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Bibliotherapy and the Reading and You Scheme (RAYS)Chapter one - What is bibliotherapy?Kirklees Culture and Leisure Services - March 2010juliei.walker@kirklees.gov.uk  Download: Chapter one - What is bibliotherapy (PDF: 23kb)
Bibliotherapy is the use of reading creatively; books, stories and poems to make people feel better, in themselves, about themselves and about others. It is about reading and a passion for reading. It is also about sharing that passion, enthusiasm and delight with another individual or group of people. We all know how reading can take us out of ourselves and into another world. Conversely it can show us our own life mirrored in that of another person. If we are feeling miserable or alone sharing our experience in this way can help us to feel less isolated. Our empathy with others is extended as is our imagination and understanding. Bibliotherapy taps into this potential of reading by sharing books, stories and poems with groups or individuals - talking about books, recommending them or simply reading aloud. It offers reading choices for the new or reluctant reader and stimulation for the jaded one. It gives people confidence, to talk about their response to a book and in their reading preferences and choices. It encourages them to share their own reading and make connections with other individuals, groups and organisations. "There they hang in the wardrobe of our minds., the shapes of books we have read like clothes we have taken off and hung up to wait their season" - This is Virginia Woolf talking about how books can act as our touchstones for life. She also said - "The true reason (we read) remains the inscrutable one- we get pleasure from reading. It is a complex pleasure, it varies from age to age and from book to book. But that pleasure is enough. Indeed that pleasure is so great that one cannot doubt that without it the world would be a far different and a far inferior place" Bibliotherapy attempts to open up that world of pleasure to the people it works with, to make their lives richer, and allow them to pass on their own pleasure and enjoyment of the things they have read to others.
Jackie a bookchat member - "Coming to the book club is very good for me. Up to this point I didn't have a lot of confidence, nor did I read a lot. Now I read a lot and have gained much more confidence."
David - "The group has become an important part of the community. We talk about books we've read and read poems. Bu t we also recount things that have happened to us and have intelligent conversations about all sorts of subjects." Elsie - "The book group is educational, entertaining with great discussions and books recommended by other members." Sue - "The group is invaluable to so many people. We encourage each other to read a great variety of books and discuss what we've read. We talk about programmes we have heard on radio and articles we've read in the newspapers- sometimes we talk about things we have seen on t.v. or at he cinema. All this and much more. We are sometimes even encouraged to try our hand at writing for ourselves. It is a wonderful Tuesday morning." Jean - "It's (bookchat) very important in my life. I wouldn't willingly miss a session." Mary - "The reading is very important in my life. When I'm depressed I still read, particularly when I wake up in the middle of the night and all the worries are going through my head I reach for my book" |
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