BibliotherapyTreatment through books (Pardeck & Pardeck, 1998)

Winthrop

April 2011

OUTCOMES

At the end of this class, you will:

1. Have a increased understanding of bibliotherapy.

2. Understand the benefits for educators and students.

3. Know how to use bibliotherapy to help students.

ALTERNATIVE TERMINOLOGY Bibliocounseling Bibliopsychology Biblio-Linking Biblio-Matching Bookmatching Literatherapy Library therapeutics Guided reading Biblioguidance

BIBLIOTHERAPY A process or activity designed to help individuals solve

problems or better understand themselves through their response to literature or media (Paisley & Borders, 1994).

Strategy that supports children as they cope with difficult situations (Heath, Leavy, Hansen, Ryan, Lawrence, Gerritsen, & Sonntag, 2008)

Explore self-understanding, self-esteem, and/or assist individuals in making adjustments to developmental issues (Haynes & Amer, 1999

An approach or family of techniques for structuring interaction between a facilitator and a participant based on the mutual sharing of literature (Pardeck & Pardeck, 1989, 1990)

TWO DOMAINS Clinical Bibliotherapy is implemented by

trained professionals dealing with significant emotional or behavioral problems.

Developmental Bibliotherapy may be used by teachers to facilitate normal development and self-actualization with an essentially healthy population

GOALS OF BIBLIOTHERAPY (PARDECK, 1994)

To provide information about problems. To provide insight into problems. To stimulate discussion about problems. To communicate new values and attitudes. To create an awareness that others have

dealt with similar problems. To provide solutions to problems. To increase empathy for and understanding

of others.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

Social and emotional skills (Anderson, 2000) Bereavement (Ayyash-Abdo, 2001) Child abuse (McDaniel, 2001) Parental separation/divorce (Pehrsson, Allen,

Folger, McMillen, & Lowe, 2007) Aggression (Shechtman, 2006) Anxiety (Rapee, Abbott, & Lyneham, 2006) Tolerance “Fitting in” Bullying Ethnic and cultural identity

STAGES OF INTERACTION (AFOLAYAN, 1992)

1. Identification• Students must identify with characters or

situations similar to what they are experiencing

• Characters should be similar in age as the student, display similar behaviors, and face events which the student can identify (Sridhar & Vaughn, 2000).

• Book choice is critical

2. Catharsis If child is emotionally involved, they develop

meaningful ties to the main character, and doing so the literature facilitates a release of pent-up emotions.

The child is encouraged to express these feelings under safe conditions.

Encourage guided-discussion, journaling, painting, drawing, and dramatization.

3. Insight“Realization that occurs when readers become

aware that the problem they are experiencing, like that of characters in the story, need not remain static” (Sridhar & Vaughn, 2000, p.75).

Children begin to analyze the decisions and actions of the main characters.

Through this analysis, insights are gained into how the child might develop his or her own problem-solving techniques.

BOOK SELECTION

**Catalyst** General Format and Structure Subject Matter Reading Level Developmental level Identification with main character Culturally authentic perspectives- validate

and/or expand on young readers’ own experiences.

SOCIAL ISSUE- IDENTITY/SELF-CONCEPT

In groups, you will complete the following: Read the text you have been given. Discuss the main points as a group. Write a summary of what you read. Answer the following questions (when

applicable) about the character(s): What do we know about the character? How is the character feeling at this point in the

text? Why? What do his/her actions say about who the

character really is? What pressures does the character face? How

does he/she respond?

CONNECTION

Has something like this happened in your life?

Do we see this in the world around us? In what ways does this connect to the

classroom, home, community, and/or world? What message could you take away?*Be prepared to discuss with your group after

the presentations.

REACTION GUIDE

Discussion Questions/Comments