Definition: Bibliotherapy is a form of creative arts therapy that leverages reading and storytelling as tools to enhance an individual’s well-being and quality of life.
Definition: Social emotional journaling (SEL journaling) is a writing practice designed to enhance affective skills by allowing individuals to reflect on their thoughts and feelings. This process can promote self-awareness, empathy, self-regulation, goal-setting, decision-making, and effective communication, leading to healthier relationships and improved well-being.
Opening Quotes
“A reader lives a thousand lives before they die. The person who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons
“All that gets in the way? Get it on the page.” – Unknown
I personally love to discuss how books, journaling, art, and music can help individuals self-regulate and handle intense emotions. Catharsis can occur when we engage with art as consumers and when we express ourselves through creative endeavors.
Bibliotherapy (using literature for mental wellness) was the topic of my master’s thesis. I’m always excited to share such strategies with wise young people who are often already engaging in aspects of this process due to their early onset of abstract thought and intense love for art, stories, facts, and/or music.
Personality Development
Exposure to high-quality art, books, and music has been proven to impact multiple behaviors. When implemented properly, this exposure has the potential to change values, adjust attitudes, expand thinking, and positively develop the personality.
In addition, positive group interactions with music, poetry, art, and stories have been shown to increase empathy and confidence. While the group element might be absent when you read a particular book alone, an online community or book club can serve as a great substitute. Journaling or creating art by yourself can also be effective as you process what you’ve consumed.
Key Ingredient: Abstract Thought
Bibliotherapy takes abstract reasoning. This refers to the capacity to grasp and work with complex concepts that are real but not directly linked to specific experiences or tangible elements. It entails contemplating ideas and principles that are often symbolic or hypothetical in nature.
Engaging with literature fosters abstract reasoning by encouraging readers to explore complex themes, symbolic ideas, and hypothetical scenarios that extend beyond their immediate experiences. Bibliotherapy’s mindful approach allows individuals to identify with characters or themes, examine personal connections, and ultimately apply the insights gained to enrich their own lives.
The Bibliotherapeutic Process
Here’s a quick overview of how to use books, art, and music in a mindful way (a four-step process):
- Identify with a character or theme.
- Which character in a recent book or story resonates with you the most? Describe the qualities or experiences you share with this character.
- Reflect on a theme from a story that you find particularly relevant to your life right now. How does this theme manifest in your own experiences?
- Examine the connection you recognized, allowing lessons and catharsis to take place.
- Write about a specific moment in the story that triggered an emotional response in you. What feelings arose, and why do you think that moment resonated so deeply?
- Consider a lesson you learned from the story. How can you apply this lesson to a current challenge or situation in your life?
- Juxtapose (compare and contrast) your circumstances or the circumstances of the world with the theme, plot, and/or characters in order to gain insight. This can involve creative writing prompts or art of any form.
- Compare your current life circumstances to the struggles faced by a character in the story. What similarities and differences do you notice, and what insights can you draw from this comparison?
- Create a piece of art (a drawing, poem, or short narrative) that juxtaposes a significant event in the story with a real-life experience of your own. What connections do you find between the two?
- Apply. Draw upon the lessons from stories to enrich your own life, and savor the universal feelings of awe and connection they inspire.
- Reflect on a lesson from the story that you would like to incorporate into your daily life. What specific actions can you take to make this lesson a reality?
- Write about a moment in your life when you felt a deep sense of connection to others or the world around you. How does this experience relate to the themes of a story you’ve engaged with?
Make Connections
While it’s natural to make connections while reading, adding structure and intention to this process can enhance our understanding and engagement with the material. Here are some prompts to help deepen your connections with your favorite book or song:
Text-to-Self:
- Does anything in this story remind me of anything in my own life?
- This character reminds me of me because…
- This situation reminds me of when — happened.
Text-to-Text:
- How is this text similar to other things I have read?
- Does this remind me of another book/movie/poem/song? How?
- How is this text different from other things I have read?
Text-to-World:
- What does this remind me of in the “real” world?
- How are events in this story similar to things that happened in history?
- How are events in this story different from things that have happened in the real world?
Social-Emotional Journaling
Personal journaling serves as a powerful tool for self-exploration and emotional expression, allowing us to dive into thoughts and feelings in a structured yet creative manner. Through various modes of expression, journaling can facilitate catharsis, enhance mindfulness, and promote personal growth. The four modes below—catharsis, description, free-writing, and reflection—each offer unique benefits, enabling writers to connect more deeply with their inner selves and the world around them.
Four Modes of Expression in Personal Journaling:
- Catharsis: This mode involves releasing pent-up emotions and thoughts through writing. Catharsis allows individuals to express feelings such as sadness, anger, or joy, providing a sense of relief and emotional cleansing. By putting these emotions into words, writers can better understand and process their experiences, leading to greater emotional clarity and well-being.
- Description: In this mode, the focus is on vividly capturing experiences, thoughts, and observations in detail. Descriptive writing encourages individuals to paint a picture with words, enhancing their ability to notice and appreciate the nuances of their surroundings and feelings. This practice can deepen mindfulness, as it requires careful attention to detail and promotes a richer understanding of one’s life and environment.
- Free-writing: This technique emphasizes spontaneous, unfiltered expression without concern for grammar, structure, or coherence. Free-writing allows thoughts to flow freely, enabling writers to explore their subconscious and uncover ideas that may not surface in more structured forms of writing. This mode can enhance creativity and encourage exploration of new perspectives, making it a valuable tool for personal discovery.
- Reflection: Reflection involves taking the time to analyze and contemplate one’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences. This mode encourages individuals to think critically about what they have experienced, allowing for deeper insights and understanding. Reflective journaling can foster personal growth, as it helps individuals recognize patterns in their thoughts and behaviors, set goals, and make informed decisions moving forward.
Optional journal/discussion prompts:
- Have you journaled before? Is there a mode of expression you prefer from the above list?
- How does stepping into the lives of characters help you become more of yourself?
- Think about a current problem. What would the characters you admire do in your situation?
- What goals do you have as a “mindful” reader? Here are some examples of objectives I set for myself before diving into a book:
- Liberate myself from my own small story.
- Stimulate my imagination to see aspects of my situation I may be missing.
- Focus my attention (sometimes reading is simply an exercise in concentration that I enjoy).
- Understand and recognize new feelings or thoughts about the world (especially after big life changes).
Go Deeper
A list of books I use with students
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-bibliotherapy-4687157
https://www.thepathway2success.com/social-emotional-journaling-what-it-is-and-how-to-start/
For older students/adults: Wonderworks: The 25 Most Powerful Inventions in the History of Literature (2021) by Angus Fletcher
For younger students: Children’s books that tell stories of children expressing emotions and utilizing coping strategies or that illustrate emotion vocabulary: https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/raise-a-reader-blog/childrens-books-about-feelings.html
Book: When Gifted Kids Don’t Have All the Answers by Judy Galbraith, M.A. and Jim Delisle, PhD (2016) has a section on bibliotherapy and social-emotional journaling.
https://world-gifted.org/Conferences/2019/Schedule/1/107.pdf
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2321&context=grp
Posted in Reading/Writing, Social and Emotional Learning
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