Art of Bibliotherapy, treating mental health through books

CAIRO - 2 July 2017: Mental health has been proven to be treated in several ways, one of which is Bibliotherapy, where therapy is conducted through reading literature. Egypt Today sheds light on the innovative method in treating patients’ mental illnesses.

The cost-effective treatment can be used to treat mild to moderate mood-related conditions through either individual or group therapy. The method can also be used with patients of various ages, according to Good Therapy.

Therapists often recommend their patients to read in effort to promote self-help, develop and explore therapeutic benefits of imaginative literature.

The new approach may take up to six months to show effective results, therefore it is only recommended for patients who do not require immediate help. The therapy process will increase self-awareness, and support development. Some studies cited by Good Therapy also suggest that it treats depression, anxiety, eating disorders, mild alcohol problem, post-traumatic stress, family-related issues, and communication problems.

Bibliotherapy is also used to treat concerns for adolescents such as puberty and bodily functions among others, thus encouraged to be used by parents. The method can be used through different techniques to tackle mental health concerns.

The techniques also include prescriptive Bibliotherapy or self-help which assigns certain reading materials to patients to address several concerns and does not require a therapist. Therapists could for example provide their patients with workbooks teaching them about emotion regulation and deep breathing.

Therapists may also use other techniques such as the Bibliotherapy Education Project, where they will prescribe the appropriate books to their patients; The Carnegie Library of Pittsburg for example offers a set of books provided for these purposes in an approved list. The books mainly revolve around grief, self-esteem, and divorce among others.

Another technique is the Creative Bibliotherapy which uses imaginative literature such as novels, short stories, poetry and biographies to treat psychological issues. Among the benefits of this technique is allowing patients to explore their identities as they can relate to a certain character, emotion, and experience found in the book.

The concept of a healing approach through reading is not considered a new discovery, whereas King Ramses II of Egypt is said to have owned a special chamber for his books where words carved above the door said “House of Healing for the Soul”, according to Psychology Today. The method was also used by famous professional psychologist Sigmund Freud who integrated literature through his psychoanalysis in the 19th century.

Bibliotherapy has been defined in 1914 in an article published in The Atlantic Monthly as a process to explain to patients receiving medical treatment about their conditions. The method has expanded furthermore in 1950 when theoretical model was developed to confirm that people are often influenced by characters they relate to in the stories.

Despite being introduced in the early 19th century, the official definition of Bibliotherapy has been issued in 1966 by the American Library Association. During this period following the issuance of the therapy method, The Association of Poetry Therapy formed that mainly applied poetry therapy.

The field later developed in 1983 by being divided into two categories including developmental and therapeutic approaches, one focuses on educational settings while the latter focuses on health settings.

The approach is also integrated in festivals today, like the Body & Soul festival that was carried out in Ireland on June 23, The Irish Times reported.
The festival features The Library of Progress which is a tent designed to carry out discussion on topics such as benefits of psychoactive drugs and the art and benefits of Bibliotherapy. The tent’s design is inspired by The Library of Congress located in U.S.