Bibliotherapy

Bibliotherapy
MeSHD001638

Bibliotherapy (also referred to as book therapy, reading therapy, poetry therapy or therapeutic storytelling) is a creative arts therapy that involves storytelling or the reading of specific texts. It uses an individual's relationship to the content of books and poetry and other written words as therapy. Bibliotherapy partially overlaps with, and is often combined with, writing therapy.[1][2]

Distinct from the creative arts therapy is bibliotherapy as a supportive psychotherapy, a brief self-help intervention where through the reading of a chosen standard manual, emotion regulation skills are acquired through either behavioral therapy or cognitive therapy techniques.[3] Two popular books used for this are The Feeling Good Handbook[4] for cognitive therapy and Control Your Depression[5] for behavioral therapy. The main advantage of this psychotherapy compared to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is its cost-effectiveness, although, especially for complex presentations, CBT tends to have more positive treatment outcomes.[3][6] It has been shown to be effective in the treatment of mild to moderate depression,[4][3] with cognitive bibliotherapy having a long-lasting effect.[7] Modest evidence also exists to the symptom reduction of alcohol dependence, self-harm and panic disorder.[6]

Unstructured and more informal bibliotherapy fits under creative arts therapies, possibly including reading or activity recommendations by a librarian or health professional based on perceived therapeutic value. More structured bibliotherapy can be described as supportive psychotherapy, where more consideration is placed on the therapist in the selection of reading material and in including other activities to facilitate skill acquisition and symptom reduction.[6] An important difference between the two is the greater empirical support of symptom reduction in bibliotherapy as a supportive psychotherapy.

  1. ^ Gillam, Tony (2018), "Creative Writing, Literature, Storytelling and Mental Health Practice", Creativity, Wellbeing and Mental Health Practice, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 101–116, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-74884-9_7, ISBN 978-3-319-74883-2, retrieved 2022-05-06
  2. ^ Rottenberg, Biri (2022-01-02). "Bibliotherapy as an integrative psychotherapeutic channel". Journal of Poetry Therapy. 35 (1): 27–41. doi:10.1080/08893675.2021.2004371. ISSN 0889-3675. S2CID 247522177.
  3. ^ a b c Gualano, M.R.; Bert, F.; Martorana, M.; Voglino, G.; Andriolo, V.; Thomas, R.; Gramaglia, C.; Zeppegno, P.; Siliquini, R. (December 2017). "The long-term effects of bibliotherapy in depression treatment: Systematic review of randomized clinical trials". Clinical Psychology Review. 58: 49–58. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2017.09.006. hdl:2318/1662499. ISSN 0272-7358. PMID 28993103.
  4. ^ a b David Burns (1999). "Introduction". The Feeling Good Handbook. Plume. pp. pxvi–xxxii. ISBN 9780452281325.
  5. ^ M., Lewinsohn, Peter (1986). Control your depression. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-76242-7. OCLC 1110809226.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Smith, N.M.; Floyd, M.R.; Jamison, C. & Scogin, F. (1997). "Three year follow up of bibliotherapy for depression". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 65 (2): 324–327. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.65.2.324. PMID 9086697.