In this final post I want to explain why bibliotherapy means so much to me and why I am so interested in it. Mostly it is because bibliotherapy has meant so much and been extremely effective for two very important people in my life. To protect their privacy I will simply call them "Susan" and "Melissa." I want to share their bibliotherapy success stories.
Susan
Susan was diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder when she was in her mid 30s, she is continuing to fight and struggle through this mental illness still today. As her illness progressed various medications and treatments would work, but after a while each different type of treatment or medication seemed to wear off and the symptoms of depression would inevitably return. However, during these years of ups and downs one constant self-treatment that Susan often used was reading. Susan mostly used creative bibliotherapy (see post 1 for a definition). She would use fiction books as an escape from her pain. The books she read were an effective coping strategy that would keep her from slipping deeper into depression and often help stabilize her mood. Most likely Susan would say that her books were life savers for her, helping her cope with her illness and getting her through hard times.
However, Susan's bibliotherapy was self-directed. Although she has not yet tried it, Susan indicated that she would interested in learning more about clinical bibliotherapy with her psychologist and feels it could be even more beneficial to her, because of the successes she has had with her self-guided bibliotherapy.
Melissa
Melissa's story is similar to Susan's. She was also diagnosed with a mild form of depression, however Melissa was diagnosed at an earlier age, when she was in high school. Melissa still struggles with the illness, however Melissa is no longer using any formal treatment or medication to help control her disease. About 6 years ago Melissa and her counselor worked on coping strategies and together they determined that reading was an especially important escape for her. Melissa's reading of familiar and comforting books helped her stabilize her mood and keep her mind off negative thoughts. Melissa's comfort reading let her see hope through the characters and stories she read (because when engaging in bibliotherapy she would only choose positive books to read).
Today Melissa swears by bibliotherapy to self-treat her depression. And Melissa would tell you that reading books has many a time saved her life. Melissa learned enough from her counseling sessions to be able to choose appropriate books to treat her depression. Today Melissa swears by her self-directed bibliotherapy for when she has depressive episodes.
I share these two stories, although neither is formal bibliotherapy, because I feel that both of these individuals I know could have benefited from a formal bibliotherapy program. Neither of these people had heard about bibliotherapy until I mentioned it to them and they both feel that a formal program could have been or could still be helpful to them because they are both engaged in personally using books to heal themselves. People like Susan and Melissa are why I feel there is a great need for more formal bibliotherapy collaborations and programs between practitioners and public libraries. I wrote these posts to hopefully encourage librarians to think more about these posibilities.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Bibliotherapy: Suggestions for Librarians Part 2 of 3
So in my first post I defined bibliotherapy and explained why it was important and useful. In my research I have found a surprising lack of librarians publishing and participating in bibliotherapy in the United States. I wish to offer suggestions about why and how librarians should reintegrate themselves into bibliotherapy practice.
The impact of librarians on clinical bibliotherapy is very small (only 3.1% of Professional counselors use librarians to choose sources and only 0.4% call that input valuable), whereas I feel that this is an area where collaboration between librarians and health professionals should abound. Much of the recent research in bibliotherapy has a clinical slant and has not focused on best practices or application, which have left these studies mostly inaccessible to be utilized by librarians (Brewster 116). Perhaps this absence of bibliotherapist librarians in the United States is because of the ethical issues surrounding medical information, as suggested by Rosey Clark: “Librarians who are asked questions by patrons concerning law and medicine have very strict guidelines. Definitive answers are never given, we only give patrons reliable reference sources. We refer them to physicians and lawyers for interpretation, diagnosis, and treatment” (36).
So is recommending books for bibliotherapy a form of treatment? If the recommendations are made in conjunction with a mental health professional who is guiding the librarian based on their own expertise in medicine, development, or mental health, then I believe that recommendation is completely within the bounds of librarianship. Liz Brewster agrees, stating that, “Both self help and creative bibliotherapy contribute to the wider agenda of current library practice” (173). Moreover collaborations of recommending books for bibliotherapy should thrive. Librarians are experts in books and health professionals are experts in therapy, when put together correctly that should be a winning combination for successful treatment (Brewster 174).
