Bibliotherapy

A Clinical Approach for Helping Children

John T. Pardeck, Jean A. Pardeck, John T. Pardeck, Jean A. Pardeck

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000510133
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Clinical Psychology
• Index: Psychology

First Published in 1993 Bibliotherapy provides literature for mental health professionals which can be used with a clinical approach in helping children with problems. For those not familiar with bibliotherapy, it provides an extensive introduction to the field including reviews of its effectiveness, value and limitations, as well as examples of practical application. Chapters include an overview of bibliotherapy, clinical application, changing role models, blended family, separation and divorce, child abuse, foster care, adoption, and childhood fears. Over 350 children's books are listed, each briefly annotated, from which the clinician can select suitable material for therapeutic intervention. This book is an essential read for scholars, researchers, and practitioners of clinical psychology, psychology in general.

Chapter 1

An Overview of Bibliotherapy

Books for centuries have worked as silent therapists for untold numbers. Through books readers can completely escape into new roles; they can vicariously sample lives and life-styles. Good fiction can provide clients with models to help them deal with presenting problems. Quality nonfiction, in particular self-help books, can provide clients with concrete suggestions and advice to help them deal with presenting problems.

The technique of using books in treatment is defined as bibliotherapy. Bibliotherapy has been known by many names, such as bibliocounseling, biblioeducation, bibliopsychology, library therapeutics, biblioprophylaxis, tutorial group therapy, and literatherapy (Rubin, 1978). Webster (1981) defines bibliotherapy as “guidance in the solution of personal problems through directed reading.” Berry (1978) defines bibliotherapy as a family of techniques for structuring an interaction between a facilitator and a participant…based on their mutual sharing of literature. Over the last several years bibliotherapy has been used by a variety of helping professionals including counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and educators. Only recently have social workers begun to use bibliotherapy in clinical practice (Pardeck & Pardeck, 1987). The newly published Dictionary of Social Work by Barker (1987) does, however, include a comprehensive definition of bibliotherapy:

The use of literature and poetry in the treatment of people with emotional problems or mental illness. Bibliotherapy is often used in social group work and group therapy and is reported to be effective with people of all ages, with people in institutions as well as outpatients, and with healthy people who wish to share literature as a means of personal growth and development, (p. 15)

Rubin (1978) notes that most professionals using bibliotherapy in practice have minimal preparation for using this intriguing technique. Pardeck and Pardeck (1987) conclude that social workers are the least likely to use bibliotherapy in practice, and few have formal clinical training in using books in social treatment.

Baruth and Burggraf (1984), Griffin (1984), and Pardeck and Pardeck (1984) all suggest that the major goals of bibliotherapy are as follows: (a) to provide information about problems, (b) to provide insight into problems, (c) to stimulate discussion about problems, (d) to communicate new values and attitudes, (e) to create an awareness that others have dealt with similar problems, and (f) to provide solutions to problems.

Much information can be conveyed through assigned and shared reading. Bibliotherapy allows one to learn new facts, different ways of approaching problems, and alternative ways of thinking about problems (Griffin, 1984). Since most clients have limited prior knowledge or personal experience with a presenting problem, bibliotherapy can provide useful insight into helping clients deal with problems.

Self–understanding and insight is an important goal of bibliotherapy (Baruth & Burggraf, 1984; Zaccaria & Moses, 1968). When therapists use fiction in bibliotherapy, clients read about a character facing a problem similar to their own; they may then identify with the character and in so doing gain awareness and understanding of their own motivation, feelings, and thoughts (Griffin, 1984). By reading about a story character’s conflicts, cognition, and emotional reactions, clients gain insight into a problem situation (Pardeck & Pardeck, 1983).

Bibliotherapy is an excellent technique for stimulating discussion about a problem which may not otherwise be discussed because of fear, guilt, or shame (McKinney, 1977). Reading about a character in fiction who has dealt with a problem similar to his or her own may help the client verbalize feelings about the problem to the clinician.

Bibliotherapy can help clients confront and change presenting problems as they read about others who have done so successfully. The physically disabled person, for example, can read about a character who has successfully dealt with a disability. The disabled individual may learn that many others have faced the same problem, had similar feelings of inadequacy and failure, and yet found a way to succeed to some degree and develop self-realization about the disability (Pardeck & Pardeck, 1984).

History of Bibliotherapy

Books have been used as a resource for helping people cope for centuries. In ancient Thebes, for example, a library entry was inscribed “The Healing Place of the Soul.” The ancient Thebans cherished books for their value as a source for improving the quality of life. Schrank and Engels (1981) have pointed out that the practice of bibliotherapy can be traced back to Thebes and since then has been used as a helping resource for instruction and healing.

Several early American schoolbooks such as the New England Primer and the McGuffy Readers were used with the intent not only of teaching children how to read but also for helping them to develop character and positive values, and to improve personal adjustment (Spache, 1974). Present educators, including many clinicians, have come to realize that books can play a positive role in helping people deal with personal adjustment problems, including the problems of everyday life.

