The first time I ever picked up a book, it was merely full of pictures and little words. Even with the two to three small sentences, the style and imagery matched well with the colorful scene of a bear in green corduroy attire and a cozy, homey environment complete with an orange-lit fireplace. That was after I had witnessed a fight between my parents, and I needed an escape; a soothing balm from the loud chaos. Don Freeman’s Corduroy was one of the first books I have read, and one I still cherish to this day. My taste has evolved since, as I read a lot more in my daily routine. Although compared to my younger self, I engage with books with fewer pictures, but I find comfort in creating my own images with the words on the pages. Books are an outlet for escapism, learning, and knowledge. So what if you take books and pair them with self-healing and discovery?
Bibliotherapy is defined as a reading guide for therapeutic change or intervention to improve a person’s life. It is a form of therapy explored by many mental health professionals and scientists. It typically involves the patient reading a piece of literature and discussing it with a therapist or in a group therapy setting, kind of like a book club. Reading can soothe a person’s mind, relieve stress, and prevent negative reinforcements from occurring during a difficult time in one’s life.
The process of successfully engaging in bibliotherapy stems from three important steps that most readers and literature lovers probably perform already. The first step is the personal identification of the reader to a specific character in a book, meaning they can find a sense of comfort and familiarity with one of the characters in the book they are reading. This phenomenon allows the reader to release psychological cleansing because the reader feels like they have emerged into the book’s world. Lastly, this allows the reader to relate to the character and provide insight to a solution to the reader’s own experience of emotional disruption to their life. These steps paired with other therapeutic techniques provides success in disrupting feelings of negative emotions.
FLIP TO THE PAST
Literature dates back to the beginnings of history. Libraries were common in mental health hospitals and have been established into the early nineteenth-century to now. Before the 1800s, most people saw the mentally ill as incompetent and that they needed saving from some sort of superstitious being. Despite the negative stigmas around mentally ill patients during this time, these facilities managed to incorporate a type of recovery intervention called moral therapy. Moral therapy included activities like woodworking, gardening, playing board games, sewing, and reading. Within the exploration of moral therapy, bibliotherapy has taken the reins of discovery. Benjamin Rush was the first American physician to write about bibliotherapy in his 1812 book titled Medical Inquiries and Observations Upon the Diseases of the Mind. Since bibliotherapy’s rise in the medical world, it has been used as an effective intervention for many forms of psychopathology.
While bibliotherapy was fairly an uncommon form of therapy, its existence has still contributed to the healing process for many patients across the world. The word’s origins come from Greek; ‘biblion’ meaning ‘book’ and ‘therapeia’ meaning ‘healing’. Following the 1800s, Samuel Crothers combined the two Greek words into ‘bibliotherapy’ and described the process as literature being used as medicine for a variety of conditions. The more it was used, the more it became more popularized in the United States. Bibliotherapy is now mostly common in healthcare settings, but anyone can practice this process in the comfort of their own home, libraries, schools, and much more.
BOOKEND BENEFITS
Reading any form of literature, especially books, can help someone gain insight into their own personal lives and explore emotions they might have trouble expressing verbally or outright to anyone. It is not always easy to express one’s thoughts and feelings to someone. Literature can hold a form of support for someone struggling with depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders. The fictitious worlds and characters provide escapism and imaginative thinking for many users who engage in bibliotherapy. Nonfiction books can also help a reader grow their knowledge and cognitive development. Bibliotherapy not only helps with escapism and acts as a stress-reliever, but it also helps work an individual through depression, anxiety, grief, or trauma.
According to psychologist Inverpal Braich at the Canadian Centre of Integrative Psychology, bibliotherapy helps someone “learn from the perspective of others, gain mental health benefits outside of traditional therapy sessions, gain insight and personal awareness, and explore a wide variety of research and topics.” These are just a handful named out of a plethora of benefits of bibliotherapy, but the common outcome amongst people who partake in reading as therapy does improve their chances of aiding their mental illness and internal struggles.
Bibliotherapy also relieves stress. Reading can be a form of a good distraction and can potentially reduce negative feelings and thoughts within a person’s mind. The words upon the pages can create positive and fun lands of imagination for a reader, thus decreasing the chances of the person falling back into their previous feelings of depression or anxiety. Audiobooks work in favor of this technique as well, and may provide an effective outlet for background noise whilst a person is doing another task without feeling the overwhelming need to rush their tasks. It’s kinda like listening to music while studying! Instead of melodies and harmonies, you’ll probably hear the soothing voice of some voice actor talking about mindfulness, fantasy-romance plots, or a haunted house perched amongst dark oak trees and foliage.
FORESHADOW INTO THE FUTURE
Even after existing throughout the history of literature and medical practices, there is still much more to explore with literature and its role in psychology and therapy. It is important to note that trauma and early-life adversity cannot be cured simply by picking up a book and reading it. According to a study done by Yuan et. Al., 2018, bibliotherapy seemed to be more beneficial for treating adolescents with depression, but signs of anxiety still remain fixed in children. Even with effective results, there is still much more work to be done.
As stated before, bibliotherapy is mostly used in professional settings, like in therapy or in a hospital. But anyone can practice bibliotherapy, anywhere and anytime. By simply carrying a book with you, reading to others, and even reading on your phone can calm your mind. It is a sensible activity, something we all do whether intentional or not. In some type of way, we are constantly practicing bibliotherapy.
BRINGING THE CHAPTER TO ITS END
So, how does one get started into the deep dive of bibliotherapy? Simply reading everyday can help stimulate the brain, as you are constantly intaking information and different pieces from the piece of media you are reading. Engaging others to research and participate in bibliotherapy can help spread the word. Document your books using review prompts and share your opinions about how the book makes you feel. What is this book about? How do you relate to the book, whether it’s through the commentary or by the characters? How does this book calm you? How does it anger you? These are a few questions you can ask yourself the next time you pick up a book or an online article to read. Take the time to lock into your mind and well-being by indulging in the literary exploration of bibliotherapy.