A few of the librarians publishing about bibliotherapy in the literature suggest a good first step towards librarians gaining a foothold in bibliotherapy is through the use of bibliographies. Jami L. Jones suggests that librarians could provide the names of books or specific passages in literature that could be useful for health professionals in therapy (26). Jones suggests this method because it allows librarians to be proactive and prove their usefulness to health professionals. Additionally, Rosey Clark, although she still has concerns about bibliotherapy complied a bibliography in response to a request for materials a teacher could use to help his students with issues of abandonment and abuse (36-37). She felt a bibliography was still considered reader’s advisory and not a bibliotherapy prescription.
Although bibliographies and perhaps other passive bibliotherapy techniques such as book displays are a good start at reintegrating librarians back into bibliotherapy, emulating a system such as England’s “Books on Prescription” or a similar collaboration between public libraries and local health departments could benefit both librarians and the communities they serve. Book prescription schemes are a collaboration of public libraries and local health departments where libraries agree to stock a certain set of books agreed upon by the librarians and mental health professionals (Brewster 118). The health department advertises the service to doctors and hospitals and gives them, literally, prescription pads on which to assign books for patients. Then when the patient is prescribed a book the patient can go to the library to “fill their prescription” rather than going to the pharmacist.
Due to the effectiveness of bibliotherapy in conjunction with other treatment methods and current economic climate, many patients seeking help for a mental or physical illness cannot easily afford to buy books, nor can health professionals afford to give them away. A bibliotherapy collaborative project between librarians and health officials could let health department officials advertise bibliotherapy resources to hospitals, treatment centers, and individual practitioners, while librarians would stock appropriate books and resources and assist individuals in finding them in a non-threatening way.
It makes perfect sense for libraries and health care to join together to promote bibliotherapy because public libraries already have locations in the heart of their communities and already provide information, literature, and support to their patrons. Librarians in the United States need to learn from the Book Prescription programs in England and begin bibliotherapy programs here, which can serve as an excellent new library service that would improve the health and well being of their communities in a collaborative and low-cost way.
Works Cited
Brewster, Liz. “Medicine for the Soul: Bibliotherapy.” Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services. 21.3 (2008): 115-119.
Brewster, Liz. “The Reading Remedy: Bibliotherapy in Practice.” Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services. 21.4 (2008): 172-177.
Clark, Rosey. “Fiction or Nonfiction?: Bibliotherapy Examined.” Library Media Connection. 24.1 (2005): 36-37.
Jones, Jami L. “A Closer Look at Bibliotherapy.” Young Adult Library Services. 5.1 (2006): 24-27.
Pehrsson, Dale-Elizabeth and Paula McMillen. A National Survey of Bibliotherapy Practice in Professional Counseling. American Counseling Association Conference. Charlotte, NC. March 2009. Presentation.
The impact of librarians on clinical bibliotherapy is very small (only 3.1% of Professional counselors use librarians to choose sources and only 0.4% call that input valuable), whereas I feel that this is an area where collaboration between librarians and health professionals should abound. Much of the recent research in bibliotherapy has a clinical slant and has not focused on best practices or application, which have left these studies mostly inaccessible to be utilized by librarians (Brewster 116). Perhaps this absence of bibliotherapist librarians in the United States is because of the ethical issues surrounding medical information, as suggested by Rosey Clark: “Librarians who are asked questions by patrons concerning law and medicine have very strict guidelines. Definitive answers are never given, we only give patrons reliable reference sources. We refer them to physicians and lawyers for interpretation, diagnosis, and treatment” (36).
So is recommending books for bibliotherapy a form of treatment? If the recommendations are made in conjunction with a mental health professional who is guiding the librarian based on their own expertise in medicine, development, or mental health, then I believe that recommendation is completely within the bounds of librarianship. Liz Brewster agrees, stating that, “Both self help and creative bibliotherapy contribute to the wider agenda of current library practice” (173). Moreover collaborations of recommending books for bibliotherapy should thrive. Librarians are experts in books and health professionals are experts in therapy, when put together correctly that should be a winning combination for successful treatment (Brewster 174).