Bibliotherapy as a recognized treatment approach really evolved only quite recently. This development is roughly dated as occurring around the turn of the 20th century. Two early advocates of bibliotherapy in the 20th century were Doctors Karl and William Menninger. Numerous articles appeared in the professional literature in the 1940s; these often focused on the psychological validity of this emerging treatment technique (Bernstein, 1983). During the 1950s some of the seminal thinking on the subject of bibliotherapy was done by Shrodes (1949), who examined the state of the art, thus influencing the field tremendously from a philosophical view. Shrodes’ (1949) early definition of bibliotherapy “as a process of dynamic interaction between the personality of the reader and literature under the guidance of a trained helper” continues to heavily influence the field today (p. 22). Recently, Pardeck and Pardeck (1989) have argued that bibliotherapy does not have to be a process necessarily guided by a trained therapist. As pointed out later in this book, bibliotherapy can be implemented by individuals not trained as therapists. For example, a parent or teacher can successfully use bibliotherapy to help children cope with problems related to development and personal adjustment.

In the 1960s, Hannigan and Henderson (1963) conducted extensive on site research regarding the impact of bibliotherapy on young drug abusers close to parole. Their research comprises some of the early efforts to test the effectiveness of bibliotherapy as a treatment tool. Since the 1960s, numerous studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of bibliotherapy in helping people deal with emotional and adjustment problems. Even though bibliotherapy has been found to be an effective clinical tool, critics of bibliotherapy continue to be very vocal (Craighead, McNamara, & Horan, 1984).

Who Uses Bibliotherapy

Pardeck and Pardeck (1987) report that among helping professionals, social workers are the least likely to use bibliotherapy. They found in a content analysis of articles published from 1980 to 1983 in Social Casework and Social Work that only seven articles on bibliotherapy appeared in these two journals. In turn, School Counselor and Elementary School Guidance and Counseling published over 40 articles on bibliotherapy during the same time period. Pardeck and Pardeck (1987) thus concluded that school counselors are probably well acquainted with bibliotherapy, as reflected through the works published in two core counseling journals. Social workers have little access to information on bibliotherapy because little is written about the approach in professional social work journals.

Additional studies have surveyed practitioners in other fields and found that bibliotherapy is widely used by counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and medical doctors. Atwater and Smith (1987) found heavy use of bibliotherapy among counselors. Smith and Burkhalter (1987) report that the more experienced the therapist, the more likely he or she is to use bibliotherapy in practice. Starker (1986) reports that among 487 practitioners surveyed in a large metropolitan area within the United States, 88% of psychologists, 59% of psychiatrists, and 88% of medical doctors responding used bibliotherapy in their practice. Starker (1988) in a national study found that almost 60% of psychologists used bibliotherapy in practice occasionally and 24% used it often.

In sum, bibliotherapy is a popular treatment technique among certain helping professionals, including counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Social workers appear less likely to use the bibliotherapeutic technique.

Research on Bibliotherapy

Both fiction and nonfiction can be used when treating clients with bibliotherapy. Even though some recent evidence suggests fiction can be used as a powerful therapeutic tool, the research clearly concludes that behaviorally oriented reading materials in the form of self-help books have the greatest empirical support as successful clinical tools.

Prior to the 1980s, numerous studies were conducted on using fiction as a therapeutic tool. The research falls into roughly the following categories: academic achievement, assertiveness, attitude change, behavioral change, marital relations, reducing fear, self-concept improvement, and therapeutic effectiveness.

Academic Achievement

Most of the studies suggest that bibliotherapy does not increase academic achievement; however, a few do report that it can impact academic achievement positively. Whipple (1978) concluded that bibliotherapy was able to raise academic achievement in the biological sciences of students in a state reformatory. King (1972) found that underachieving children who received bibliotherapy in addition to regular language arts classes showed significant gains over the underachieving students who attended only language arts classes. A study by Lundstein (1972) reported that bibliotherapy helped increase communication skills of elementary school students.

Other researchers have found that bibliotherapy did not affect academic achievement positively. Bigge and Sandefur (1960) discovered it did not help high school students to improve their academic achievement. Dixon (1974) concluded that bibliotherapy in conjunction with remedial reading instruction did not increase reading skills. Livengood (1961) also reported that bibliotherapy failed to increase the reading skills of students. A study by Ponder (1968) found that bibliotherapy did not increase academic achievement in a group of poverty level students. Research conducted by Schultheis (1969) found that fifth-and sixth-grade students did not gain in reading achievement after going through a bibliotherapy experience.

Assertiveness

Research suggests that bibliotherapy can increase assertiveness levels. McGovern (1976) reported that bibliotherapy increased assertiveness in subjects subsequent to assertiveness training over those who did not experience bibliotherapy. Allen (1978) and Nesbitt (1977) found that assertive behaviors increased as subjects completed a bibliotherapy program.

Attitude Change

Bibliotherapy has been found to change attitudes. Jackson (1944), Litcher and Johnson (1969), and Standley and Standley (1970) reported that bibliotherapy positively changed attitudes of majority group members toward blacks. Smith (1948) concluded that students could report ways that bibliotherapy changed their attitudes. Tatara (1964) found bibliotherapy successful in changing attitudes toward scientists. Wilson (1951) reported positive effects of bibliotherapy toward changing severe attitudinal problems.

Behavioral Change

The findings suggest tha...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Introduction to the Series
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 An Overview of Bibliotherapy
• 2 Clinical Applications of Bibliotherapy
• 3 Changing Role Models
• 4 Blended Family
• 5 Separation and Divorce
• 6 Child Abuse
• 7 Foster Care
• 8 Adoption
• 9 Childhood Fears
• Directory of Publishers
• Author Index
• Title Index
• Subject Index