature in general, and reading in particular (Gladding & Gladding, 1991). It reduces feelings of isolation that may be felt by people with problems.
The effectiveness of Bibliotherapy, however, may be limited by the availability of materials on certain topics, as well as the lack of students’ readiness and willingness to read. Students may also project their own motives onto characters and thus reinforce their own perceptions and solutions. In addition, participants may be defensive, thus discounting the actions of characters and failing to identify with them, or
even end up using them as scapegoats.
However, some of these 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: facilitators may have limited knowledge of human development and developmental problems, and inadequate knowledge about appropriate literature. Facilitators thus need to be properly trained and exposed to a repertoire of literature suitable for use in Bibliotherapy.

One other limitation may lie in the Bibliotherapy process itself: for example, the students may be unwilling to discuss areas that are uncomfortable, or facilitators may insist on making a point at the student’s expense. The process is also limited if both the student and counsellor stay on surface issues.

These limitations can be addressed by suspending sessions until both parties are ready and willing to work, by tapping and critiquing selected sessions so that facilitators can monitor their own reactions to certain students or problem areas, and by revisiting issues in stories that have been treated superficially in previous sessions (Gladding & Gladding, 1991).

Conclusion
 
Bibliotherapy is a potentially powerful method for school teachers and counsellors to use on many levels and in every school. In order to establish a strong Bibliotherapy programme in an institution, practitioners must present the procedure as a non-threatening one. For example, one can start it by calling the process Biblioguidance, for instance. They must also solicit the input and advice of colleagues, parents, and administrators. In addition, they must always be alert to the limitations of Bibliotherapy.