Examines the use of the poetic with respect to the technical characteristics common to various forms of brief psychotherapy. Suggests that poetry can serve as a therapeutic agent in promoting client change. Conclude with implications for practice and directions for further research. (RS)

Gives a brief report on the therapeutic value of writing in working through the grief process. Presents two poems by the author that helped him work through the loss of his mother and brother. (RS)

Provides a perspective on the integrative healing aspects of poetry. Suggests that poetry calls things together, contains things, brings things to light, and shows how things are already whole, healed, one. (RS)

Argues that within biblio/poetry therapy, self and others are invented through expressive resources inherent in language. Shows how poetic communication conveys, through texts, "transformative" transferences and countertransferences that foster creative imagination. Sees biblio/poetry therapy as a performance scene where co-tellings,…

Discusses some theoretical considerations essential to understanding poetry's power to assist in healing mental, moral, or spiritual anguish. Presents two fundamental and contrasting notions of what a poet does, how a poem comes to be, what place a poet and poetry have in society, and what criteria determine whether a poem is art, or not. (RS)

Suggest that, emerging from a disturbance of consciousness and/or awakening of the unconscious, haiku does not lead to something, haiku is not about anything; it is a complete world, an end in itself; celebrating the present moment as a transition between psychological inattentiveness and enlightenment. (RS)

Suggests that fiction has developed as a human medium of expression to assist people in adapting to the complexities of social organization. Argues that fiction reading leads to improved problem-solving skills, a greater sense of normality, a breakup of rigid and confusing cognitive frameworks, improved socialization, and increased…

Describes "Healing and Madness," a course offered to second-year medical students at State University of New York Stony Brook School of Medicine. Examines the need, value, and outcome of a bibliotherapy technique applied in a nontraditional setting. Concludes that "Healing and Madness" offers a unique educational experience for…

Provides a perspective on the use of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" as a bibliotherapeutic tool in group therapy. Provide an example of theme extraction in a session. Considers philosophical and theoretical issues. (RS)

Discusses the use of metaphors in psychotherapy. Offers suggestions for the construction and delivery of therapeutic metaphors. Includes two abridged metaphors used with an actual client, and presents the client's poetic responses. (RS)

Emphasizes the importance of a "check-out" place within a professional therapist's life to prevent burnout and promote positive wellness and self-renewal. Recommends specific metaphorical and poetic exercises that clinicians can use in dealing with the past, the present, and the future. (RS)

Presents the findings of a study that explored Interactive Bibliotherapy (IB) as an inservice practice to help prepare educators for the roles and responsibilities associated with inclusion. Concludes that IB can provide the vehicle by which educators' intrapersonal growth becomes an integral part of the construction of their knowledge and…

Finds that senior staff at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Washington, DC, were consistently positive in their evaluation of bibliotherapy as a modality. Discusses the kinds of patients that benefit the most and the least from bibliotherapy. (RS)

Bibliotherapy--guidance in the solution of personal problems through selected reading--has medical, social, and educational applications. Ancient libraries bear inscriptions implying the recognition of the value of bibliotherapy. From the nineteenth century, medical and educational people have utilized bibliotherapy in working with a number of…

Assigned 121 test-anxious college students to 1 of 4 conditions: telephone-contact; no-contact, stress-inoculation bibliotherapy; telephone-contact, wait-list control; and no-contact, wait-list control. Two experimental conditions were superior to control conditions in reducing subjective anxiety; telephone-contact and no-contact conditions were…