Describes bibliotherapeutic process and techniques that mental health counselors can use to effect intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual growth in older persons. Envisions new opportunities for work with older persons who are chemically dependent, victims of abuse, or Alzheimer patients. Proposes research tool that observes participant's…

This article introduces supportive therapies for students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). Strategies to help children cope with emotions are described. Bibliotherapy approaches and various expressive arts approaches to helping these children are discussed, and the role of leisure awareness and adventure recreation as therapies is…

Describes a poetry group which encouraged the expression of memories and imagination among frail elderly residents of a nursing home over a period of nine months. Shows how it facilitated peer friendship formation, increased expression of affect, resulted in improved staff treatment of residents, and ended with the publication of an anthology. (SR)

An evaluation is presented of "Changing Lives Through Literature," a program designed as an alternative to jail. The study followed up the first 32 men to complete the program and compared them to a matched group of 40 probationers. Reconviction rate was favorable. Interview information and other influences on recidivism are considered.…

This article describes using bibliotherapy to improve reading comprehension and enhance self-esteem or improve behavior for students with learning and behavior problems. A step-by-step procedure is provided to ensure success with all students. A list of recommended books to use with students in preschool through second grade is provided. (Contains…

This article explains a practical strategy for dealing with social emotional problems in the inclusive classroom environment. The potential need for bibliotherapy is introduced by discussing how role boundaries of teachers are changing and how teachers may take on a range of roles in their classrooms. An example of a social emotional scenario…

A program of education and support is essential for children and their parent or adult caregivers when the children have experienced the death of a significant person. Children need guidance on how to deal with their profound feelings of grief. The purpose of this article is to give school nurses the ability to help children face the strange new…

Women with lifelong vaginismus (N = 117) were randomly assigned to cognitive-behavioral group therapy, cognitive-behavioral bibliotherapy, or a waiting list. Manualized treatment comprised sexual education, relaxation exercises, gradual exposure, cognitive therapy, and sensate focus therapy. Group therapy consisted of ten 2-hr sessions with 6 to 9…

An update of a bibliotherapy bibliography compiled by the Church and Synagogue Library Association (CSLA) a decade ago, this list includes books intended for children from a preschool to a sixth-grade reading level. Although the first edition included works concerning religion, this edition does not, since those works are already covered in other…

This digest offers guidelines in providing challenging reading opportunities for gifted students. Research findings concerning the characteristics of the gifted child as reader (e.g., they read earlier, better and more) are noted. Specific needs of gifted learners can be met by: using literature as a supplement to the readings in basal texts;…

Self-help programs can be used to replace, complement, or supplement formal treatment, but their effectiveness has been underestimated. To test the effectiveness of bibliotherapy in the treatment of problem drinkers, six studies were conducted over 7 years (1975-1982) comparing different treatment approaches. The combined data showed that for…

Self-help approaches to the treatment of problem drinking were investigated in five studies, including methods oriented toward controlled drinking as well as those designed to produce abstinence. Study 1 explored the utility of a self-help manual as an agent in improving maintenance following treatment by a paraprofessional. Clients who read this…

Fifty-six subjects were treated in an eight-week program including social learning, behavioral, cognitive, and assertiveness training procedures aimed at the alleviation of depression. Therapist contact, a cost-effectiveness variable, was varied across four treatment groups: individual therapy, small group, large group, and bibliotherapy.…

Bibliotherapy is a powerful tool for helping children cope with direct and indirect death experiences. Through the process of bibliotherapy, readers may identify with others whose experiences are similar, feel emotional release as a result of this identification, and gain insights into their own experiences. For this process to be helpful, it is…

Excerpts from the addresses of 14 symposium contributors are presented. Relevant to the theme "Reading and the Individual," the necessity for encouraging creativity in learning and in teaching was stressed in three articles, and the threat to the individual's freedoms posed by today's society was discussed in one article. Creativity in writing and…