A few of the librarians publishing about bibliotherapy in the literature suggest a good first step towards librarians gaining a foothold in bibliotherapy is through the use of bibliographies. Jami L. Jones suggests that librarians could provide the names of books or specific passages in literature that could be useful for health professionals in therapy (26). Jones suggests this method because it allows librarians to be proactive and prove their usefulness to health professionals. Additionally, Rosey Clark, although she still has concerns about bibliotherapy complied a bibliography in response to a request for materials a teacher could use to help his students with issues of abandonment and abuse (36-37). She felt a bibliography was still considered reader’s advisory and not a bibliotherapy prescription.
Although bibliographies and perhaps other passive bibliotherapy techniques such as book displays are a good start at reintegrating librarians back into bibliotherapy, emulating a system such as England’s “Books on Prescription” or a similar collaboration between public libraries and local health departments could benefit both librarians and the communities they serve. Book prescription schemes are a collaboration of public libraries and local health departments where libraries agree to stock a certain set of books agreed upon by the librarians and mental health professionals (Brewster 118). The health department advertises the service to doctors and hospitals and gives them, literally, prescription pads on which to assign books for patients. Then when the patient is prescribed a book the patient can go to the library to “fill their prescription” rather than going to the pharmacist.
Due to the effectiveness of bibliotherapy in conjunction with other treatment methods and current economic climate, many patients seeking help for a mental or physical illness cannot easily afford to buy books, nor can health professionals afford to give them away. A bibliotherapy collaborative project between librarians and health officials could let health department officials advertise bibliotherapy resources to hospitals, treatment centers, and individual practitioners, while librarians would stock appropriate books and resources and assist individuals in finding them in a non-threatening way.
It makes perfect sense for libraries and health care to join together to promote bibliotherapy because public libraries already have locations in the heart of their communities and already provide information, literature, and support to their patrons. Librarians in the United States need to learn from the Book Prescription programs in England and begin bibliotherapy programs here, which can serve as an excellent new library service that would improve the health and well being of their communities in a collaborative and low-cost way.
Works Cited
Brewster, Liz. “Medicine for the Soul: Bibliotherapy.” Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services. 21.3 (2008): 115-119.
Brewster, Liz. “The Reading Remedy: Bibliotherapy in Practice.” Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services. 21.4 (2008): 172-177.
Clark, Rosey. “Fiction or Nonfiction?: Bibliotherapy Examined.” Library Media Connection. 24.1 (2005): 36-37.
Jones, Jami L. “A Closer Look at Bibliotherapy.” Young Adult Library Services. 5.1 (2006): 24-27.
Pehrsson, Dale-Elizabeth and Paula McMillen. A National Survey of Bibliotherapy Practice in Professional Counseling. American Counseling Association Conference. Charlotte, NC. March 2009. Presentation.
Bibliotherapy: What is it? Part 1 of 3
So in my library science courses this summer I have come across this concept of bibliotherapy. Although it is a very old concept it is new to me and really fascinates me as well. This is the first in a series of 3 blog posts in which I will talk about what bibliotherapy is, why its useful and important, how librarians can get more involved in it, and then some personal stories about it.
1. What is bibliotherapy?
Although sometimes difficult to define, bibliotherapy in general is the use of books in healing or treatment (Pehrsson and McMillen). The concept of bibliotherapy goes all the way back to ancient Greece, where the Library in Thebes had the phrase "Healing place of the soul" over its doorway. However, the term 'bibliotherapy' was coined by Samuel Crothers in 1916 because during that time period (WWI) reading for therapeutic purposes greatly increased as patients libraries in hospitals used reading to help soldiers recover from physical and mental trauma (McMillen and Pehrsson 74; Turner 56). Today bibliotherapy is practiced by many different groups: physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, parents, teachers, librarians, and counselors.
