Bibliotherapy aSSIGNMENT

8/12/2019 Bibliotherapy aSSIGNMENT

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Bibliotherapy is a way to help children, teens and adult to overcome their

social, emotional, personal problems with books. This can be done through literature

and it allows a reader to identify with characters and problems in a book and relate

them to their own lives. A reader learns how others deal with frustrations and

disappointments, and allows them to gain insight into alternative solutions to their

own problems (Alat, 2002. Adams and !itre (2000 claim that reading books give

clients the chance to learn and relate to the e"periences of other people.

Bibliotherapy is a collaborative process between a client and his therapist which can

complement other approaches. #any psychoanalytic theorists believe that behaviour

is $ust a surface characteristic and for them to fully understand the behaviour they

must look at the symbolic meaning and the inner workings of a person%s mind. &reud

thought that the personality has three structures, which are the id, ego, and

superego. The id consists of instincts, where an individual stores psychic energy, the

ego deals with the demands of reality, and the superego is the branch of the

person%s personality. &rom all the theories, the therapist found out bibliotherapy.

Bibliotherapy has played a larger role in professional depression treatment

than in many other conditions. 'ome research suggests that bibliotherapy for

depression administered by a family physician may be just as effective as

standard anti-depressant prescriptions. The study leaders noted that their

findings present an economically efficient alternative for patients who cannot afford

ongoing prescription costs (or who prefer a treatment that doesn%t include

medication. Another studysupported the relatively minimal need for follow up care

in bibliotherapy applications for mild to moderate depression.

Besides that Bibliotherapy can assist children in overcoming problems by

having them read stories about characters who have successfully resolved a

dilemma similar to their own. )dentification with a literary model can foster thought

and possible resolution to a problem such as dealing with a separation, illness,

death, poverty, disability, alienation, disaster, war, etc. The underlying premise of

bibliotherapy is that interpreting stories is an ever*changing process to which

children bring their own needs and e"periences. 'ince students often have difficulty

identifying and communicating their feelings, stories can serve to facilitate open

discussion and self*understanding. )f children become emotionally involved with

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20803165http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19115429http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20803165http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19115429


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literary characters, they are more able to verbali+e, act out, or draw pictures

describing their innermost thoughts. se of bibliotherapy is not limited to crisis

situations, nor is it a cure for severe psychological difficulties. )t may not meet the

needs of some children, especially those who are not ready to face their specific

issue. -ther students may be unable to transfer insights gained from reading into

their own life, or may use literature as a form of escape. et, these e"periences with

literary characters have been shown to give benefits to many children.

oung children often have different concerns than others. The best way to

learn these is to ask them or to listen to their general conversations and sometimes

indirect ways. )ndirect means such as reading a book and discussing it. There is no

best way to learn children%s concern. )n general, there are certain themes that

address the concerns and problem of children/ self, family, friends, other people,

illness and death and about world. ) would like to elaborate few concerns of

children. )n self themes, there are uestions around their heads. 1ill ) be fat like my

father 1ill ) always be this short And many more. The problem can be increasing if

other children noticed it and tease them. This can trigger a negative situation such as

fighting and others. 3hildren need adults to help them faced the situation. 'haring a

book related to the situation can enable everyone to think about their action and the

effect they have on others. This kind of books can help to bring out the importance of

feeling good about oneself.

In this book, the emotion of personal fear is examined

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!ossibly, the important aspect in bibliotherapy is to help children deal with

their fear. 4uman beings who have fears can relate to

characters that have fears, even if the fears are different. )n

Chicken Chickens by Valerie Gorbachev, the characters

are afraid to go down the slide.

The family continues to be seen as the basic social unit of society but now it

has brought many changes to it. &amilies are getting smaller and tend to spread out

due to separation, divorce, single parenthood, and e"tended families. 3hildren

sometimes did not understand these changes and it cause fears. 3hildren wonder if

they caused the problems. The traditional causes of stress in families have never

left. 5ew babies, illness sibling rivalry poverty and homelessness continue to create

pressures on the young child but bibliotherapy can help them.

As children grow the focus has move to from them to being a part of a group.

They want to be with friends. 6ue to this they might e"perience obstacles and pitfall.

Adults often wince at what the children say and do to their friends. They can be

loving and very hostile. -ne can deal with this situation with discussion,

understanding and the use of bibliotherapy (through reading a story that have similar

situation. )t is not easy for children to make a meaningful connection between their

lives and the lives of the characters in the story. )n The ittle

!lue !oy by "atou #eita, they have to accept the differences of

other and be friend to all. 3hildren often faced fear towards

people disabilities because they are afraid they will 7catch it8.

'kin colour, dress and language that they are not familiar of can

cause an"iety to them. Bibliotherapy can help decrease

ignorance and focus discussion on the common humanity of all people.The goals of

bibliotherapy are to help children to identify and validate their feelings. They haveto

reali+e that other children have problems similar to their own. 4ere they can also

stimulate discussion, foster thought and self*awareness.

Besides that, children can also discover the possibility of coping the skill and

solution and decide on a constructive course of action. 1hat ) did in the classroom is

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$eferences

Adams, '., !itre, 5.?. (2000. 1ho uses bibliotherapy and why Canadian Journal

of Psychiatry, @>(, @>.

Alat, C. (2002. Traumatic events and childrenD 4ow early childhood educators can

help. Childhood Education,=(


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Bibliotherapy aSSIGNMENT

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