Bibliotherapy During Pandemic Times: Designing a Bibliotherapy Module

I received an email from a grade 12 student who is working on a capstone project on Bibliotherapy. Below is my reply to the senior high school student and on the inquiry on designing an independent Bibliotherapy course for adults.

Your email made my day! It is good to know that people are interested in Bibliotherapy, especially when this interest comes from the youth sector. I have some questions for you and this may help us move to a discussion on ways to improve the course work that you are planning.

1. What key concepts do you have on Bibliotherapy? This would be your knowledge of Bibliotherapy.

2. Do you conduct bibliotherapy sessions? If yes, may I ask if you can share with me your experience? You mentioned a paper/study you conducted on the creation of a storybook for bibliotherapy. May I know the relevant findings of the study?

3. What is your vision of an independent bibliotherapy course for the faculty of ****? In my experience, a program such as this is best designed collaboratively. You can work with different departments of the school to plan, design and implement a bibliotherapy course -- but I'd rather call it a program. 

Who can be involved? The Guidance Counseling Department, the Learning Resource Center, the Faculty Development Center and the Human Resource Office. Each department has a role. The Guidance Team can assist in the methods of therapy or the processes involved in reading and writing therapies. The Library Team can provide the content and resources applicable for bibliotherapy. The Faculty Development Center and HR office will help you in determining the context of the faculty, their needs and concerns. I encourage you to work with them. It will also help if, together, you create a goal and objectives. A know-how on project management will come into play, and you also need to learn this. Or, I hope you already have a set skill on project management.

Personally, this academic endeavor that you are pursuing meets another learning objective. And that is for students like you taking on internships or apprenticeships within the school community. I hope that your school is aware of this. You may be completing an academic project under the Arts and Design track, but at the same time you are also experiencing how it is to work with adults, with departments and agencies in your school community - this will prepare you for college and life, in general.

4. It may help you look at models of Bibliotherapy programs as part of your research and development. I recommend The School of Life and the Kirkless Council in the UK. Check your library. I have been invited to speak about storytelling and bibliotherapy by your school's librarians. They may have a bibliotherapy program already in place and all you need is to expand it for faculty -- or even the staff of the school and the scholars under the school's outreach and community hospital. We all need inspiration and hope, and kindness. Such can be found in stories and in our acts of reaching out to people.

This is going to be an ongoing post on Bibliotheraphy. If you are an advocate of Storytelling for Growth and Healing and in the use of literature for empathy and compassion, feel free to follow this topic in the blog.