Classifying Bibliotherapy:
Developmental: used to assist individuals dealing with life transitions or normal development
Clinical: used usually by a trained mental health or medical practitioner to help meet specific therapeutic goals
Self-help: utilizes non-fiction sources often classified as self-help books
Creative: utilizes fiction or poetry
2. Why is Bibliotherapy Important?
According to a presentation by Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson and Paula McMillen bibliotherapy “increases self-awareness and clarifies emerging values, stimulates discussion of feelings and ideas, improves coping skills, reduces negative emotions, and enhances self-esteem, interpersonal skills and emotional maturity.” Additionally a bibliotherapist librarian commented in a survey that bibliotherapy has “real benefits to users, giving them more control of their illness” and a bibliotherapy patient responded in that same survey: “I feel that I have been able to help myself instead of just being told what is wrong with me” (Turner 60). Additionally Stephanie Burns states that creative bibliotherapy “facilitates valuable therapeutic work by evoking emotion and stimulating senses” and that clients “have an opportunity to find increased meaning, purpose, and hope for survival when fictional stories are utilized in therapeutic settings” (442; 446).
However, bibliotherapy in practice provides more than just a list of benefits on paper. Studies have shown that when used properly, bibliotherapy is successful. Recent literature reviews have shown that bibliotherapy as a separate treatment show mixed results, however they did conclude that bibliotherapy is very successful in helping patients reach treatment goals when used with other treatment methods (Aiex). Several studies have found positive responses to using self-help bibliotherapy with adults to treat health related problems, including improved attitudes towards problems and treatment and lowered stress levels (McMillen and Pehrsson 78).
Moreover, bibliotherapy can have economic benefits in addition to mental and medical ones. The British organization, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, advocates the use of bibliotherapy in the treatment of depression due to its cost effectiveness. This organization estimates that £5 million ($3.38 million) a year would be saved if exercise and guided bibliotherapy were used as treatments instead of antidepressant medication (Brewster 117).
1. What is bibliotherapy?
Although sometimes difficult to define, bibliotherapy in general is the use of books in healing or treatment (Pehrsson and McMillen). The concept of bibliotherapy goes all the way back to ancient Greece, where the Library in Thebes had the phrase "Healing place of the soul" over its doorway. However, the term 'bibliotherapy' was coined by Samuel Crothers in 1916 because during that time period (WWI) reading for therapeutic purposes greatly increased as patients libraries in hospitals used reading to help soldiers recover from physical and mental trauma (McMillen and Pehrsson 74; Turner 56). Today bibliotherapy is practiced by many different groups: physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, parents, teachers, librarians, and counselors.
Classifying Bibliotherapy:
Developmental: used to assist individuals dealing with life transitions or normal development
Clinical: used usually by a trained mental health or medical practitioner to help meet specific therapeutic goals
Self-help: utilizes non-fiction sources often classified as self-help books
Creative: utilizes fiction or poetry
2. Why is Bibliotherapy Important?
According to a presentation by Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson and Paula McMillen bibliotherapy “increases self-awareness and clarifies emerging values, stimulates discussion of feelings and ideas, improves coping skills, reduces negative emotions, and enhances self-esteem, interpersonal skills and emotional maturity.” Additionally a bibliotherapist librarian commented in a survey that bibliotherapy has “real benefits to users, giving them more control of their illness” and a bibliotherapy patient responded in that same survey: “I feel that I have been able to help myself instead of just being told what is wrong with me” (Turner 60). Additionally Stephanie Burns states that creative bibliotherapy “facilitates valuable therapeutic work by evoking emotion and stimulating senses” and that clients “have an opportunity to find increased meaning, purpose, and hope for survival when fictional stories are utilized in therapeutic settings” (442; 446).
However, bibliotherapy in practice provides more than just a list of benefits on paper. Studies have shown that when used properly, bibliotherapy is successful. Recent literature reviews have shown that bibliotherapy as a separate treatment show mixed results, however they did conclude that bibliotherapy is very successful in helping patients reach treatment goals when used with other treatment methods (Aiex). Several studies have found positive responses to using self-help bibliotherapy with adults to treat health related problems, including improved attitudes towards problems and treatment and lowered stress levels (McMillen and Pehrsson 78).
Moreover, bibliotherapy can have economic benefits in addition to mental and medical ones. The British organization, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, advocates the use of bibliotherapy in the treatment of depression due to its cost effectiveness. This organization estimates that £5 million ($3.38 million) a year would be saved if exercise and guided bibliotherapy were used as treatments instead of antidepressant medication (Brewster 117).
