bibliotherapy
Healing through books
Bibliotherapy is the use of reading as a therapeutic tool—books prescribed or recommended to help people cope with emotional difficulties, mental health challenges, or life transitions.
A therapist might suggest specific novels or self-help books to help a patient process grief or anxiety.
The practice assumes that encountering experiences in literature can provide insight, comfort, or perspective: Her therapist recommended bibliotherapy alongside their regular sessions.
Body of written works
- novelsExtended prose fiction
- poetryMetrical literary composition
- fictionImagined narrative work
- nonfictionLiterature about real events
books · memoir · autobiography · narrative · prose · self-help · stories · folktales
Regaining what was lost
- restorationReturning something to condition
- solaceRelief from distress
- comfortEase or soothing relief
- consolationComfort during distress
soothing · alleviation · relief · remedy · mending · recuperation · catharsis · processing
Enhancing oneself deliberately
- insightDeep perceptive understanding
- understandingMental comprehension of something
- awarenessState of perceiving reality
- transformationThorough change in form
enlightenment · empowerment · self-discovery · perspective · wisdom · reframing · introspection · meaning-making
One who works regularly
- counselorOne who advises
- facilitatorNeutral process guide
- psychologistMental behavior specialist
- sessionScheduled time for activity
prescription · intervention · assessment · recommendation · clinical · developmental · interactive · one-on-one
literature
Body of written works
nonfiction · books · memoir · autobiography · narrative · prose · self-help · stories · folktales · classics
recovery
Regaining what was lost
- restorationReturning something to condition
- solaceRelief from distress
- comfortEase or soothing relief
consolation · soothing · alleviation · relief · remedy · mending · recuperation · catharsis · processing · coping
self-improvement
Enhancing oneself deliberately
- insightDeep perceptive understanding
- understandingMental comprehension of something
- awarenessState of perceiving reality
transformation · enlightenment · empowerment · self-discovery · perspective · wisdom · reframing · introspection · meaning-making · self-reflection
practitioner
One who works regularly
- counselorOne who advises
- facilitatorNeutral process guide
- psychologistMental behavior specialist
session · prescription · intervention · assessment · recommendation · clinical · developmental · interactive · one-on-one · aftercare
- therapytherapist, session, counselor, sessions, patient
- library servicesyouth services, bookmobiles, reference desk, mobile libraries, librarians
- therapeutic activitiessand play, aromatherapy, phototherapy, sensory play
- journalsjournals, journal, diary, diaries, personal diaries
- accessible learninglearning aids, braille books, large print, reading aids, visual aids
- health studiesmedical ethics, bioethics, health policy, health equity, medical history
bibliotherapytalk therapy
Psychological treatment via conversation
pharmacotherapy · medication · psychoanalysis · electroconvulsive therapy · drug therapy
bibliotherapybook burning
Incinerating texts as censorship
bibliophobia · censorship · book banning · anti-intellectualism · illiteracy
library, therapy, librarian, therapeutic, bibliophile, bibliography, psychotherapy, bibliomania, hydrotherapy