So to Summarize:
- Bibliotherapy is helping people heal with books
- It has concrete positive impacts!
- It is proven successful as a treatment!
- It is cost-effective!
Works Cited:
Aiex, Nola K. “Bibliotherapy.” ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English and Communication. June 1993. Web. 7 June 2010.
Brewster, Liz. “Medicine for the Soul: Bibliotherapy.” Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services. 21.3 (2008): 115-119.
Burns, Stephanie T. “Utilizing Fictional Stories When Counseling Adults.” Journal of Creativity in Mental Health. 3.4 (2008): 441-454.
McMillen, Paula and Dale Pehrsson. “Specialty of the House: Bibliotherapy for Hospital Patients.” Journal of Hospital Librarianship. 4.1 (2004): 73-82.
Pehrsson, Dale-Elizabeth and Paula McMillen. A National Survey of Bibliotherapy Practice in Professional Counseling. American Counseling Association Conference. Charlotte, NC. March 2009. Presentation.
Turner, June. “Bibliotherapy for Health and Wellbeing: An Effective Investment.” Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services. 21.2 (2008): 56-61.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Reader's Advisory
So this summer I am taking a class in Reader's Advisory, the art of where a patron and a librarian work together to find a good book that the patron will hopefully like to read. I call it an art because from just starting to read about it that what it seems to be, an art, not a science. I am a very fact based person, so personally I really just wanted a step by step guide to reader's advisory that would work every time. Perhaps like a dichotomous key that biologist use to identify species. The librarian could ask simple questions and then based on the patrons' answer ask one of two other questions and so for an so on until TA Dah! The perfect book or author is found. However from just starting to read about the reader's advisory process it is no where near that simple.
The textbook we are using is called Genreflecting: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests 6th Ed. By Diana Tixier Herald and I am overwhelmed by just what it contains. This text is 560 pages long and over 3/4 of it is just lists and bibliographies of books. Now those books are organized by genre and subgenre so that if a patron tells you a book they just read or a type of genre they like you can look it up here and find other books listed next to it that are similar. But I am still overwhelmed! How is a librarian to know all of these books, so that when a patron comes up to ask for a good book the librarian can mentally calculate based on the patron's answers to questions what books they would like?!?
The simple answer is that they can't. And I think this is the true secret to good librarianship: Know that you don't know everything, but know where to find anything. So a good reader's advisor doesn't have to have all the fiction books memorized by genre and plot type and whether or not the lead character is female. They can simply know how to find a novel that a patron has just read in Genreflecting (and have that book behind the reference desk) or know how to use fiction searching sites such as NoveList to type in key words that patrons use to describe their reading preferences. It is such a positive relief to me that librarians really don't have to know everything, we just need to know a few good sources to finding whatever we need. And thanks to the librarians who made those sources describing many of the fiction works all in one place!
The textbook we are using is called Genreflecting: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests 6th Ed. By Diana Tixier Herald and I am overwhelmed by just what it contains. This text is 560 pages long and over 3/4 of it is just lists and bibliographies of books. Now those books are organized by genre and subgenre so that if a patron tells you a book they just read or a type of genre they like you can look it up here and find other books listed next to it that are similar. But I am still overwhelmed! How is a librarian to know all of these books, so that when a patron comes up to ask for a good book the librarian can mentally calculate based on the patron's answers to questions what books they would like?!?
The simple answer is that they can't. And I think this is the true secret to good librarianship: Know that you don't know everything, but know where to find anything. So a good reader's advisor doesn't have to have all the fiction books memorized by genre and plot type and whether or not the lead character is female. They can simply know how to find a novel that a patron has just read in Genreflecting (and have that book behind the reference desk) or know how to use fiction searching sites such as NoveList to type in key words that patrons use to describe their reading preferences. It is such a positive relief to me that librarians really don't have to know everything, we just need to know a few good sources to finding whatever we need. And thanks to the librarians who made those sources describing many of the fiction works all in one place!
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